Member-only story
Asian Women Are Not a ‘Temptation’
The Atlanta shootings were a culmination of centuries of hypersexualization of Asian women
On Wednesday, I learned that the white man who murdered six Asian women in Atlanta denied that his actions were racially motivated. Like many Asian American women, I was overwhelmed with disgust.
Typical. How many times have white men tried to excuse their actions toward me by saying, “I’m not racist, I’m just — ”
By this point in my life, I don’t really care what comes after that. The excuse is always racist. And the man never has to face consequences for it.
In the case of the Atlanta killing spree, the excuse was particularly infuriating. The shooter told the police that he targeted the spas not because he had anything against Asian people, but because he had a “sexual addiction” and wanted to eliminate the “temptation” of something “that he shouldn’t be doing.” But no, that’s not racism, not by his account and certainly not by the account of Capt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office, who said the shooter was having a “bad day” — the same police captain who promoted T-shirts that said “Covid 19 IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA” on Facebook. Maybe the shooter was a guy with some fucked-up feelings about sex, but don’t call it racism.
