Atlanta Spa Killings: A Toxic Mix of Racial Animosity, Misogyny, Evangelical Fervor and Obsession With Guns

A white male went out a shooting spree at three Atlanta-area spas/massage parlors, killing eight people, six of them women of Asian descent.  Racial animosity, misogyny and an obsession with firearms are a combustible mix that frequently explodes in cities large and small all across our nation.

This massacre wasn’t an aberration, indiscriminate killing of women, racial and religious minorities and schoolchildren are an integral part of our democracy.

The suspect, a 21-year-old white male, told police he had a sex addiction and that he saw the spas as a temptation that he wanted to eliminate.  

Often a spa or a massage parlor is a front for a house of prostitution, but the Atlanta police said they hadn’t received any complaints about any illicit sexual activity taking place in the establishments. But even if the masseuses were sex workers, that is irrelevant. A racist monster massacred masseuses, that’s the only relevant information.

The killer, an evangelical and son of a minister, said he had a sex addiction, and instead of praying to God for strength to resist temptation, he killed the women whom he blamed for succumbing to temptation.

It’s easy to kill women when the killer sees them only as orifices for his sexual gratification. It’s easy to kill women when the killer sees them as foreign exotic she-devils. It’s easy to kill women when the killer sees them as Asians spreading venereal diseases and the coronavirus.

I haven’t mentioned the murderer by name and I never will. It’s important that we remember the victims of this racist animal. The names of all the victims haven’t been released, but here’s what we do know: Killed were Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, of Acworth; Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta; Xiaojie Yan, 49, of Kennesaw; and Daoyou Feng, 44.