FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Brad Baldia, (215) 715-3046, brad_baldia@naaap.org

The National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) is shocked and dismayed by the violent crime that took place on April 16, 2007 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. NAAAP expresses its deepest sympathies and condolences to the victims’ families and friends and all those affected by this tragedy.

Some Asian students and community members have expressed fear of backlash against either Asians or Asian Americans. Although the suspected shooter Seung-Hui Cho is South Korean, there has been no evidence to support that ethnicity or immigration status had any relevant bearing in this horrible incident. NAAAP agrees with the Asian American Journalists Association’s assertion to mainstream media that: “The use of racial or other identifiers must be accompanied with context and relevance. Without it, we open the door to subjecting an entire people to unfair treatment or portrayal based on their skin color or national heritage.”

Cliff Akiyama, an expert in youth violence at the University of Pennsylvania, stated that he is "...concerned that the public will lash out at Asian and Asian American communities. We don’t want to be the scapegoats to this tragedy, as the Arab, Muslim and South Asian Americans were to September 11th and how we Japanese Americans were after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.”

The National Association of Asian American Professionals is the largest and fastest growing Asian Pacific American professional organization with over 3,000 members and representation in over 25 cities across the continental U.S. and in Canada. Its mission is to develop future leaders through professional development, cultural awareness and community service.

For more information about NAAAP, visit www.naaap.org.

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