Legal Momentum is outraged by the tragic murder of eight people in Georgia, six of whom were Asian women. Our heart goes out to the victims, their families, and communities. We are also struck by the blatant racism and misogyny that motivated this violence, further compounded by the repressed sexualization, subordination and victim-blaming deeply woven within contemporary evangelicalism. This is a clear expression of intersecting biases that cannot be untangled.
During the pandemic, hate crimes, violence and harassment against Asians have increased sharply. The economic and health crisis brought on by COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on women, especially low-wage women of color, and the six Asian women victims were no exception. Unfortunately, Asians in the United States face a “double pandemic” of overlapping crises – not only the impact of the pandemic itself, the use of racist rhetoric and actions to scapegoat and target the Asian community in connection with the pandemic.
But this is more deeply rooted. The murders of the six Asian women are a part of this country’s long history of violence against Asians, some of which was state sanctioned. Not only do we condemn the racism and misogyny at the heart of the shootings, but we must also treat violence against women as reprehensible and work collectively toward changing our culture and belief systems that normalize such violence.
We stand with our Asian communities and remain committed in our gender justice work to ensure that violence against all women is not minimized and silenced. To support Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations, to learn more about the issues, or to get involved, we suggest visiting:
