Violence against Asians decried on anniversary

ATLANTA » A year after the fatal shootings at three Georgia massage businesses, crowds gathered at rallies across the country Wednesday to remember the victims and denounce anti-asian violence that has risen sharply in recent years.

Six women of Asian descent were among the eight people killed in and near Atlanta on March 16, 2021. The slayings contributed to fear and anger among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and motivated many to join the fight against the rising hostility.

At the Atlanta Asian Justice rally, which drew some 100 people to a former railroad depot near the state Capitol, speakers railed against the stereotypes of Asian women as either docile or exotic and said those harmful perceptions contribute to the violence.

“Being an Asian woman, you are hypersensitive to the fetishization that occurs. It just reminds me that there’s so much work to be done,” said Jennifer Fero, a school administrator of Korean descent who attended the rally.

Fero lamented that “it is up to us to educate the general public on the AAPI experience and what microaggressions and hate crimes look like.”

Stop AAPI Hate has been tracking incidents nationwide based on victims selfreporting. From March 19, 2020, through the end of last year, it recorded a total of 10,905, with 4,632 occurring in 2020 and 6,273 in 2021. Women reported 61.8% of the incidents.

In the rampage a year ago, Robert Aaron Longwas arrrested..

Long pleaded guilty in July to murder and other charges in the Cherokee County shootings. He’s pleaded not guilty in Fulton County.

Rep. Judy Chu of Pasadena, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said “America was finally shocked awake to the reality of anti-asian hate” by the Georgia killings.