The Atlanta massacre and US anti-trafficking laws
Al Jazeera
What led to the massacre was not only the killer’s misogyny and racism, but also criminal laws and policies.
On March 16, the world was rocked by the worst massacre of Asians in modern American history. A white 21-year-old from the Atlanta suburbs, Robert Long, targeted Asian spas in a rampage that left one person injured and eight dead, including six Asian women. Critics rightly excoriated Long’s claim that his actions were not discriminatory because they were the product of a “sex addiction” that drove him to eliminate sexual “temptation”. Of course, a man working out his sexual issues by killing women is the apotheosis of misogyny. Targeting Asian women because they are sexual temptresses is racist. The sexualisation and fetishisation of Asian women is a well-recognised phenomenon, and one I have experienced. I have lost count of the strange men who have asked about my “exotic nationality”. In my teens, a 2 Live Crew song made it difficult to walk around without hearing the words “me so horny”. Growing up, people inquired too often whether my Japanese-American mother, who married a white man, was a “geisha” or a “war bride”. She was born in Fresno, California. At six years old, she was sent to a concentration camp along with thousands of Japanese-American citizens.More Related News