Sex Addiction or Racism?

Eight are dead after a shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, among them six Asian American women. Americans are debating the suspect’s motive — and whether Donald Trump bears some of the responsibility. Biden called racism “an ugly poison” that has been haunting the United States for a long time.

On Wednesday, the violent crime in Atlanta still seemed to fit right into the daily growing list of shootings and killing sprees in the United States; one out of more than 100 crimes of this kind since the beginning of this year, costing more than 110 lives. But three days later, this crime is regarded as a national tragedy, not just because it is the worst one this year, with its eight victims. What makes this crime stand out from the many others is the fact that the alleged shooter is a white male and six of his eight victims are Asian American women.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden ordered the flags on all federal buildings to fly at half-staff “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence,” he announced in a written statement. Biden changed his travel plans for this Friday. Instead of promoting his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill alongside Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia, they met with representatives of the Asian American community. “We have to change our hearts. Hate can have no safe harbor in America. It must stop,” Biden said following the meeting. He urged people to stand up against discrimination and racism “because our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit.” Racism is an “ugly poison” that has been haunting the United States for a long time.

The alleged shooter is 21-year-old Robert L. from Woodstock, Georgia, a city that is half an hour’s drive from Atlanta. He’s said to have entered three spas in Atlanta on Tuesday evening. Spas are brothels designated as massage parlors.* They are tolerated in Georgia, since the core service offered, the massage, is legal. Asian American women are usually the ones to offer services in these establishments. The suspect’s motive still remains unclear. Originally, the police had characterized the shooting as a robbery in progress, but it appears to be more complicated than that. According to the suspect and various witnesses, L. suffers from sex addiction in combination with a deep-rooted guilt complex. He’s being described as a deeply disturbed man who reacted to his masturbation and brothel visits with overwhelming fantasies of self-punishment. “This was the kind of guy who would hate himself for masturbating, would consider that a relapse,” his former roommate said about him. On the other hand, he also hates the sex industry. “He felt exploited and abused by it.”*

Fear in the Asian American Community

The potentially racially motivated crime against Asian Americans is being debated among politicians. Jay Baker, the suspended spokesman for the sheriff’s office of Cherokee County, fueled the debate. During the first public statement on Wednesday, he claimed that it was not a racially motivated act, but that L. had been “kind of at the end of his rope” due to his sex addiction. “Yesterday was a really bad day for him.” That remark made a lot of Asian Americans feel as if their lives weren’t worth much.

Shortly afterward, a disturbing Facebook post made by the police officer became public. In the post, Baker promotes T-shirts declaring COVID-19 as “imported from Chy-na.” He added “love my shirt,” fanning the flames even more. Statements like these reinforce the Asian American community’s fear, which has been building since the beginning of the pandemic. It also led to demonstrations in Atlanta, Washington, D.C, and New York by Asian Americans after the crime.

Former President Donald Trump had relentlessly told his followers that COVID-19 was a “China virus,” a “Wuhan virus” or simply the “kung flu,” as if the virus had a nationality.

On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki refrained from alleging any kind of motive for the crime. However, she said that there was “no question” that Trump’s rhetoric “has elevated threats against Asian Americans.”

A study conducted by California State University in San Bernardino confirms this. In New York City, for instance, a city with a large Asian community, there were at least 28 racially motivated crimes against Asian Americans in the last year. In 2019, there were three cases. Nationwide, this number has grown by 150%.

Helen Kim Ho, founder of the advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, is not surprised by these numbers. “We’re not really Americans, we’re perpetually foreigners,” she told The Washington Post. On top of that, Asian women are oversexualized in society. “All of that had to have played out in this man’s own mind.” The suspect doesn’t necessarily need to be aware of a racist motivation. It might still play a role.

*Editor’s note: This remark reflects the author’s opinion and is not factually accurate.

**Editor’s Note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.