A dialogue about the Atlanta spa shootings

Sol Garcia | THE RIDER

On March 16, a gunman killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women, and wounded another person at three different spas in Atlanta and the surrounding area.

Many people consider the shootings a hate crime, such as Jared Soto, a UTRGV computer engineering sophomore and co-vice president of the Filipino Student Association. 

When Soto heard about the event, he was not surprised. 

“Probably every day that I’ve looked on social media, I’ve seen another family or somebody else—it doesn’t even matter what country they’re in–hate crimes are being committed on them, so when I saw the news, I can’t say I was surprised,” Soto said. 

Soto discussed the shootings with his friends and his girlfriend, and they each felt disappointed with the involved law enforcement’s statements during a news conference the day after the shootings. 

The sheriff of Cherokee County, Frank Reynolds, said during the news conference that the suspect had “made indicators that he has some issues, potentially sexual addiction” and that the incident may not have been racially motivated.   

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker said that investigators who spoke with the suspect “got the impression that, yes, he understood the gravity of it, and he was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope, and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did.” 

Soto said this response was a “really lame excuse … to justify what he did.” 

“First of all, you can’t say having a bad day is an excuse to commit a crime like that,” he said. “There’s no way that that’s an excuse for that, and I think that’s what we’re most disappointed in.”

Soto and his friends believe the police should call the gunman a terrorist. 

“Call him what he is,” he said. “Call him a terrorist.” 

Yanrong Chang, a communication professor, was not surprised by the event either. 

“I think I’m not surprised when this took place,” Chang said. “Similar incidents have been taking place ever since last year.”

According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, 

anti-Asian hate crimes have increased by 145% in 2020 in the nation’s 16 largest cities.

Chang believes this might be because the COVID-19 virus is often associated with the Asian community. 

“People just assume that it was started from China, and, so, as a result, is, as long as you’re Asian, then you’re considered, maybe, the cause of the virus,” Chang said. “The Asian people became the victim of such pain, hatred or the blame.”  

While she said she may not personally know the gunman’s motives, Chang said this incident signifies hatred.

“In the U.S., it is a diverse society, so many races, so many ethnic groups live together, and so this racial problem has been a social problem for the United States,” she said. “It’s also a historical problem, and there’s the hatred, there’s a prejudice against certain minority groups, out of ignorance or out of other reasons.”

That hatred and prejudice creates a feeling of wariness in people, including Chang.

“Being a minority myself, it does make you feel you have to be extra cautious or careful,” she said. “Otherwise, you don’t know. You don’t know what might happen to you.”

After the shootings, Chang believes the next steps for making positive change is understanding diversity while also seeing common similarities between everyone.

“You can always find common points between different individuals,” she said. “We look at people from … a single dimension, but then you see people in the full dimension. Then, you are not going to be afraid of people who are racially different from you anymore.”  

Chang believes having a dialogue about understanding each other is important so further violence does not occur. 

“If you really sit down, and then you want to understand each other, that is more knowledge,” she said. “A true understanding of people is necessary for us to avoid further violence, this kind of hate crimes,” she said. 

In an email sent to The Rider, Chang wrote, “It’s counterintuitive and might be brushed aside instantly by some as impossible, but it is no denying the fact that without true forgiveness, hard relationships will continue and worsen.”

In response to the shootings, UTRGV President Guy Bailey sent a campuswide email to “remind our campus of UTRGV’s commitment to fostering and preserving a diverse and inclusive environment, free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.” 

The email contained resources for faculty, staff and students, including the Student Life and Dean of Students Office. 

Rebecca Gadson, dean of students, said she wants all students to know they are not alone. 

“We want to make sure students realize they’re not alone, and that we’re here to support all members of our community,” Gadson said. 

The Student Life and Dean of Students Office holds celebrations, workshops and programs year-round to create spaces for intersectionality, the dean said. 

“We do a number of different types of celebrations–diversity and equity and inclusion, education and workshop opportunities for people to explore the intersectionality of their identity and to work toward equity in all areas of life,” she said. 

Last week, the Center for Diversity and Inclusion and DREAM Resource Center hosted three healing circles on reflecting, processing and learning about stopping the hate and violence against Asian Americans. 

“We are able to share emotions, share feelings, share how we’re learning, how we’re being affected, and then utilize each other for solidarity,” said Aaron Hinojosa, program coordinator for the center. 

Hinojosa said he has seen a range of reactions from the UTRGV community regarding the spa shootings.

“People not knowing what they can do to help–that’s … been a common theme that emerges,” Hinojosa said. “Also, what I noticed is people share that they’re holding on to a lot of emotions, but they don’t know how to address them.” 

He said those themes are addressed during the healing circles and talking about these serious issues can help. 

“That tradition of not talking about problems, not talking about issues–it’s not healthy,” Hinojosa said. “By what we’re seeing in just this country, in terms of violence, is [that] something’s not working. Talking about it is one of the steps in the right direction.”