Law enforcement has yet to discern the motivation of the man who horrifically slaughtered eight people at three Atlanta area massage parlors, six of whom were of Asian descent, and all but one of whom were women. Police are speculating whether the gunman, who told police he had a “sexual addiction,” was motivated by conspiracy theories that all Asian-owned massage parlors are a cover for sex work or trafficking. But then the narrative that emerged overnight was that this was an act of white supremacy.
Maybe it was. Even if the assailant was motivated by his desire to eradicate “temptation,” such a sexualization of Asian-owned businesses constitutes its own sort of racism. But even more concerning than the public and the media’s rush to judgment over this attack is their willingness not just to ignore rampant discrimination against Asian Americans in education and attacks in the street but to whitewash this oppression.
