Atlanta, United States:
Sadness, anger and worry had been coursing on Wednesday by way of Stephanie Cho, a day following a gunman’s attack on spas in the Atlanta region killed eight folks — most of whom had been Asian females.
Police have mentioned suspect Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, has so far denied a racist motive for the 3 shootings in the southern US state of Georgia.
But Cho, the executive director of advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, fiercely disagreed.
“White supremacy is literally killing us,” she mentioned amid a spike in violence targeting Asian-Americans for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Violence against Asian communities has been under the radar… for many years,” she mentioned adding that regardless of her discomfort more than the shootings, she also feels “resilience.”
Bouquets of flowers had been laid Wednesday in front of the doors of two of the targeted spas, situated across the street from every single other in northeast Atlanta, exactly where 4 of the victims had been killed and one man wounded.
At Aromatherapy Spa, exactly where one lady was killed, the “Open” and “Welcome” indicators had been nonetheless lit.
And at Gold Spa, in a brick creating across the street exactly where 3 females had been killed, a scrolling marquee nonetheless advertised jacuzzi and sauna services — accessible seven days a week.
It was at one more spa, Young’s Asian Massage, in an Atlanta suburb, that 4 other folks had been killed and two wounded in a shooting only hours earlier.
‘A hate crime against Asian Americans’
The manager of Studio 219 Ink tattoo shop, Anthony Smith, told AFP in the 5 years he has been in the region close to the Gold and Aromatherapy spas he has in no way noticed the sort of violence that befell the neighborhood Tuesday evening.
Police mentioned suspect Long told them he had a sex addiction and wanted to “eliminate” a “temptation”, but denied that the attacks had been racist.
The violence comes at a time of intense tension for the Asian American neighborhood.
The quantity of attacks and hate crimes against Asian Americans has exploded considering that the starting of the pandemic, according to anti-extremism groups.
Activists lay some of the blame for that boost at the feet of former president Donald Trump, who repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the “China virus”.
“It’s a bit scary,” Sam, a 20-year-old of Chinese origin who did not want to give his complete name, told AFP in Atlanta, exactly where he functions at a smoothie bar.
“Before it did not really affect me, but now that they are targeting Asians, it’s scary,” he mentioned. “We should take security measure, for self-defense.”
Georgia residents of Asian origin make up about 4.1 % of the state’s population, or about 500,000 folks, most of them Korean or of Korean descent.
For Sarah Park, president of the Korean American Coalition – Metro Atlanta, the racism involved in the spa attacks is clear.
“Yes it is a hate crime against Asian Americans,” she mentioned, criticizing what she sees as authorities’ reluctance to go following violence that targets females working for low wages and who generally speak tiny to no English.
“We have a right to protect our community and they will protected if everybody do their parts,” she mentioned.
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