‘We should channel our grief:’ Calls for change a year after spa shootings

The Atlanta Korean American Committee Against Asian Hate hosted a commemorative gathering Wednesday evening, a year after the metro Atlanta spa shootings. It was one of many vigils, rallies and events held in recent days to honor the lives of the eight people killed in last year’s attacks, six of whom were women of Asian descent.

Speakers reflected at length on the role the tragedy played helping mobilize a wave of activism countering anti-Asian hate, and called on residents to continue to organize.

In the past year, the local Asian community has “transformed from quiet to loud, (from) invisible to visible,” said Michelle Kang, secretary general of the Committee, which was formed the day after the shooting rampage to kickstart the “fight against the rise of Asian hate.”

Wednesday evening’s gathering of elected officials and Asian American community leaders took place at the Korean American Center in Norcross. Gwinnett County is home to the state’s largest Asian American population, according to the data from the 2020 U.S. Census.

On a stage decorated with U.S. and Korean flags, Pastor Han Byung-chul from the Korean Central Presbyterian Church of Atlanta helped open the program on a somber note, with his remarks leading up to a moment of silence.

“We are here with a heavy heart, heavy because we have lost innocent and precious lives a year ago,” Han said. “Six of them were our Asian sisters.”

Like most speakers who followed him on the stage, Han said last year’s spa shootings were part of a national swelling of violence targeting Asians.

Per a report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, hate crimes against Asian Americans soared by over 300% in 2021. Meanwhile, of the 10,905 hate crimes against Asians and Pacific Islanders that the Stop AAPI Hate National Report recorded between the outbreak of the pandemic and the end of 2021, nearly two thirds were reported by women.

“Across our nation, Asian Americans, particularly Asian women, are still living in fear and anxiety,” Han said.

Following a flower dedication and a slide show depicting photos from rallies and community events held in Atlanta in the wake of the shootings, lawmakers in attendance addressed the crowd.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

“I want to take a moment right now to recognize the diversity of the communities standing up and standing in solidarity with the Asian American community and with the Korean community in this moment. And I want everyone in the Asian American community and the Korean community to know that … you’re not alone. We are with you,” said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Suwanee.

Bourdeaux was among the sizable group of lawmakers who co-sponsored the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was signed into law last May. The bill calls for expedited reviews of coronavirus-related hate crimes, and aims to make the reporting of hate crimes more robust at the local and state levels.

State Sen. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat, is the first Asian American state senator in Georgia history.

The victims and survivors of last year’s spa shootings, she said, painted a “vibrant picture of the America (that) we who grew up in the immigrant community know well. Their lives were stories of work and hope, of striving and dreams and building a history in a country they came to call home. On this one-year anniversary, many will remember how they died. But they should be remembered for how they lived.”

In Au’s view, honoring those lives can be done by organizing to counter anti-Asian discrimination.

“We should channel our grief, devote our energy, and utilize our most precious gift of time to help shape the better world that they deserved.”

The spa shootings, she added, represented just “a new chapter in what is a very old story in this country.”

In a nod to the violence of the events of March 16, 2021 – and a sign of local Asian American communities’ growing engagement with law enforcement authorities over the past year – a representative from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security closed the program on Wednesday. He shared best practices for staying safe.