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EDITORIAL: Call Georgia shootings what they are: Racist

The violence against Asian American women in Georgia last week is a dark reminder that racism and hatred is still very much a part of American life

The Gold Spa in Atlanta, Georgia was 1 of the 3 spas targeted in last week's mass shooting, where eight people, including six Asian American women, were killed. – Photo by Googlemaps.com

Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun and Paul Andre Michels.

These were the names of the eight people who lost their lives in another rendition of America’s public displays of violence, with shootings taking place at the Gold Spa, the Aromatherapy Spa and Young’s Asian Massage in Georgia. Each one of these names represents a person who just more than a week ago still had hopes and dreams for the future, a daily routine, hobbies and passions and many years of life ahead of them. 

Eight people were killed, and therefore countless lives were permanently changed. The families of these victims will never be able to return to a time before March 16. Their lives have been permanently scarred by the loss of a mother, wife, daughter or loved one in such a violent and senseless way. 

These eight people, six of whom were Asian women, were killed by a white man who believed their lives were worth less than his need to eliminate a sexual fetish. Upon arriving at the scene, authorities arrested Mario González, a Latinx man and husband of one of the victims, before realizing he was not the perpetrator.

Yet despite clear overtones of racism carried by this case, police officers, law officials and media outlets have been slow to label the attack a hate crime.

The shooter claims his actions were not racially motivated and for some reason, this is taken at face value despite the inherent racism in targeting Asian women because they “contributed” to his sexual disorders. The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office Captain Jay Baker's comments that the shooter was just having a bad day only added insult to injury. 

While the legal and ethical implications of labeling something as a hate crime are complex, there is more to this hesitancy than just red tape. America is ill-equipped to deal with racism when it is not something of the past. 

We teach our kids about Martin Luther King Jr. but then debate Black Lives Matter. We condemn the Trail of Tears but allow the Keystone XL Pipeline to plow through Native American land. We publicly regret Japanese internment camps and yet do nothing tangible about the 149 percent increase in violence against Asian Americans between 2019 and 2020.

Society is willing to admit racism is a problem so long as our generation is not the one perpetrating it.

Asian Americans across the nation are facing racist attacks and violence, the effects of which are devastating and traumatizing. The psychological and physiological effects of racism are far-reaching and more evident than ever.

Asian Americans continue to face discrimination in the workplace and in schools, as well as unadulterated violence on the street, all of which instills a sense of fear and mistrust in targeted communities. And that fear is an unfair burden placed on the Asian American community, as well as other communities of color, by hate crimes and white supremacy.

Asian women specifically face intersecting forms of violence at the crossroads of race and gender. The effects of intersectionality and the vulnerability that it leads to are poorly understood.

These women were targeted because they were Asian and because they were women, and until our justice system acknowledges this fact, the U.S. will continue to fail in protecting minority women and their communities, who are made particularly vulnerable to racist, misogynist violence.

It is important, now more than ever, to unpack the racist ideology that led to the shootings, while being careful not to give air time to the individual who acted upon them. It is easy to stamp the deaths of these eight people with the label of hate crime and then forget to do the hard work of understanding and combating that hate. 

We cannot eliminate racist ideas if we bury our heads in the sand. The fetishization of Asian women is not a new issue and the failure to properly address it over the years has no doubt contributed to the events of March 16. If we choose to look at these murders as an isolated incident, we will fail to prevent the next one. 

The solution is not simple and requires policy to address a multitude of issues including gun violence, racism and sexism. Individuals who claim their acts of violence were a result of mental illness should not have access to any kind of firearm and laws against hate crimes must be strengthened.

Rutgers must also address the issue through policy that tackles racism in the classroom and in our communities. Racist behavior should be called out when perpetrated by professors and students alike, whether that be in false assumptions or overt hatred. In the meantime, we must make an effort to educate ourselves both about our own inherent biases and make it clear that this kind of behavior is not tolerated on our campus.

But amid the national issues of racism and gun violence, do not forget the individuals who lost their lives. Learn their names and support their families if you can. You can support the victims' families by donating to their GoFundMe pages.

This is not the first, and likely will not be the last racist attack that America will live through. The question facing us now is how we will heal and move forward to eliminate the racism and violence facing Asian Americans today. 


The Daily Targum's editorials represent the views of the majority of the 153rd editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.


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