# Atlanta massage parlor shootings - white perp, "apparently" Asian victims **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2021, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065 "2021-03-17T05:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/21 "2021-03-17T23:00:28Z")
This story names 5 victims who were identified; 3 Asian women, a white man, and a Hispanic man who so far is alive. > **[Official Who Said Atlanta Shooting Suspect Was Having A 'Bad Day' Faces...](https://www.npr.org/2021/03/17/978141138/atlanta-shooting-suspect-is-believed-to-have-visited-spas-he-targeted)** > > Robert Aaron Long, 21, who was arrested within hours of the attacks at three massage businesses, has been charged with murder and assault. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/22 "2021-03-17T23:04:29Z")
The mayor of Atlanta is _not_ happy with how the police are depicting this: [Atlanta mayor calls police depiction of motive in spa killings ‘victim blaming’ (yahoo.com)](https://news.yahoo.com/atlanta-shooting-asian-women-mayor-bottoms-victim-blaming-205454804.html) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/23 "2021-03-17T23:07:00Z")
Sometimes a small pecker is just a small pecker. People point and laugh . Feelings get hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/24 "2021-03-17T23:11:16Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > what the victims did or didn’t do for a living should be completely irrelevant. I disagree. If a series of victims have been targetted because of their race, or their sex, or their line of work, that is a relevant factor for the public to know. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/25 "2021-03-17T23:27:37Z")
Korean news media is reporting the perp shouted “Kill all the Asians!” before firing. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/26 "2021-03-17T23:37:45Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I disagree. If a series of victims have been targetted because of their race, or their sex, or their line of work, that is a relevant factor for the public to know. Relevant to solving a crime, yes, but all too often people in certain categories who become victims are given less sympathy, as are their families. Their professions are irrelevant to whether or not they and their loved ones are “deserving” of sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/27 "2021-03-18T00:05:47Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > I disagree. If a series of victims have been targetted because of their race, or their sex, or their line of work, that is a relevant factor for the public to know. > > Relevant to solving a crime, yes, but all too often people in certain categories who become victims are given less sympathy, as are their families. Their professions are irrelevant to whether or not they and their loved ones are “deserving” of sympathy. Individuals are free to believe what they want about the victims or the suspect or the guy down the street. How they think of the victims may say a lot about them as individuals. That doesn’t mean factual information about a news story that needs to be reported should be suppressed. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/28 "2021-03-18T00:11:59Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s absolutely a hate crime; it’s absolutely terrorism. I’m less clear on whether it’s specifically racist terrorism. Reading some smart people writing about it is making this a little clearer to me. If the dead were murdered at a sex business, it was a racially-themed sex business of a sort that in the US tends to cater to men having racial sexual fantasies. When the women were targeted, they were likely targeted because of their intersection of race, sex, and occupation. It’s tricky to isolate one of these factors; the terrorism affects multiple communities. I think what gets me is folks (in other places) who were suggesting that, if it were targeting “only” women or “only” sex workers, that might mean it wasn’t a hate crime. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/29 "2021-03-18T00:31:08Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Jack the Ripper v. 2.0? I object to your misappropriation and stereotyping of the v2.0 label. How dare you! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/30 "2021-03-18T00:54:03Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Reading some smart people writing about it is making this a little clearer to me. If the dead were murdered at a sex business, it was a racially-themed sex business of a sort that in the US tends to cater to men having racial sexual fantasies. The _only_ evidently sex-themed massage parlors around here appear to be Asian. There’s really no other choice. They’re very prevalent. It could well be that Asian parlors were the only ones he knew of. Out here, if you want a non-Asian “massage”, you’d have to pick up a streetwalker. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/31 "2021-03-18T01:11:27Z")
So it looks like if you’re a religiously nutty white guy with suppressed pervy sexual urges you have one of two choices, either go fully nutball like this guy or become the leader of a mega-church. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/32 "2021-03-18T01:16:27Z")
This is America-You can do both! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/33 "2021-03-18T01:44:43Z")
I have two relatives who were LCMTs at one time. They had training about what to do if a customer tried to pull any funny stuff; in short, it was basically “You have 5 minutes to get dressed and leave the property, or we are calling the police, and never come back here.” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/34 "2021-03-18T05:27:20Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > They had training about what to do if a customer tried to pull any funny stuff; in short, it was basically “You have 5 minutes to get dressed and leave the property, or we are calling the police, and never come back here.” That particular training probably isn’t helpful when the “funny stuff” being pulled by the customer consists of pulling a gun and starting shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/35 "2021-03-18T13:15:16Z")
This is likely behind a paywall but for anyone who has a WaPo subscription: > **[The man charged with the spa shootings was quickly humanized. What about the...](https://www.thelily.com/the-man-charged-with-the-spa-shootings-was-quickly-humanized-what-about-the-victims/)** > > As an Asian American woman, it makes me wonder what the articles would say about me. There really isn’t any separating sexism and racism when it comes to young Asian women because we’ve hypersexualized and objectified them. Its a different sort of you can’t separate the two than you get with Stacey Abrams, where strong black women are particularly threatening, not because we sexualize them, but we are afraid they will emasculate us. For minority women, misogyny and racism cannot be pulled apart so easily. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/36 "2021-03-18T13:32:33Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > There really isn’t any separating sexism and racism when it comes to young Asian women because we’ve hypersexualized and objectified them. Its a different sort of you can’t separate the two than you get with Stacey Abrams, where strong black women are particularly threatening, not because we sexualize them, but we are afraid they will emasculate us. For minority women, misogyny and racism cannot be pulled apart so easily. This is a really good point. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/37 "2021-03-18T13:44:47Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > > Reading some smart people writing about it is making this a little clearer to me. If the dead were murdered at a sex business, it was a racially-themed sex business of a sort that in the US tends to cater to men having racial sexual fantasies. > > The _only_ evidently sex-themed massage parlors around here appear to be Asian. There’s really no other choice. They’re very prevalent. It could well be that Asian parlors were the only ones he knew of. Out here, if you want a non-Asian “massage”, you’d have to pick up a streetwalker. This is Atlanta. It’s the strip club capital of the US and probably one of the top sex worker cities in the country. There are famous strip clubs that are well known in the fabric of Atlanta culture (Clairmont Lounge, Magic City). When Atlanta United won MLS Cup, they famously went to Magic City with the trophy afterwards. If he was driven by temptation, there are tons of strip clubs he could have decided to shoot up. He targeted Asian massage parlors for some reason. There is also the issue that sex addiction leading to a loss of self control may not be an actual thing. > **[The Atlanta suspect isn’t the first to blame ‘sex addiction’ for heinous...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/18/sex-addiction-atlanta-shooting-long/?fbclid=IwAR1MHCz3EsMo97Iwsy7H9R5xLc0B3Aq1Up_RCvZC5DCvSxv73QzpsuETEdc)** > > Robert Aaron Long, 21, isn't the first high-profile defendant to blame a "sex addiction," but some researchers say the type of treatment he reportedly sought can actually make psychological problems worse. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/38 "2021-03-18T13:57:50Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > If he was driven by temptation, there are tons of strip clubs he could have decided to shoot up. He targeted Asian massage parlors for some reason. Yes. And more broadly, the idea that the only sex-worker massage businesses in Atlanta are Asian isn’t an argument _against_ implicating racism in this mass murder. Rather, it points to the super fucked up ways that Asian women are stereotyped. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/39 "2021-03-18T15:24:30Z")
The title of the article is " The man charged with the spa shootings was quickly humanized. What about the victims?" But the article is more about the (perceived by the author) dehumanization of Asians, and Asian women in particular, and the author herself in even more particular, than about the victims of this mass shooting. In fairness, a policy of protecting the identities of crime victims, and the reality that little may be known about these particular crime victims because of the (possible) nature of their employment and all the anonymization that goes along with that, makes it difficult to humanize them. That said, there are stories to be told about the victims of this crime, and it may be a while before we hear those stories. Humanizing them would be a good and necessary thing. But absolutely it’s easier to humanize the guy who’s in custody and who is answering questions about his motives. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065/40 "2021-03-18T15:28:13Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > But absolutely it’s easier to humanize the guy who’s in custody and who is answering questions about his motives. True, although I think there’s a case to be made that a non-white/Muslim/Latino/etc. perpetrator wouldn’t be humanized in the same way (of course, the comparison is skewed by the fact that those other types of perpetrators are more likely to be killed in apprehending them). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atlanta-massage-parlor-shootings-white-perp-apparently-asian-victims/938065.md?page=3)