A Response to the Mass Shooting in Atlanta

Following is a twitter thread from Sophia Li, a journalist and filmmaker. Her thoughts here are pretty revealing about how white supremacy culture infiltrates virtually every corner of our political, social and cultural lives. Here's that twitter thread:

1. "You've probably heard of the big news story: mass shooting targeting Asians in #Atlanta spas last night - 8 dead, 6 of them Asian women. But here are the small details that also reveal what kind of society we live in."

2. "The fact that I knew the white supremacist shooter's name before the names or stories of any of the Asian women who died."

3. "It makes me sick to my stomach to see the image of the murderer everywhere on my news feed: STOP glorifying and humanizing white supremacist killers. This does nothing but fuel other white supremacists on the fringes."

4. "The fact that news outlets still state "the motive for the killings was unclear" or this was an "apparent attack" on Asians. I don't know how much more evidence you need then when someone seeks out Asian spas with names like Young's Asian Massage and Gold Spa and starts shooting."

5. "If you're still not convinced we live in a white supremacy: the prime suspect was finally caught after a manhunt and car chase and police took the suspect into custody 'without incident.'"

6. "He was handled with care and given a chance to live, a chance to a fair trial after murdering 8 innocent people. Would any person of color ever have received the same courtesy from law enforcement?"

7. "The same roots of white supremacist hate that killed these 8 in Atlanta is the same hate that killed 9 Black churchgoers in Charleston and 23 Hispanics at an El Paso Walmart. We're not safe until all of us are safe."

8. "If you're still asking if white supremacy exists, the question you should actually ask is: have I benefitted or been oppressed by this institution? There you have your answer."

9. "The most impactful thing you can do today as an individual? Evaluate your own shortcomings, have that brutal conversation with yourself if you contribute to normalized/everyday racism, feeding into casual racist behavior or thoughts thinking it won't go further than that."

10. "Words fuel action, we must start with our own subconscious and conscious minds shaped by a society that upholds White Supremacy."