Mass murder in Georgia massage parlors example of sex, religion, and shared community gone wrong

OPINION

Photo of relaxing massage in window of now closed
Youngs Asian Massage 

I live 10 miles from a recent mass shooting. Yes, I admit that I have had a full body massage several times but not at this particular place, and I have never been invited into a private room. But if I had been welcomed there, would that give me the right to shoot and kill eight people and leave another one shot in the forehead in intensive care? 

Site of first of three spa shootings in Metro Atlanta -
Hwy 92 in Cherokee County, Ga.

Of course not, but we’re living in a crazy world according to some people, a world of “psycho poop,"  of blaming China for a virus, and if we don’t get our act together, we will kill each other either by harsh words or bullets. 

One storeowner in the mall where the shootings occurred said the "problem" is people don't respect and treasure each other before tragedy strikes.

The eight people that were gunned down mercilessly two days ago didn’t have a chance. Probably the reason they were slaughtered was not because someone had a sex fetish. A 21-year-old male who is said to have frequented the massage parlor on Highway 92 in Cherokee County, Georgia couldn’t have respected the people he killed. There was probably no one from the Asian culture at his Baptist Church. 

Red candle wax and flower stems on pavement outside closed spa

But that I don’t know. What I do know is that there are a lot of Asian Americans who are very, very scared, living in a country of high ideals of freedom and justice but a history of lynchings and genocide. Asians like other non-white people continue to be terrorized by other Americans. They are probably not on Robert Aaron Long’s list of vulnerable people. Instead, they are victims. 

Omen or a protection symbol/message? Dead frog on sidewalk outside a newly opened massage business on Bells Ferry Rd. in Cherokee Cty., Ga.

And where do we go from here?

Japanese owned Yanmar Evo Center is just down the street from Youngs Asian Massage, but at press time, they had no comment. Could they be the next target?