The shooting that took the lives of eight in Atlanta, Georgia, is the latest in a series of instances of identity-based violence. For our sake, it must be the last.
By Luke Yang, TWR Fellow ‘20
Holes, nothing but holes were left behind when eight lives were ripped from this world as a domestic terrorist went on a what appears to be a racially motivated killing spree the evening of March 16th, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Holes in the walls, holes in the victims’ bodies, holes in the eyes of the first responders. For their loved ones, the gaping holes left in their souls, raw and bleeding, as real as those from the bullets that tore through the bodies of the eight victims. The hole meant to hold the answer to the question “Why?” is the only one that sticks out; it’s not much of a hole. If anything, it’s a geyser - instantly full to bursting with answers. And that makes it all the more disappointing.
Why were we all so ready? So ready to give our thoughts, so ready to say the shooter was having “a really bad day”. So ready to stand on the other end of the spectrum; it’s racism, pure and simple. We were far too quick on this one. In an ideal world, we would have taken time to reflect, to do some deep soul-searching to find the one true answer. However, the world we live in is one in which every one of us knew the answer from the moment we saw that first headline: this was an instance of hate against Asians, and the horrifying proof of a secondary pandemic of rising anti-Asian sentiments across the country. Whether we call it like it is or try to sweep the truth under the rug, we know.
We know because how many times has this happened before? Countless. We are far too familiar with tragedies like these, far too accustomed to the game of tug-of-war between “This needs to stop. Now,” and “You’re overreacting, these things are never preventable” that always seems to end with no real change as both sides peter out. Just as we all know why this shooting happened, we all know that soon enough, the hate train will shuttle its way to the next mass atrocity, carrying with it yet another load of death, sadness, outrage, and a conspicuous lack of change.
Except it won’t. It can’t, because we have no right to let it. We might be allowed some leeway if this was the first obscenity of its kind, but it isn't. It’s not even close. We have far too much experience playing this game, riding out this cycle of violence. Time and time again, the spotlight jumped from group to group, bringing death and insufficient action along with it. Take the killings of black Americans due to police brutality: every one of us knows Botham Jean, Rayshard Brooks, Elijah Taylor, Philando Castille, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown. We know the unfairness of their deaths, and we also know that each and every one of their deaths should have been the last. Until the next one came, and the next, and the next.
Circle back to the Jewish people; even going as far back as the Holocaust, the world knew about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis, and did nothing to stop it. It took six million deaths for the world to proclaim, “never again.” And yet, we clearly have not learned: the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the Rohingya genocide, the Anfal genocide, and far too many others have occurred in the years since the end of World War Two. How many more people have to die before we recognize that we have no excuse to let this sick pattern of identity-based violence repeat itself even one more time? We know the answer to that one, too: zero. Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Paul Andre Michels, Delaina Yaun, Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue. We have no choice but to make it so that these eight people are the last to ever pay the ultimate price for our apathy.
We’ve said that they must be the last, now we must make it so. This instance of hate against Asian-Americans needs to be the catalyst for us to recognize all forms of discrimination and identity-based violence. History has shown us what will happen if we let this slide. Let’s break the trend. Now is the time to confront racism and hate in all its forms. Lobby your lawmakers, and elect those that fight hate, not spread it. Have those difficult conversations with family. Call out microaggressions. Donate to advocacy groups, march in the streets, attend vigils, do it all. This is our last chance to create a future in which no more names will ever be added to the list of victims of identity-based violence, if we are truly serious about preventing our society from skidding onwards along the path towards mass atrocity. We cannot let a single additional death slide if we truly mean it when we say, “never again.”
The hate train has a schedule. It knows where it plans to go, even if we don’t. If we wait to find out, it’ll be too late. Instead, it’s up to us to stop it in its tracks. Band Aid measures won’t work; the train will continue to run even with a few busted windows. Piece by piece, it must be dismantled until all that is left behind are the tracks that it rode on. Tracks that will forever serve as testament to the havoc that the hate train has wreaked, tracks that crisscross the globe many times over, tracks that will be forever known to have stopped in Atlanta, Georgia, when the world finally decided to start to care.
No more holes. Let’s make it happen.
Luke Yang is a sophomore at Miami Palmetto Senior High School. He is a Youth Action Fellow and Managing Editor of the Blog. He is also a Youth Ambassador for the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial, through which he works to put on Holocaust remembrance programs each year.
Banner Source Image: https://nypost.com/2021/04/10/atlanta-cops-beg-residents-to-stop-shooting-each-other/