Santosh,

I think we both agree. Just using diffrent words, maybe. I'm using the word education as a broad term: learing, gaining knowledge. While you are giving specific examples as solution to curing this type of mentalty.

Although I would argue that the analytical skills that one gains from science and math could have a positive impact on looking at situation bit more clearly. Not poluted by prejudices.

Karthik,

I caught uberdesi for a second there yesterday with the black bar running through the news tab. So glad you opted against it. It was sooo distracting.

ps: i notice the little changes on the web site the little redecoration works well.

Thanks Shlok, we are slowly working on making changes and we appreciate your feedback.

Shlok,
Depends on what you mean by education. Science and math have no cure for bigotry, racism and xenophobia. Arts and culture on the other hand probably do. But more than anything it's an individual's life experiences and perspective and above all, an open mind.

been meaning to reply for a while now.

bigotry, racism and xenophobia exist irrespective of those two factors.

i'm certain other factors contribute. you might inherit xenophobic views from your folks, for instance. but still, what would be the solution then to removing those tendencies. wouldn't it be education? (enlightenment through travel, opening there mind through exposure to other culture, etc.)

ps: i notice the little changes on the web site the little redecoration works well.

Lake Nakatoma is not Lake Tahoe… its actually in the suburbs of Sacramento. Its 30 minutes from Sacremento and close to 2 hours from Lake Tahoe.

ocdesi: There are two cases, one took place in Nakatoma and the other in Tahoe. Hope that clears up the confusion.

is the lack of jobs and education the main problem?

Racism and xenophobia exist at all levels of society irrespective of educational qualifications. The reason it gets blamed on poverty and lack of education is that folks in that economic strata display their bigotry in a more blatant and, sometimes, violent manner.

For instance, just do a search on outsourcing and pull up anti-outsourcing websites and read some of the user comments on there. You will be surprised how much hate and loathing educated folks hold for foreigners, especially Indians since India is the face of outsourced jobs. The difference is that instead of beating up Indians these people vent their frustrations online.

So to answer the original question, perhaps violence is the product of unemployment and lack of education but bigotry, racism and xenophobia exist irrespective of those two factors.

terribly upsetting. i want to point out that Lake Nakatoma is not Lake Tahoe... its actually in the suburbs of Sacramento. Its 30 minutes from Sacremento and close to 2 hours from Lake Tahoe.

furthermore Lake Nakatoma is located next to Folsom, CA. Folsom is famous for its prison which was made popular by Johnny Cash and his recording there many years ago. that said the area around there is 80% white, 75% homeowners, earns $75K per annum per household, and has a largely young (http://folsom.areaconnect.com/....

i state not as an encyclopedia, but mostly as a refute that this heinous crime was onslaught by poverty or ignorance. moreover it was and is a growing hatred brewing in the sacremento area. i wonder if any of the readers that live in that area can compare/contrast racial attitudes in Sacremento against other parts of CA/USA.

Hmpf...just when I was planning for a vacation to Tahoe!

It seems a double whammy for the Indians to me: first, west never cares for the terrorisms happening in India and when it happens in the west, then Indians are suspected, because they 'look' the same. I think Indians should organize and educate people to explain that we are in the same boat with same problems, in fact with more experience.

I live in the Bay Area and this really shocks me ! I always thought that this kind of thing does not happen here .First Satendar, now this.Maybe Indians /desis need to get more organized ?

I lived in Cali 05-06. The state is multi-cultural only depending on how close you are to the coast. I lived in San Bernadino County. For the most part I encountered lots of good hearted folks, but it certainly was a bit unsettling how diversity was lacking in my town.

There also wasn't a single community college. Even in adjacent towns. Which explicitly explains why mostly low-paying jobs were available in the region. I had heard of pretty scary crime stories in my town, too. But don't really know the exact rate of it, so I don't want to draw a connection there.

But I personally do agree that lack of education takes a community backwards. It breeds ignorance, superficiality, inability to make right decisions because you don't think analytically, the small attention span one inherits is a death spiral because that contributes to even less motivation to gain further knowledge... and so on and so on.

I hope I don't sound pretentious. Again, it's just my personal opinion that lack of education greatly contributes to society moving backwards.

Sad to know about this and that too happened in apna peaceful CA. Culprits must be sent to San Quentin prison for 100 years!