Why the Atlanta Massacre was Racially Motivated

By Richard Lee

One

The fetishization of Asian women is a long and dehumanizing narrative that traces itself back to the porn industry and wars fought in Korea and Vietnam.

Robert Aaron Long's sexual addiction was inextricably tied to race. His crime, no matter how sexually motivated, was by nature, racialized as well.

Two

There is an eye witness account in the media who heard him say, “I'm going to kill all Asians” during the shooting.

Why haven't you heard this account? Because it was a Korean employee who was interviewed by a local Korean media source and was reported in the Chosun Ilbo, a national Korean media outlet.

Three

The only source saying that this was a "sexually motivated crime" is from the suspect after being interviewing by police. If it is classified as a hate crime, the accused will have added time to his sentence.

So, the same person who would suffer the most from a hate crime classification is the only source who denies it was racially motivated.

On one hand, you have an eye witness, who was shot at and escaped with his life.

But his voice is literally not being heard, because he does not speak English.*

Instead, we take the word of a white man, who just killed 8 people.

* How could a person who "doesn't speak English" know what the suspect was saying?

English comprehension is not a binary (understand everything vs. understand nothing), it's a continuum and therefore, there are many Asians that would understand enough in the moment, but wouldn't be identified as English speaking by, say, an American media reporter.

Why?

Why are we letting the murderer control the narrative?

Why aren't we listening to the voices of the victims?

Is it because of their language and accent of their voices?

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Richard Lee is a sought-after speaker on issues of justice and the church. He serves as the global officer of public engagement with International Justice Mission and is the host of The Pursuit with Richard Lee podcast, featuring unfiltered conversations with faith leaders about their journey to pursue God. His talk “Slavery Still Exists. Here’s How to End It.” can be found on TED.com. You can follow him on social: @richardl.ee on IG & @richardl_ee on twitter.