The Buddhist Global Relief team expresses its shock and moral indignation at the brutal murder of eight people at massage parlors in and around Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16. Six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent. While it is still uncertain whether this slaughter was racially motivated, what remains true is that violence, both verbal and physical, against Asian Americans has dramatically increased over the past year.
There have been 3,800 reported incidents of anti-Asian violence and harassment in the U.S. in the last year, most targeting Asian women. Probably many other incidents have gone unreported. The rise in anti-Asian bigotry and violence cannot be viewed in isolation but must be seen as connected with bigotry, misogyny, and culture of white supremacy that has too often reared its ugly head. Racial and gender-based violence and abuse in this country can no longer be tolerated but call out for rigorous remedial measures.
This terrible incident, which has sent shock waves through the Asian American community, underscores the need to treat people of all races—and all women—with kindness, care, and respect. Many of our BGR team members and supporters are of Asian origins, and their dread and anxiety have been heightened by this manifestation of heartless disregard for human life. We hope that none will have to face abuse or harassment in any shape or form.
Such ruthless conduct has been inflamed by the spiteful rhetoric that several of our political leaders have used to suggest that people of Chinese ethnicity attempted to inflict harm on the U.S. population by deliberately releasing the coronavirus into our midst. These innuendoes are entirely false and must be categorically rejected. It is time to put an end to all racially motivated slander.
As an organization, BGR decries all hatred and violence based on racial differences, whether in this country or elsewhere. In our programs we seek to promote a world in which all people, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, and national identity, can thrive materially and pursue lives that enable them to realize their innate dignity.
We lament the premature and senseless loss of eight precious lives that took place in Georgia, just at a time when we should all be joining together to fight our common foe: a virus that has already claimed over 530,000 American lives and close to 2.7 million lives around the world. We deeply sympathize with the surviving loved ones of the victims and hope they receive all the support they need in their time of grief. May the blessings of the Triple Gem protect them long into the future.
Photo by Jacob Stone on Unsplash
