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Lawmakers introduce resolution to recognize ‘irrevocable impact’ of Atlanta shootings

A new House resolution would mourn the victims of the 2021 massacre and acknowledge the disproportionate violence against Asian American women.

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Federal lawmakers introduced a resolution Tuesday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the spa shootings in Atlanta, Georgia that left eight people dead, including six Asian women.

The measure, introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) and several members representing Georgia, mourns the victims and reaffirms the House’s commitment to combating anti-Asian hate.

“I’m proud to join with my colleagues today in introducing this resolution to not only remember the eight individuals, including six Asian women, who were gunned down in Georgia a year ago, but also the over 11,000 other victims of anti-Asian hate since the pandemic began,” Chu, who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in a statement. 

Anti-Asian hate crimes jumped 339% in major U.S. cities last year—including 567% in San Francisco and 361% in New York City, two regions that have seen some of the most violent anti-Asian attacks.

83% of Asian adults say Asians faced more discrimination in the U.S. from 2020 to 2021, and 58% say reports of anti-Asian hate impact their mental health, according to an April poll by Morning Consult.

Meanwhile, Stop AAPI Hate has documented nearly 11,000 anti-Asian hate incidents since March 2020, with the majority reported by AAPI women. A recent survey by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum found that 74% of AAPI women reported experiencing racism or discrimination over the past 12 months.

Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus pay their respects to the victims of the Atlanta spa shootings on March 28, 2021. Photo courtesy of Rep. Judy Chu via Twitter.

COVID-19 gave people permission to fall back on the age-old notion that Asian bodies are “different” (the perpetual foreigner stereotype). Combined with the pre-existing sexualization of Asian women’s bodies, disease and fetishization became interconnected, reinforcing a sense of “Othering” from the idealized white body.

The Asian woman’s body and its connection to the Atlanta shootings (Shawna Chen, The Yappie, March 18, 2021)

“The spa shootings in Atlanta were shocking, but they were also the tragic and expected result of over a year of anti-Asian xenophobia and slurs, including from the then-President,” Chu said, referring to former President Donald Trump’s frequent use of the phrase “China virus.” 

“It is only by speaking out against this rhetoric that we can hope to end this plague of anti-Asian hate, and that is why it means so much to have so much support for this important resolution to remember these victims and advance the solutions that will prevent others from suffering the same,” she added.

Robert Aaron Long, who is white, pled guilty to murdering four of the eight victims last year and was sentenced to life without parole. The district attorney of Fulton Country, Georgia, where he killed the other four people, is seeking the death penalty and sentencing enhacement under Georgia’s hate crimes law. 

President Joe Biden signed into law the historic COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act after AAPI lawmakers saw the bill through Congress

He also met with a group of AAPI civil rights leaders in August to discuss the administration’s response to rising anti-Asian violence and messaging around the coronavirus, among other issues.


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