# Democrats use of the Atlanta shooting to highlight increased violence to asians **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 19, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253 "2021-03-19T18:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/41 "2021-03-21T00:02:48Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > It’s a form of concern trolling. “Oh, yes, I recognize that _in principle_ , there is statistical evidence of racism, but in _this particular case_ , we can’t prove it was racism, so we shouldn’t tout this as The Example!” When Dylann Roof went on his rampage at a black church my first thought was that was deliberately targeting black people. In this particular case, my first thought is that this dude has a beef with Asians. Maybe there’s a bit more nuance behind his motivations but he deliberately targeted an Asian business. For me to believe it wasn’t racially motivated I’m going to have to see some pretty good evidence to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/42 "2021-03-21T00:06:04Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Is that information out there one way or the other? It looks like it may, indeed, be the case that he had been a customer at those specific spas. As per this WaPo article: > [@](#): > > He was also frequenting massage spas, one of his friends said — including, according to Atlanta police, the same Atlanta spas where this week’s slayings occurred. > **[The Atlanta spa shooting suspect’s life before attacks](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/atlanta-shooting-suspect-robert-aaron-long/2021/03/19/9397cdca-87fe-11eb-8a8b-5cf82c3dffe4_story.html)** > > The alleged killer of eight, including six Asian women, grew fixated on sex and porn, those who know him said. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/43 "2021-03-21T00:51:29Z")
Modding: This is a truly loathsome post. Definitely banworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/44 "2021-03-24T16:23:31Z")
I don’t agree with everything in this Op-Ed, but he raises a salient point: To some liberals, Asians are minorities only when it suits them. Other times, they are lumped in with white people (such as affirmative action.) > **[Dear White Liberals: Asians Aren't Your Pawns](https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/dear-white-liberals-asians-arent-your-pawns/)** > > You use Asian victimhood for your political gain, and you expect us to believe that now you care? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/45 "2021-03-24T17:57:14Z")
Maybe the problem is that liberals don’t simply categorize people, put them into a pigeon hole, and then use them for points. If nothing else, this op-ed is extremely poor as far as facts go. Anti-asian violence was a thing that was on the rise, and something that was being talked about in the media quite a bit. Why do you think that there was as much pushback about the ex-president’s racial language about COVID? It sounds like this op-ed was written by someone who only recently found out about what has been happening for quite some time now, and in a fairly common fashion, assumed that when they learned about it was when it began. Either that, or it was written in some pretty bad faith, of course. An anecdote about his “brother” and his friend’s conversation, relayed third hand, as proof of liberal hypocrisy? Actually just sounds like dude’s brother is a pretty hateful piece of shit, in all honesty, going off on his friend for daring to reach out and express concern. I really don’t think that the op-ed raised any points at all, I would say that the entire point of the op-ed is simply to misrepresent facts in order to get a rise out of people, troll style. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/46 "2021-03-24T18:02:28Z")
In the case of affirmative action, the end goal is diversity and in some cases, there can be room for disagreement about how to achieve it. I don’t see how anyone’s being used as pawns. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/47 "2021-03-24T19:24:20Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > To some liberals, Asians are minorities only when it suits them. It’s not the liberals who have been downplaying (while at the same time exacerbating) the dangerous effects of anti-Asian rhetoric described in your link: > [@](#): > > The friend said he had been concerned about all the anti-Asian violence ever since Trump and the “China” virus rhetoric. […] > > My brother replied that there were over 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian violence last year, yet you didn’t check on us. It’s interesting to compare the current consensus against the race-baiting effect of regional/ethnic names like “China virus” with some [remarks that were being made on such nomenclature around here just about a year ago:](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/79) > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The difference between the Wuhan Virus and the other geographically-named viruses is that only Wuhan has the power of the Chinese state trying to get the name changed. […] > > I suggest we call it the ‘Wuhan-Xi’ virus, or the ‘Wuhan-CCP’ virus to punish them for this crap, or perhaps the Wuhan-Pooh virus. […] > > None of those [other disease] names have been considered ‘racist’, and neither was ‘Wuhan coronavirus’ or ‘Chinese coronavirus’ - until Chinese state media declared any reference to the Chinese origin of the virus to be racist, and suddenly in America anyone who references the origin of the virus in the name is a racist. > > The American left is being played by the Chinese Communist Party. […] > > That’s exactly how the language gets weaponized by people with an agenda. It’s exactly how propagandists in China and Russia use our own language against us. It’s one of the oldest plays in the book. And the left keeps falling for it, over and over again, because it fits their priors. […] > > I have yet to see or hear anyone show any xenophobia towards Chinese people over this. > [@racepug](#): > > These weird bugs come out of “Jy-na” for a reason (actually, several) and I think it’s only fair that the Chinese (or even just a segment) get saddled with this outbreak being named after them. > [@XT](#): > > the only reason it IS being called racism is because it’s the strategy of the CCP > [@Magiver](#): > > the Chinese government screwed the entire planet with their secrecy and then blamed the US military. > > China owns this. > [@Ale](#): > > The Chinese propaganda machine knew well that they only had to drop the R bomb to deflect criticism away from them, and it worked. […] > > I, for one, think calling out an oppressive totalitarian regime attempting to rewrite history in their favour by pointing out that this virus currently causing enormous damage around the world did, in fact, originate in China, is a good thing. […] > > It’s not about feelings, it’s about the origins of a world wide disaster and efforts to rewrite history to the benefit of a totalitarian regime which is all to happy to play the race card as a distraction > [@eenerms](#): > > It’s not a race thing it’s where it came from. > [@Declan](#): > > When this is all over and its time to count the cost, China is going to have to pay reparations and thats why its being designated the chinese virus. > [@sps49sd](#): > > Calling it “China virus” is a pushback against China stating it came from Americans. […] > > Trump calling SARS-2 (or whatever) ‘the Chinese virus’ is not a racist dogwhistle at all. > [@Kearsen1](#): > > Why not name it after a region? > > Snowflakes? […] > > Also, I laugh at the “stigmatizes the region for which it was named”. EXACTLY for that reason do I think it’s a bullshit reason. Conservatives a year ago: “You liberals need to just shut up with your useful-idiot bullshit about it being racist and a problem to insist on linking the name of this deadly virus with the Chinese!” Conservatives now: “Why are you liberals not caring more about the problem of racist insistence on associating this deadly virus with the Chinese?” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253/48 "2021-03-24T21:04:21Z")
I’m all for anything that puts an end to anti-Asian violence; but I think this incident is a lot more nuanced than that. As a thought experiment: let’s say the voices in your head tell you that painted fingernails are mark of the Beast, and it’s your duty to put a stop to the coming of the anti-christ. So you buy a gun (no waiting period) and go shoot up a nail salon. Odds are your victims are 100% Vietnamese women. But your motivation wasn’t misogyny, or anti-Asian bigotry – it was religious mania. I think there are many sidebar issues about Atlanta: are massage parlors brothels in disguise? Are Asian women being forced into the sex trade? Can we stop loonies from buying guns? But we don’t seem to want to have those conversations, yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-use-of-the-atlanta-shooting-to-highlight-increased-violence-to-asians/938253.md?page=2)