‘What we were afraid of’: Asian American women condemn attacks

Deadly shootings in Atlanta come as Asian American women are bearing brunt of rise in hate incidents across the US.

When news broke that a gunman had opened fire on spas in the US city of Atlanta, eventually killing eight people including six Asian women, Tiffany says she felt as though she was having an out-of-body experience. The Vietnamese-American 22-year-old, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said she turned to her mother – who before the COVID-19 pandemic worked at an Atlanta hair salon – and realised that she, too, was in shock. “Now as somebody who’s a daughter of an immigrant, I’m just really relieved that I don’t have to worry about my parents walking out the streets and working while this is happening,” Tiffany told Al Jazeera.