That's how the most viral video of the last week began, a three-minute rant on Asians by a UCLA student who has since withdrawn from the university amid death threats and worldwide ridicule of her video, originally posted on YouTube last Friday.
The self-identified UCLA student who posted the video, Alexandra Wallace, quickly removed from the video from the interwebs, but no matter -- the damage had already been done. Hundreds of astute YouTube users had managed to save the video in the hours between its original posting and its removal. By the end of the weekend, responses of all kinds were being posted as well, from offended Asians speaking out to parties not involved whatsoever simply amazed at the content of the video.
So what exactly did it say? Well, after Wallace began her video by admitting that she was in fact not the most politically correct person in the world, she proceeded to utter all sorts of ultra-racist comments against Asian students at UCLA, who she said ruined her studying experience at the library by talking when they were supposed to be studying and calling relatives at home in Japan to check in after the earthquake and tsunami that rattled the Asian nation last week.
There were some 'cool' Asians at UCLA, Wallace said, and she was in fact friends with those cool Asians on campus. But the rest of them were useless, she implied, and harmful to the rest of the general student body.
It's an alarming video, one that seriously draws into question any prior beliefs of school unity at universities like UCLA and one that draws into question racial beliefs of younger people at large as well. But the part we'd like to focus on here on Inside the fold is the official response to the video.
UCLA announced Thursday that, despite their complete disapproval of the video and what it represents, Wallace would not be suspended or in any way punished by the university because her posting of the video does not officially break any school-wide rules or its code of conduct.
Wallace withdrew from the university anyway, announcing Friday via a statement in the school newspaper, The Daily Bruin, that the stress of attending UCLA had grown too large over the last several days as a result of the video. She admitted again that the video was a mistake and apologized for its contents.
So what does this all tell us? Above all, it's a great thing -- it shows us that the public has great power, greater power than we even realize sometimes. Despite the inability of UCLA to react because of bureaucratic specifications, we as a general public essentially did the same thing UCLA would have if they could have.
We expelled Alexandra Wallace, really. The death threats to her family were out of line, surely, but the endless ridicule of her for the video was -- and is, as it continues -- is completely in line. And with so much of that, she was forced to withdraw from the public eye and withdraw from the university, as she should have for publishing a video with such horrible, objectionable content.
We go, public -- there we go, getting stuff done.
The tremendous condemnation against Alexandra Wallace and her bigoted video was impressive. It showed just how far we have come as a country that used to be so prejudiced. I think, however, that it is a shame that Wallace was forced to withdraw from such a fine institution. Let it be known that I am in no way condoning her behavior, but everybody makes mistakes. Wallace is young and was obviously extremely stressed due to finals.
ReplyDeleteUCLA officials should be commended for refusing to reprimand Wallace in anyway possible. In the end, it did not even matter, but I hope that Wallace has the chance to redeem herself soon at another university and show that she has learned from her error. America is the land of second chances and if we can give one to Michael Vick and Tiger Woods, than we certainly can give another chance to Alexandra Wallace.
While I feel bad for this girl and can not imagine what it would be like to have to leave my own university, she did ask for it. If she generalized the Asian population and attacked them on a public forum, how could she be surprised when they do the same to her? What she did was embarrassing to her school and herself and it is no wonder all groups of people at UCLA and on the internet got so upset. Would you want a girl like her to be seen as an example of someone who goes to your school? Someone who is in your generation? Someone who is the same race as you? Probably not. What happened to her after the video is very sad, but let this serve of an example of what not to do with the dangerous tool that is Youtube which can make you a celebrity overnight (and not always in a good way).
ReplyDeleteI believe that Wallace’s predicament is an indicator of how the technology age affects free speech. While I completely disagree with her comments, if something to this extent had happened 30 years ago, there would be little uproar other than some harassment and possibly some threats. Nowadays, the Internet acts as an open forum for any individual, and your comments are permanently recorded for all of the public to see, whether or not you immediately regret the extent of your stupidity.
ReplyDeleteAs with many scandals that are exacerbated by the power of public opinion, Wallace’s is worsened in that the entire nation, and possibly the world, has access to her commentary. She is now without a college education, forever unable to find employment, and consistently in fear of public identification because of an immature, racist rant. I feel that she deserves some of the bad publicity she has received for her offensive actions, but I have to sympathize with her in that she has lost any chance at having a successful education or work career for the foreseeable future over something stupid and forgetful.