#StopAsianHate after Atlanta shooting: Untangling race, gender and foreign policy
ROBIN HUANG: The nation faced yet another gun-related tragedy where a domestic terrorist killed eight individuals in a series of shootings across Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday. Six of the eight victims were of Asian descent, spurring widespread condemnation of anti-Asian hate amid an uptick in related crimes nationwide. The shooting has been labeled by many activists as an anti-Asian hate crime, while Atlanta police have not yet determined the crime as racially motivated.
As a Chinese American woman, the shootings were deeply troubling. While I have been encouraged by the online outpour of support for the Asian community among my peers, I have also witnessed responses that have negligibly undercut the role of gender-based violence in this crime as well as spilled into debate on foreign policy. In the aftermath of the Atlanta shootings, conversations must acknowledge the intersection of race and gender, while being careful about its implications in broader discussions of foreign policy as well.
According to police, the perpetrator was primarily motivated by sex addiction and a desire to “eliminate temptation.” The disturbing admission reveals how gender played a role in the shooting. In American culture, Asian women have continually been fetishized as “docile and submissive.” The hypersexualization of Asian women makes them especially vulnerable in the workplace, particularly in the hospitality and service industries. While the rise in anti-Asian crime in the United States has been attributed to scapegoating over COVID-19, the violence in Atlanta was not similarly motivated. Instead, it stems from harmful stereotypes of Asian women specifically. If COVID-19 were taken out of the picture, the pernicious objectification of Asian women in American culture would remain—and this crime would have still occurred. The crime was not simply anti-Asian; it was specifically anti-Asian women.
Others have also attributed the crime—and current anti-Asian sentiment broadly—to narratives in the American foreign policy sphere regarding the rise of China. The dismissal of valid foreign policy concerns as broadly anti-Asian is uncritical and hazardous. Certainly, international relations dialogue regarding the U.S.-China competition is mired in a history of anti-Asian policy and enduring anti-Asian sentiment today. When foreign policy is rooted in racism, the public must condemn it. Nonetheless, concerns of China’s rise are also rooted in legitimate concerns. China is a rapidly rising power on the global stage, with significant implications for the United States. Domestically, the Chinese Communist Party has curbed civil liberties, such as the dramatic erosion of Hong Kong’s democracy and brutal crackdown on its Uyghur population. Given the Chinese government’s opaque nature, it is also justified to raise concerns over policies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative or intellectual property theft. Whether foreign policy viewpoints are hawkish or conciliatory, the United States must contend with China’s rise.
Fundamentally, when discussing anti-Asian racism, it is critical to distinguish between individuals of Chinese descent, like myself, and the Chinese government, which actively represses civil liberties domestically and challenges democratic norms worldwide. As a Chinese American, I have a right to live in the United States without fear of being attacked for my ethnicity. At the same time, the United States must firmly oppose the Chinese government’s repressive practices, whether in Hong Kong or Xinjiang. These two statements are not contradictory. In any conversation about race and ethnicity, separating groups from policy is essential.
The Atlanta shooting has highlighted America’s reckoning with racism targeted toward Asians. Nonetheless, it is critical we do not haphazardly ignore the intersectional issue of violence against women, nor irresponsibly conflate individuals of Asian descent with policies of Asian states.
Robin Huang is a sophomore in the Walsh School of Foreign Service studying International Politics. She is a proud Chinese American and North Carolinian.