On Tuesday, March 16, eight people were killed in a series of shootings in the Atlanta area. Around 5 p.m. a gunman killed four people, one man and three women, all roughly 30-50 years old, at Young’s Asian Massage in Woodstock, Georgia. An hour later, four more women were found dead—three at the Gold Massage Spa in Atlanta and one across the street at Aroma Therapy Spa. These four were older, roughly 50-70 years old. Six of these victims were women of Asian descent.
The police were able to identify the suspect, a 21-year old caucasian man, through a surveillance video from the location of the first attack. The video was posted to social media and the gunman’s family helped the police identify him. He was arrested later that night, about 150 miles away from Atlanta. The suspect was reportedly on his way to Florida to carry out similar attacks there. He admitted responsibility for the killings and faces charges of eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
The gunman reportedly told police that his “sex addiction” is what drove him to carry out these attacks, saying that he was trying to “take out that temptation” by targeting these spas which he claimed were sources of temptation. Spokesman for the Cherokee County Police, Captain Jay Baker, said that the shooter had denied racial motivation. The Korean media outlet Chosun Ilbo reported that an eyewitness heard the suspect say, "I'm going to kill all Asians" before the shooting.
Baker also said, "Yesterday was a really bad day for him, and this is what he did." This comment was met with immediate backlash on social media. It was “rage inducing” as Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, tweeted. ABC news reported that police officials indicated that these were the gunman’s words, not Capt. Baker’s.
In relation to these comments, Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said, "Inasmuch as his words were taken or construed as insensitive or inappropriate, they were not intended to disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy, or express empathy or sympathy for the suspect." Capt. Baker has been removed as spokesperson for this case.
Although the authorities have not declared a motivation for the homicides, the racial element has drawn attention to the violence and discrimination against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. On March 17 President Joe Biden acknowledged these concerns: “The investigation is ongoing. And the question of motivation is still to be determined. But whatever the motivation here I know that Asian Americans are very concerned, because as you know, I have been speaking about the brutality against Asian Americans for the last couple months and I think it is very, very troublesome.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also expressed her concerns: “Knowing the increasing level of hate crime against our Asian American brothers and sisters, we also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge that none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate.”
The pair traveled to Atlanta the following Friday for what was scheduled to be a celebration of the coronavirus aid package. However, after the attacks on Tuesday night, Biden and Harris adjusted their trip to include a meeting with state legislators and advocates for the AAPI communities to address concerns about the growing number of attacks against members of the Asian community in the past year.
Covenant’s own Multicultural Program emailed members of the Covenant College community on March 19 saying, "We recognize that this tragedy compounds the fear and grief that has been present in the lives of many of our Asian and Asian American brothers and sisters." A call to pray for and support this group was concluded with, "Praise God for the ways that Asian and Asian American people bless and enrich our country and world."
Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that formed to document and address incidents of Asian hate and discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic, reported 3,795 hate incidents against Asian Americans between March 2020 and February 2021. The homicides in Atlanta came on the heels of increasing incidents of AAPI hate, including two attacks on elderly Asian men in the San Francisco Bay area in January 2021. These attacks have added to the fears members of the AAPI community were already facing.
Though Long did not cite racial motivations for his actions, last week's homicides follow an extensive and complex history of exoticization and fetishization of women of Asian descent. This may have influenced his association of these women and businesses with his sexual addiction. We interviewed local art historian and Covenant professor Dr. Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt for a retelling of the visual perspective of this history.
Weichbrodt told us that the origins of many of the depictions of Asians, and of Asian women in particular, come from the arts, literature and even legal documents in the 19th century. This history has been perpetuated in various ways through the 20th century up to current society.
Among the key figures in this history is British-Italian photographer Felice Beato. Following Japan's opening to trade with the West, he photographed vignettes of Japanese life, capturing diverse aspects of society. These photographs emphasized certain themes and depictions, such as Japanese women who appear docile, passive or eager to please.
The French author Pierre Loti published “Madame Chrysanthème” in 1887, an autobiographical novel by a naval officer recounting a summer affair with a Japanese woman. This work was important for shaping the way Japanese women were viewed in the West. From this work stemmed various adaptations of the story, including the Broadway musical “Miss Saigon.”
Continuing on from these key figures, Weichbrodt said, "Another way that we see the sexualization—the hypersexualization of Asian women—is through the policing of Chinese immigrant women in the 19th century." The 1875 Page Act prohibited the entry of "undesirable," "immoral" East Asian women. Weichbrodt said that the assumption that Chinese women were immoral was common. Later, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prevented all Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States.
Twentieth century wars in Asia heightened the fetishization of Asian women. For example, during the Korean War of the 1950s "the United States either tacitly approved or even encouraged servicemen to take advantage of the sexual services of Asian women in Korea; and something similar happen[ed] in the Philippines as well," said Weichbrodt. Political science professor at Wellesly College Katharine Moon documents this history in her book “Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations.”
Weichbrodt said, "Something that we see repeatedly in Western history—in the history of colonization—is that when the colonizers have the expectation that the land is available for their use and for their conquest, it follows pretty easily that women would also be available for their use and conquest… this is not just a Western problem." Weichbrodt cited Japanese exploitation of Korean women during the 20th century.
This fetishization continues to manifest in U.S. culture today, as Weichbrodt said, "The fetishization of Asian women now takes on multiple lives… there are examples in advertising, in pornography culture… even music." While women of all ethnicities are frequently objectified in popular culture, specific racialized histories shape the particular narratives that are applied.
The long history of exoticization and discrimination against members of the AAPI community, as well as the recent rise in discriminatory crimes against the AAPI community inspired rallies around the country in response to the homicides in Atlanta. These rallies were held around the country on Saturday, March 20, in New York, Houston, Columbus and Atlanta.
Covenant alumna Victoria Yang ’17 attended one of these rallies in Atlanta. She said that "seeing hundreds of Asians across generations and cultures, and supported by hundreds of allies, rally and march in solidarity was so encouraging.” In addition, a series of 14 faith-based rallies around the country were held on Sunday, March 28, organized by local church leaders and mobilizers alongside the Asian American Christian Collaborative, with a three-fold purpose, “to lament, pray, and mobilize.” Yang helped organize the Atlanta rally, attended by a few Covenant students, alumni and faculty. Uniquely, these rallies were primarily organized and led by Asian American Christian women.
Yang said, "While Asian cultures are more collectivist, unity is not seen within the Asian church in America." She said that the "gatherings… are prayerfully a chance for the different Asian churches to come together as one. To lament, pray and mobilize, and dream for what unity could look like."
Weichbrodt, who also attended this rally, noted a different aspect of the importance of rallies. “A rally like this one is an opportunity to say in a very public way with others, many of whom will be of Asian descent, to say that we are willing and ready to take up space, now, and to be visible… part of living into the fullness of the imago dei is willingness to be seen and to be heard."
Those interested in reading further about gendered orientalism in Western history can find Karen J. Leong's “The China Mystique” as an eBook at the library. For a general history of various Asian American experiences in the West, refer to the recent PBS documentary "Asian Americans." To learn more about the sexualization of Asian Americans in particular, refer to Sheridan Prasso's article "The Asian mystique: dragon ladies, geisha girls, & our fantasies of the exotic Orient." To watch the Atlanta prayer rally, refer here: www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=119901440060153.
Note: The next addition of The Bagpipe may feature a second article further discussing aspects of this history as well as personal accounts by those in the Covenant community who have experienced anti-Asian racism firsthand. Students, staff, or faculty who would like to be interviewed for this article can submit their name to Kelli or Davy by email.
Photo from aapi.com