Authorities searched for a motive for the gunman who killed 10 people at a Los Angeles-area ballroom dance club during Lunar New Year celebrations, slayings that sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities and cast a shadow over festivities nationwide.
The suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday in the van that authorities say he used to flee after being prevented from attacking another dance club. The New York Times reported that a man whose family runs that venue wrested the gun from the assailant.
Is it wrong to feel some sense of relief that, at least this time, the killer wasn't some Trumpist white-supremacist acting on a deluded desire to spark a racial/civil war?
Yes, that would be wrong.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, most violence and assaults in the US directed towards Asians comes from the African-American side of the spectrum rather than the boogeyman of Trump supporters.
It is, however, fun to watch how the initial narrative was quick to run with the claim it was a white supremacy or racial-based attack, and then right on cue, as soon as that was disproven, the narrative has immediately shifted to "gun violence".
Aaron, too bad your narrative is shaped by falsehoods. A study of reported Asian-American hate incidents (University of Maryland, College Park) shows that 75%+ of the offenders were white males, as opposed to the narrative being spread by viral videos and slanted news stories (pushed by, surprise, surprise, the far right). The genesis of this misleading narrative was a multi-decade study that showed African-Ameircans slightly over-represented as the offenders against Asian-Americans in the 1992-2014 time frame (American Journal of Criminal Justice), but even then 75% of the offenders were white. The trick is available videos overrepresent low income areas, where security cameras are more prevalent.
ReplyDeleteThe guy who wrested the gun from him was at a second venue in Alhambra.
ReplyDelete-Doug in Sugar Pine
CenterPuke88: Per a leading left-wing rag, inSan Francisco for example 85% of physical attacks on Asians were by Blacks.
ReplyDeleteThe study you refer to counts verbal harassment or statements (neither of which is acceptable) the same as physical attacks, in terms of physical violence against Asian Americans, it's majority African American perpetrators by far.
There's a world of difference of some asshat calling an Asian a bad name compered to another asshat actually attacking them.
Aaron, Aaron, Aaron…you cherry pick one location, and one short period of time, and try to conflate that into national data, sorry, no dice. And given those incidents were included in other studies that showed 75% white male, well, you lose.
ReplyDeleteCenterPuke88: And your "studies" conflate and equate people saying stupid things and actual acts of violence of equal value as hate crimes.
ReplyDeleteDo Better.
CenterPuke88
ReplyDeleteA bit more facts for you:
In New York City, where anti-Asian hate crime soared nearly nine-fold in 2020 over the year before, only two of the 20 people arrested last year in connection with these attacks were white, according to New York Police Department data analyzed by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Eleven were African Americans, six were white Hispanics and one was a Black Hispanic.
"I thought it was jarring," said Brian Levin, executive director of the center, noting that the finding runs counter to assumptions made by many that perpetrators of anti-Asian hate are mostly angry white men who blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, go ahead and back up your claim and provide me any stats you have to counter the fact that physical violence by African Americans against Asians is not disproportionate to their demographics and that white proportionally do it more. I'll wait.
Aaron, I didn’t suggest that proportionality was skewed white, instead I effectively pointed out that even if African-Americans committed hate crimes against Asian-Americans at twice (or almost even thrice) the rate of whites, there still would be a majority of the attacks by whites. And, once again, you select a slice of time to present an argument for eternity…you can’t do that bro, it’s simply false. Now, you bring me the results over 20 years and we can talk,
ReplyDeleteYes it would be wrong. I think it would be missing the point. Are we supposed to be happy that this time it was not another messed up white boy? Oh good, it was just an older immigrant man! Thank goodness he only killed Chinos and Mexicanos, etc!
ReplyDeleteThis is a bad way of thinking.