The Guardian
Biden and Harris fly to Atlanta to meet Asian American leaders
The president speaks at the university as the country evaluates the attacks that killed eight, six of them Asian women Joe Biden and Kamala Harris arrive at Dobbins’ air reserve base in Marietta, Georgia, on Friday. Photo: Eric Baradat / AFP / Getty Images Joe Biden and Kamala Harris flew to Atlanta on Friday, hoping to console a city and Asian American communities shaken by this week’s shootings that left eight dead and one injured. The president and vice president plan to meet with Asian American community leaders and politicians in Georgia, before Biden, who had previously talked about the increase in hate crimes against Asia, speaks at a city university. Six of the victims of the shooting were women of Asian descent. The sniper targeted two massage parlors in Atlanta and one on the outskirts of the city. Robert Aaron Long, 21, was charged with the murder of eight people and the assault of another. The victims’ ethnicity generated a discussion about race and the treatment of Asian Americans, mainly women, in America. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s office was severely criticized after alleging that the shootings did not appear to be race related and for stating that Long reported that he was “having a bad day” when he opened fire at the three spas. Four more victims were named on Friday. Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong Yue, 63, were shot and killed in two neighboring massage parlors in northeastern Atlanta. Delaina Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44, were killed in a room northwest of the city. Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz was also shot, but he survived. The day after the shooting, Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds was scorned after saying that Long “gave no indication” that his crimes were racially motivated. “We asked him specifically and the answer was no,” said Reynolds. The apparent acceptance of Long’s statement generated widespread reaction, with Asian-American leaders pointing to the increase in hate crimes against Asians and the stigmatization of Asian women. “It looked like a hate crime to me,” Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta, told CNN on Thursday night. “This was aimed at Asian spas. Six of the dead women were Asian, so it is difficult to see how anything other than that. “Bottoms said:” There are many areas of hate that are covered by the definition of hate crime. ” In Atlanta, Asian Americans are still trying to reconcile with the shootings. Woojin Kang, a young descendant of Koreans, was on the sidewalk in front of the Gold Spa on Thursday night, the location of one of the shootings, holding a yellow neon sign that read “Asian women’s bodies were killed” above the hashtag “#StopAsianHate”. “The biggest thing I’m encouraging in my community is regret. This means shouting violently in any way that can manifest. But we need to scream. We can no longer be silent, ”said Kang. “People say that Asians are submissive, let’s be quiet. No. We need to shout, whatever. It seemed to me that I was leaving today with signs, standing in the street. ”Biden and Harris had already planned a visit to Atlanta, as part of an excursion aimed at praising Covid-19’s recently passed $ 1.9 trillion relief law, but the focus of the visit shifted after the shootings. They plan to discuss racist rhetoric and actions against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands, which proliferated during the pandemic, after Covid-19 first emerged in China. The shooting came just days after Biden warned of the increase in violence against Americans of Asian descent. In a speech on March 11 – his first prime-time speech as president – Biden condemned anti-Asian racism and hate crimes. “Very often, we turn against each other,” said Biden. “Violent hate crimes against Americans of Asian origin who were attacked, persecuted, accused and made into scapegoats. “Right now, many of them, our American compatriots, are at the forefront of this pandemic trying to save lives and yet they are still forced to live in fear for their lives just walking the streets of America. “Biden added,” It is wrong. It is not American. And it must stop. ”Almost 3,800 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center for Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands, and its partner advocacy groups since March 2020.