Hate Crime

 Two days ago, a 21-year-old white man went on a shooting rampage that targeted Asian women. He killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.

Police said they do not know whether this was a hate crime. 

Instead of my usual analysis of events or issues, this blog post is mainly other people’s words.

Rest In Peace: 

– Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, mother of a 14 year old & 8mo old 

– Xiaojie Tan, 49, massage therapist & owner of 1 spa 

– Daoyou Feng, 44 

– Julie Park, in her 70s 

– Hyeon Jeong Park, 50s 

– Paul Andre Michels 

(2 more not yet named) 

CENTER THE VICTIMS. #StopAsianHate

Twitter says: She was old enough to be my grandma, 

and also

I am kind of not okay about the fact that this 21 year old killed women my mother’s age and so many people are like “well, shrug, that’s what happens when you have irresistible objects of lust.”

New York Times: “Delaina Ashley Yaun was looking forward to a date with her husband on Tuesday afternoon. The couple chose a relaxing massage at Young’s Asian Massage in a modest shopping center outside of Atlanta … 

“DeLayne Davis, a relative, called Ms. Yaun ‘a good, godly woman.’”

Police Captain and spokesperson Jay Baker to the media: “He apparently has an issue. What he considers a sex addiction. And sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places, and it’s a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate.”

Police said they do not know whether this was a hate crime. 

New York Times: “Xiaojie Tan, the hardworking owner of Young’s Asian Massage in Acworth, Ga., made her patrons feel at home and treated her friends like family, one longtime customer said on Thursday. Ms. Tan died two days ahead of her 50th birthday.”

Twitter: It is hard to express how dehumanizing it is to refer to these women – women who had hopes and dreams and struggles and frustrations and jokes and loves and rich inner lives that we will never know – as a “temptation”.

New York Times: “Mr. Hynson, a former competitive weight lifter, had regular appointments for massages to ease his upper neck trauma, and he and Ms. Tan had been friends for years.

“It just doesn’t seem real that she’s not around,” he said.” 

Police said they do not know whether this was a hate crime. 

Twitter: How come killing women you hate isn’t considered a hate crime?

New York Times: “Ms. Feng, 44, had just started working at the spa in the past few months, Mr. Hynson said.

“’They welcomed you,’ he said. ‘If you were a friend of Emily’s, you were a friend of theirs.’”

Police Captain Jay Baker: “He was pretty much fed up and at the end of his rope and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did.” 

Also Police Captain Jay Baker on Facebook:  “Place your order while they last,” Baker wrote with a smiley face on a March 30 photo showing racist T-shirts with the slogan  “COVID-19 imported virus from CHY-NA.” 

Twitter: “I’m going to kill all the Asians,” the gunman screamed, local media (Hanguk Ilbo Atlanta) reported, quoting an eyewitness who escaped to a neighbouring Korean shop.

Police said they do not know whether this was a hate crime. 

Statement of solidarity: “For centuries, our communities have been frequently scapegoated for issues perpetuated by sexism, xenophobia, capitalism, and colonialism. Asians were brought to the United States to boost the supply of labor and keep wages low, while being silenced by discriminatory laws and policies. From the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, to the forced migration of refugees from U.S.-led military conflict in Southeast Asia, to post-9/11 surveillance targeting Muslim and South Asian communities, to ICE raids on Southeast Asian communities and Asian-owned businesses, Asian American communities have been under attack by white supremacy.”

Twitter: Just because the dude who did the racist murders can’t identify his own racism and just because the dude in a leadership role in a racist organization/system can’t identify the dude as a racist murderer, doesn’t mean those murders weren’t racist.

Twitter: Good morning to everyone who knows you don’t need a racist misogynist to say “I’m a racist mysogynist” to know they’re a racist mysogynist. If Asian women are targeted as a “temptation” you feel the need to “eliminate,” you’re a racist mysogynist. We shouldn’t have to say this.

Twitter: White people, know your history not because you need to be ashamed of who your ancestors were, but because you have to stop replicating it. Please.