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Celebrities unite in call to #StopAsianHate following Atlanta killings
Tuesday, news broke that suspected gunman Robert Aaron Long entered three Atlanta-area spas and killed eight people. The 21-year-old confessed to the attacks and has been charged:
UPDATE: Cherokee County, GA Sheriff's office says they have charged Robert Aaron Long with 4 counts of murder and one count of aggregated assault, so far, in this case. https://t.co/bMX61a2Frq
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) March 17, 2021
As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, six of the eight victims were Asian women. This brought deep-seated xenophobia—increased by the COVID-19 pandemic—and hatred toward the Asian-American community back to the forefront.
Several celebrities have joined the chorus publicly calling to #StopAsianHate, including George Takei, John Legend, Mindy Kaling, Shonda Rhimes, Padma Lakshmi and Dwyane Wade:
The Pulse Nightclub shooter was known to frequent that club. It didn’t make his killing of 49 LGBTQ people there less an act of hate, however personally conflicted he may have been.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 17, 2021
Don’t let them change the Atlanta narrative.#StopAsianHate
Last night was an act of pure racist hatred. This is very personal to me as a mom of a child who is both Black & Asian. But it shouldn’t have to be personal to know its wrong. Speak up. Hashtags are nice but actions save lives. Standing w/ the AAPI community. #StopAsianHate pic.twitter.com/Rtx1b2AZW9
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) March 17, 2021
Asians are not a monolith.
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) March 17, 2021
The continent includes around 48 countries and 3 territories, all with unique cultures, food customs and traditions.
But a racist attack against one of us is an attack against all of us. #StopAsianHate
The targeting of our Asian brothers and sisters is sickening, but not surprising given the normalizing of anti-Asian hate speech in the past year. We have to #StopAsianHate, enough is enough!
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) March 17, 2021
#StopAsianHate pic.twitter.com/VnEPzFIR3J
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) March 17, 2021
This is sooo heartbreaking...praying for our world. To my Asian American family, please take time to grieve but know youre loved, seen and IMPORTANT. We have to keep standing up, speaking out, rallying together and fighting for change. We cannot lose hope!! ❤️#StopAsianHate #NOW https://t.co/Xm4ojbJALw
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 17, 2021
I know these women. The ones working themselves to the bone to send their kids to school, to send money back home. In too much pain to know what else to say so I’ll just leave this here. https://t.co/Dz7wKkbADy
— Lulu Wang (@thumbelulu) March 17, 2021
Wake up... your Asian friends and family are deeply scared, horrified, sick to their stomachs and wildly angry. Please please please check in on us, please please please stand with us. Please. Your Asian friend needs you, even if they aren’t publicly grieving on social media. x
— Lana Condor (@lanacondor) March 17, 2021
Absolutely horrible. Sending love to all the loved ones of those whose lives were taken. Our nation needs to reckon with the increased threats being directed at our Asian-American brothers and sisters. https://t.co/52DCKPeDOt
— John Legend (@johnlegend) March 17, 2021
Long blamed the crime on his sex addiction and the spas representing a "temptation he wanted to eliminate" (h/t AJC), and local police have not officially classified the murders as a hate crime.
More information on anti-asian violence resources can be found here.
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