I will be talking about the shooting that happened in Atlanta a couple weeks ago. This is something that is extremely horrifying and tragic. Eight people were killed senselessly. Most of them happened to be Asian.
There has been a lot of traction lately with the #StopAsianHate movement. I first heard about it when Jeremy Lin came out and said that people in the G-League called him coronavirus.
It still boggles my mind that there are people out there who find these types of things “funny” and “not harmful”. Since then, I have personally seen a lot more on the movement. What I find interesting, is how I have not seen the mainstream media putting enough coverage onto this. During the height of the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement was always being talked about, which was great and important. However, I feel like I have not seen enough on this movement. We did not even learn the names of the people until days after the tragedy. While I understand respecting the victims and victims’ families, I do believe that saying their names just like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd helps bring more awareness.
I am also shocked that some policemen are saying that the shooter “was having a bad day.” When somebody has a bad day, you channel that energy in different ways. You do not go and shoot a salon.
Because of these two things, I am calling for gun reform. We have to be a lot stricter on who we allow to possess guns. As someone who grew up in Sandy Hook, CT I feel very strongly about this issue. The next thing I am calling for is more attention to the #StopAsianHate movement.
We put a lot of energy and effort into the Black Lives Matter movement as it still continues today and Asian people deserve nothing but the same.
I think that you chose a very important issue to discuss. I agree that Asian-Americans have been over-scrutinized by others, especially regarding the coronavirus. It was appalling to see that the Atlanta shooter was defended by the police for “having a bad day.” Under no circumstances should the merciless killing of 8 innocent individuals be justified. 6 of the 8 individuals happened to be Asian-Americans, and I think it would be ignorant to not acknowledge this crime as a hate crime. The Atlanta shooter traveled to three different locations, harming individuals at each one, before he was finally stopped. This is senseless, and shows that it is clearly a systemic issue that must be addressed.
I think that this systemic injustice is one that is very important and prominent in society today. I don’t think that issues relating to injustices against the Asian-American community were talked about enough until this event occurred, which is very unfortunate. Furthermore, I think the manner in which law enforcement and the media has handled this situation is also very disappointing. The way in which the shooter was depicted, as well how some media outlets have even defended the shooter’s character was also inappropriate and unacceptable.