By Maya J. Carter

Again, here we go. Another act of cruelty, violence and hate has befallen America, this time targeting Asian Americans. On March 16, 2021, a 21 year-old white male traveled to three businesses in the Atlanta-area and shot and killed eight civilians, six of them being women of Asian descent. During a press conference conducted in Atlanta the following afternoon, Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms stated: “Whether it is senseless violence that we’ve seen play out in our streets, or more targeted violence like we saw yesterday, a crime against any community is a crime against us all.” She continued on to note that six of the victims were Asian women. Reporters questioned whether the killing spree would be considered a hate crime, especially in light of the recent growing number of reports of crimes against Asian Americans in the United States. The businesses targeted by this senseless violence were Asian-owned businesses. It was also disclosed that the shooter was preparing to travel to Florida to likely continue on with his violent rampage.