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On a sunny Monday morning, a student from
the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth — along with his elder
brother, allegedly killed a Chinese graduate student from Boston
University, a restaurant manager, an elementary school boy and injured
countless others.
The two men neither knew the individuals killed nor held a personal
grudge against any of the victims that they injured. The brothers had,
however, shared the same anger and frustration toward American culture
and its people.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were two brothers that believed America
could love them better than their homeland of Russia did.
But one day, they convinced themselves that they were wrong.
The Chinese victim, Lu Lingzi, was born in a country seen as the main
rival of the US but that was no problem for her, as she knew that she
could reach both.
Perhaps she had heard about “Chinamerica” — the interdependence of
Chinese and American economics — and she had seen it at work. American
companies need Chinese factories, workers and subcontractors. The Chinese
need American engineers, IT wizards and marketing gurus.
Lu had only lived in Boston for one year but many were touched by her
positivity and cheerfulness. Her most urgent dream — to find love before
she graduated — ended abruptly because of two individuals who lived
without dream.
When the news of the Boston Marathon bombings spread across the globe, a
line had been drawn. The main talking point was Islamic-related
terrorism. While news agencies and global media said “suspects unknown”,
some Westerners — on the left of politics — quickly condemned members of
the media for their perceived prejudice against Islam, citing America’s
own bombings of Afghan families.
As time went on, everyone demanded new information; conservatives in the
West wanted the clues to point to Muslim radicals; the Left wanted an
American Andreas Breivik — after all, it had been Timothy McVeigh who
waged war on the American government and Eric Rudolph who believed that
the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was a meeting of godless socialists — and many
Muslims feared for their safety and shared updates on assaults against
Muslims in the US, including the arrest of a Saudi national.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts a year
after 9/11. Their family, in their homeland of North Caucasus, Russia,
knew oppression well. The “evil Christians”, however, were not Americans,
but Russians.
Tamerlan’s namesake was a fearsome Central Asian emperor who burned
Moscow and planned to invade China.
Like the warrior king, Tamerlan was a fearsome heavyweight boxer, a 2010
regional champion and he dreamed of oneday representing the United States
at the Olympics. Unlike Lu Lingzi, Tamerlan Tsarnaev had found love in
America and had fathered a daughter.
A Boston University’s magazine documented the boxer’s plight to gain
American citizenship.
The Tsarnaev brothers had lived a decade under the Bush administration
and saw the changes of Barack Obama’s America and the economic recession.
They woke up every day under the Massachusetts sky, attending school and
training with Americans of all colors, backgrounds and accents. Lu Lingzi
grew up with the renaissance of her grim and smoky Shenyang, which turned
into a retail and financial services boomtown.
After the glory of China in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Lu went to the
capital city to study international trade and four years later she
crossed the Pacific Ocean to study math and statistics.
The length of your stay does not decide how content you are with a place.
Lu Lingzi actively networked and utilized social networks, including
Facebook, LinkedIn, Weibo and QQ. Universities always ensure that foreign
students can handle the culture shock and campus culture, but everyone
testified that Lu felt natural in Boston.
She had no shortage of Chinese friends and maybe even enjoyed the coveted
“big sister” status. She attended group trips and uploaded pictures of
chocolates and cakes.
On the other hand, the Tsarnaev brothers felt disillusioned with life in
America. Tamerlan complained that he had no American friends and he did
not understand Americans. Dzhokhar had Twitter and Russia’s VKontakte
accounts.
Besides photos of cats and song lyrics, Dzhokhar tweeted about his pride
in Islam (also showcased in his VKontakte profile) and his conviction
that 9/11 was a conspiracy.
Tamerlan spent hours on YouTube compiling playlists of Islamist videos.
It is clear that they felt alienated.
Their parents had returned to Russia. While they believe that their sons
were framed, their uncle who also lives in America described them as
losers.
A former principal and classmates described Dzhokhar as a kind man
without strong political or religious opinions, but he posted wry jokes
about Russian discrimination on Chechens and made deadpan, cold comments
about his own doings that week. Tamerlan’s former boxing trainer said
that Dzhokhar had been very loyal toward to his big brother.
Perhaps the Tsarnaev brothers are not much different from killers like
Seung-hui Cho and Adam Lanza. The difference was that the brothers used
explosives instead of guns. More importantly, the bombings had a
connection to Islam and they were Muslims. Therefore, all of us begin the
unnecessary debate of “Jihad vs McWorld”.
It is a world away from Lu Lingzi’s world. Behind her bubbly personality,
she knew the meaning of fighting. She grew up with big expectations and
the pressure of being the only child.
She knew that she had to get along with everyone and utilized whatever
she could and as such had opportunities in the form of scholarships,
interviews and a new life in America. She was aware that America was not
heaven.
As an attractive woman, she knew that she drew attention, including from
the wrong kind of people. In fact, her dream of finding love in America
itself presented risks — from the gossips of friends to her parents
disapproval.
Lu Lingzi was much better than the Tsaraev brothers because she fought
the challenges. She joined her fellow Chinese friends and involved
herself in the American way of life.
The Tsaraev brothers knew that they had thrown the dice — Tamerlan
wouldn’t become an American Olympian and Dzhokhar wouldn’t come to class
on Tuesday. But seeing Lu Lingzi cheering and giggling along with Krystle
Campbell and Martin Richard, they might have felt darkness setting in.
They were angry that Lu was happy with America. And so they killed her. ●
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