10 Common Gaslighting Lines About the Atlanta Massacre and Useful Rebuttals
By Thomas Yee
T
he very day that the Atlanta Massacre story broke and millions nationwide cried out in lament, the social media heckling and gaslighting began. This article documents 10 common statements that people have used to deny the fact that the Atlanta Massacre was a racialized act along with examples, succinct rebuttals, and further resources.
1. “This was sexism rather than racism.”
Example: "I feel this crazy tragedy was centered more around sex and people are missing the point."
Rebuttal: It was both – this tragedy existed at the intersection of sexism and racism. For AAPI women, the two cannot be disentangled. Starting from the Page Act of 1875 up through the 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket, to the 2021 Atlanta Massacre, especially insidious discrimination has been reserved for those who are both AAPI and women. The Atlanta Massacre was an intersectional hate crime precisely because it is both/and, *not* either/or. Racism and misogyny can and do co-exist – and each compounds the effect of the other.
Resources:
To be an Asian Woman in America: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/opinions/to-be-an-asian-woman-in-america-ho/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1u266hEedWODqIfjWtJ6Q67JiHoIPbH7wzpzibgCT-X2GkyAXR646m-J0
America’s Sexualized Racism Problem: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/atlanta-spa-shooting-suspect-s-bad-day-defense-america-s-ncna1261362
2. “This was a case of sex addiction gone wrong.”
Example: "Given this individual was from a religious family… I'd imagine it is more likely he was struggling with sin and shame."
Rebuttal: Harvey Weinstein. Ted Bundy. Ariel Castro. Each tried to justify their criminal actions by blaming a self-diagnosed sex or pornography addiction. The problem is that the clinical psychology community is skeptical about ‘sex addiction,’ as evidenced by the American Psychiatric Association, removing sex addiction from the DSM-5 as a legitimate diagnosis in 2012. A UCLA study found significant differences in the brain’s response to sex compared to narcotics or other addictive behaviors. Sociologist Samuel Perry’s research concludes that the rhetoric of ‘sex addiction’ obscures the core issue – shame and guilt, such as is cultivated in evangelical purity culture. Read Angie Hong’s story below for a poignant and powerful demonstration of how purity culture can breed harassment and abuse towards women.
Resources:
Science on ‘Sex Addiction’: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/18/sex-addiction-atlanta-shooting-long/?fbclid=IwAR0kUL3TO1E-SZKSOCdxUc3URCKZzd60BDeFfmtySYfbHTBYSlu-CdH5ztc
TIME Interview w/Professor of Sociology: https://time.com/5948362/atlanta-shootings-sex-addiction/
The Flaw at the Center of Purity Culture: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/purity-culture-evangelical-church-harms-women/618438/?fbclid=IwAR3woygAR51D1_L1nT0tJAGUe77CdYmrh4e4PWO5QGWJmnbN2U8KSfNj6eU
3. “The murderer said it wasn’t racially-motivated.”
Example: "He said it wasn’t racially motivated. He’s a self-diagnosed addict and possibly emotionally disturbed."
Rebuttal: It is astounding how readily people will take the word of a mass murderer at face value if it waves away the broader reality of anti-AAPI violence. That Sheriff Captain Jay Baker blithely did so throws his qualifications into suspicion (to say nothing of his promoting the sale of t-shirts calling COVID-19 an “imported virus from CHY-NA”). Baker’s comments – and those taking the murderer’s words at face value – are textbook examples of what philosopher Kate Manne terms ‘himpathy,’ or the unearned empathy extended to men who commit misogynistic offenses. The perpetrator isn’t who gets to decide – naming the Atlanta Massacre a hate crime is to acknowledge that it is part of a broader wave of violence affecting not just an individual but a whole community.
Resources:
Are the Authorities Trustworthy?: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/17/jay-baker-bad-day/
The Suspect Doesn’t Get to Decide: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/are-the-atlanta-spa-shootings-a-hate-crime.html
4. “This was a tragic, isolated incident” | “I’ve never heard about anti-Asian violence."
Example: “[If Atlanta was part of a larger trend,] this would have been happening since last March;” "I have never heard of anyone being threatened or bothered because they were Chinese.”
Rebuttal: Anti-AAPI violence has been happening since last March – Stop AAPI Hate has reported 3,800 hate incidents since last March, and those are only the incidents reported. Anti-AAPI hatred, discrimination, and violence has a long history in the United States, with a marked resurgence in 2020-2021. As Dr. Michelle Reyes, VP of the AACC, said, “We were verbally insulted. Then we were coughed on. Then we were spit at. Then we were shoved and kicked. Then we were slashed and stabbed. Then we were doused with acid and fire. Now Asian bodies have been shot and murdered.” If you have not heard of this before, that is on you; take it upon yourself to learn, starting with the resources below.
Resources:
Stop AAPI Hate Report: https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-december-31-2021/
History of anti-AAPI Racism: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/03/18/history-anti-asian-violence-racism/?fbclid=IwAR1PNVV4SXTJ7Qheaeejt9EycoWfT_RkhqDGDLdjPtWG2bzZ-PLWfU4GQO4
On the Continued Rise of Anti-Asian Violence: https://www.asianamericanchristiancollaborative.com/article/anti-asian-violence
5. “These were sex workers in a dangerous industry.”
Example: "The three massage parlors attacked were well-known to the police and “Johns” as fronts for prostitution."
Rebuttal: This line of gaslighting is at best a red herring and at worst (and more likely) blaming the victim. A person’s profession in no way lessens the intrinsic value of their life nor justifies murdering them. Also, we must be crystal clear about what we know and what we do not know concerning the facts of the case. We do not know whether or to what extent full service was solicited or offered at these locations. Given that one victim was at Young’s for a couples massage on date night and the massage therapists killed were licensed massage therapists, the assumption that these spas were merely fronts for prostitution is far too sweeping. Clients and friends of Young’s owner, Xiaojie Tan, strongly denied any sexual services being offered. Furthermore, a segment of the massage industry is itself built on hate crimes against AAPI women, so this heckler line merely kicks “the racism can” down the road.
Resources:
Who are the Victims?: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56446771
Massage Industry Built on Hate Crimes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/03/22/illegal-massage-business-asian-women/
6. “Some of the victims were non-Asian.”
Example: "He killed people from three different races, so how could it be racially motivated?"
Rebuttal: Factually, this heckling line completely misses the mark, looking more closely at the three non-AAPI victims at Young’s – Delaina Yaun was a client, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz a bystander caught in the crossfire, and Paul Andre Michels a maintenance technician. In other words, all the owners and massage therapists murdered were AAPI women, so the incidental presence of these non-AAPI individuals is irrelevant to the employees and owners who the murderer was likely targeting. Additionally, this line implies that hatred is diluted when multiple communities are harmed, when in reality “an attack on one is an attack on all” (Derrick Johnson, NAACP). This can also be seen in the story of Mario González, husband of one of the victims who was wrongly suspected and detained by police for hours, possibly on account of his race.
Resources:
Mario González’s Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/us/atlanta-spa-attacks-mario-gonzalez.html
NAACP President: https://naacp.org/latest/naacp-president-and-ceo-derrick-johnson-releases-statement-on-atlanta-shooting/
7. “Why not instead target an Asian restaurant/grocery store/church?”
Example: "If he hated Chinese (or Asians in general), why didn’t he target a mall, restaurant, grocery store, or church? Those are where a man intent on killing Asians would go."
Rebuttal: See #1 – this type of intersectional violence reserves special hatred for AAPI women, so it is unsurprising the murderer would target a location likely to contain AAPI women in particular. Besides, it’s not about the numbers – attacking or murdering even one person is sufficient for a hate crime conviction, and most recent incidents of anti-AAPI violence have been one-on-one. Additionally, the brand of anti-AAPI violence in the Atlanta Massacre exemplifies the history of anti-AAPI tropes generally. Dr. Catherine Ceniza Choy at UC Berkeley said, “Killing Asian American women to eliminate a man’s temptation speaks to the history of the objectification of Asian and Asian American women as variations of the Asian temptress, the dragon ladies and the lotus blossoms, whose value is only in relation to men’s fantasies and desires.”
Resource:
Racism and Sexism Must Be Considered: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/racism-sexism-must-be-considered-atlanta-case-involving-killing-six-n1261347?fbclid=IwAR2UEUy2rKXsylvicQ-_nbmY1FdMlrCq6-rIbN39o5qQbZGRl1NZO_jKfBY
8. “Not all men are like that."
Example: "Not all men are violent. I feel like we're all painted with the same brush."
Rebuttal: Nobody is saying all men are violent. At the same time, others may be complicit with or contribute to hegemonic culture without themselves perpetrating violence. Additionally, the “not all men” line disrupts and derails what could be a productive conversation. As (Kelsey McKinney at Vox writes, “Instead of contributing to the dialogue, they become the center of it, excluding themselves from any responsibility or blame.” Ask not whether you are the same as the perpetrator; ask what you can do today to foster safe, diverse culture in your context.
Resources:
To All the Men Who Get Defensive: https://www.elle.com.au/news/not-all-men-response-24856
History of “Not All Men”: https://www.vox.com/2014/5/15/5720332/heres-why-women-have-turned-the-not-all-men-objection-into-a-meme
9. “Social justice divides rather than unites."
Example: "Marxism however tries to divide a country’s citizens by race to divide them… This is what it sounds like is happening here."
Rebuttal: Social justice seems divisive only from the perspective of power and privilege. To communities and allies crying out in shared grief and rage, social justice unites us in solidarity. For many of us in the AAPI community, we have never experienced such an outpouring of support from friends and allies as in the past few weeks. Solidarity and allyship is what is needed, and what I believe is coalescing. In the words of the NAACP, “the recent acts of hate makes it even more apparent that we need a comprehensive set of actions that actualizes a commitment to dismantling the decades of systematic and structural racism that has upheld white supremacy and allowed for the reoccurrence of violence and hate toward Asian Americans and other marginalized communities.” If you are worried about Critical Race Theories, check out the Be the Bridge resource below, which thoroughly details the history of racial justice scholarship/activism and answers common concerns.
Resource:
Be the Bridge, Critical Race Theory: https://bethebridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Full-Statement-Aug-7.pdf
Understanding Critical Race Theory Part 1 (Missio Alliance):
https://www.missioalliance.org/understanding-critical-race-theory-part-1/
Understanding Critical Race Theory Part 2 (Missio Alliance):
https://www.missioalliance.org/understanding-critical-race-theory-part-2/
NAACP Statement: https://naacp.org/latest/civil-rights-and-racial-justice-organizations-denounce-abhorrent-rise-in-anti-asian-hate-crimes/
10. “Just a bad day."
Example: “He had a bad day, and this is what he did."
Rebuttal: Millions of AAPI individuals and their allies had a bad day, a bad week, a bad year – but we didn’t commit mass murder. This is gaslighting at its worst. When an AAPI person hears murdering eight people explained away as “a bad day,” we hear echoes of the 1871 Chinese Massacre, in which the lynching of 18 Chinese was never brought to justice. We hear Vincent Chin’s murderers let off with a slap on the wrist saying they “weren’t the kind of men you send to jail.” No more excuses. It is past time for anti-AAPI hate to stop.
Resources:
The 1871 Chinese Massacre: https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/chinese-massacre-1871
Vincent Chin: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2021/03/27/981718272/how-vincent-chins-death-gave-others-a-voice
#StopAsianHate – A Call for Solidarity: https://youtu.be/RKd7Xoxf3JE
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
Some composers found their love of music at the symphony hearing Brahms or Beethoven — Thomas B. Yee discovered his from the beeps and boops of the family Super Nintendo. As a composer, his artistic mission is to transmute meaningful human stories into immersive, transformative musical works. Blending the roles of composer and music theorist, his scholarship has appeared in the United States and internationally in journals, conferences, and a forthcoming monograph on musical meaning in video game soundtracks. Thomas completed his DMA at the University of Texas at Austin and is Lecturer of Music Theory at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Thomas lives in Austin, Texas and can often be found cooking gourmet cuisine from the "Yee Bistro" with his wife Tori or on walks with their affectionate dog, Cassie the Kelpie. Learn more at thomasbyee.com.
Help us continue the work of empowering voices. Give today.