Atlanta Shootings: Calling It Out
It has been a painful and sad 48 hours for me and many others. I’m sure you’ve all heard by now about the heart-wrenching tragedy of the Atlanta shooting. Eight people woke up on Tuesday morning with breath in their lungs, maybe they hugged their loved ones, ate with friends, went to work, I’m sure some at dreams and aspirations for the future, but by Tuesday evening those were traded for lifeless bodies. There are so many sordid details about this story and this man that feels like rubbing salt in a wound the more I read about it. He was a Christian, was supposedly an avid Bible reader and active church attendee. What is most upsetting to me, however, on top of the actual tragedy, is how it first played out in the national conversation.
I woke up Wednesday morning watching the press conference and news on the topic and none of the news outlets called the crime racially motivated when 6 of the 8 victims were of Asian descent. In the press conference with Cpt. Jay Baker, his entire explanation of how the crime was categorized was based on the assailant's understanding of it what he did. The officer explained that “he had a bad day and that’s what he did.” He did not frame the crime for what it was. Then in the last 24 hours, there was a national outcry from the Asian American community and slowly the media and the department responsible for the press conference back-peddled their words. My anger is not directed at law enforcement. I am angry at the killer and how this particular officer described the tragedy, but ultimately my anger is rooted in a systemic issue I believe we have in this country. Whenever a tragedy happens to minorities, women, and the poor in this country, half the time we cannot name it for what it is. When it comes to violence against women, people may ask, “What was she wearing?” When it comes to helping the poor to have a foot to stand, people, may say, “They have to work for it.” When Ahmaud Arbery was shot because he was walking through a house being built, they ask “Why was he there?” When George Floyd suffocated with a police officer on his neck… “He was a criminal.” When the Asian Americans have experienced a 1900% increase in attacks throughout the country (3800 attacks since last March), because they are blamed for COVID-19, and a gunman targets a business owned and run by an Asian woman, and guns down 8 people, 6 of whom were Asian... “He said it was not racially motivated…he was having a bad day.”
Throughout this year I have seen news article posts on social media showing elderly Asian Americans being attacked and caught unaware. I’ve seen picture after picture of elderly Asian Americans that are my parents' age, beaten and shoved. These incidents have been on the rise throughout the country. National news outlets don’t even cover many of these incidents. My friends screenshot the pictures from local news outlets, when I look up the name of the victims nothing shows up. No doubt this pandemic has been a hellscape for many people, businesses built with blood sweat and tears crumbled to dust, people have lost their mothers, fathers, and grandparents, but anger and hostility are being wrongly targeted towards elderly Asian Americans who will not or cannot advocate for themselves. Then on Tuesday, this tragedy occurs and when the Asian American community and the rest of the country can see the crime for what it is, we are not able to define it for ourselves.
With that said, I refuse my anger to be an end in itself. As we travel towards the resurrection this Lenten season, I will always look for the light. In the darkness that is the frustration, anger, and fear for my parents and other loved ones, in my feelings of helplessness for the victims and their families, my faith will lead me to reach, and claw at times for signs of the resurrection. Christ has always beckoned me towards hope, life, compassion, and love. That’s what the resurrection is for me, to see hope when my eyes behold none. We call out our shortcomings and our mortality for what it is in Lent; no defense mechanisms, no denial, but in facing the reality of ourselves and the world around us, we see the truth of God’s love and grace. In Sunday’s passage, it said, “21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” We see the reality of the Kingdom in the life of Jesus, and how far we have to go in the world around us. In all the things I am feeling today, I am resolved to speak the truth, to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves, and I’m resting my hope in Christ. Please join me in praying for the victim’s families today and those that feel vulnerable, unheard, and unseen in this season.
