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Key points
- Let's heighten the invisibility of women of color.
- A one-time statement will not be enough to undo the damage that's been done.
- Therapists must make an effort to never stop learning.
After George Floyd was murdered, some White people reached out to me to express that they “see me” or are “with me.” Those kinds of messages have since ceased.
While I remain grateful for those messages, I remember the complexity of my own emotions at the time, along with a lingering question: Had I been seen by those people before? I recalled being in the same room as some of them in the past, noting that some had difficulty making eye contact with me or repeatedly said my name wrong. Did it take a murder to “see” me? For me, at that time, it heightened the invisibility of women who looked like me in this country.
This past week, we as a nation learned that six Asian women, along with two other non-Asian individuals, were murdered by a White man who attacked several Atlanta spas. This act is a part of both ongoing violence and abuse against women and the current spike in hate crimes committed against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
Navigating the Trauma of the Atlanta Shootings
This event has been heart-wrenching for many. The collective AAPI community, like the Black community in the wake of George Floyd's death, is traumatized—to the point where a social media post or a one-time statement will not be enough to undo the damage that's been done. The shooting adds to ongoing violence and discrimination that the AAPI community has faced over the past year: including the implications of the pandemic being called the “China virus,” assaults on individuals in Manhattan and elsewhere, and other incidents of racism and violence that continue to be reported around the country.
Ultimately, this is not new. Historically, many events that have occurred in the AAPI communities were painted as national security threats, with consequences that have plagued the various racial and ethnic identity groups in this community. The criminalization of sex workers and hyper-sexualization of Asian women also likely play a role in the Atlanta shooting—and as activist Michelle Kim stated in a recent Twitter thread, such problems "go way back.”
The collective experience of being silenced, ignored, and questioned about whether their experiences of injustice and racism are real or imagined has taken a serious toll on the mental health of AAPI individuals.
What Can Therapists Do?
To show up for their AAPI clients now and always, therapists must make an effort to never stop learning. We have to challenge ourselves and critically think about how we engage in ongoing dialogue about racism, discrimination, and hate towards people of color in this country.
Questions that we as therapists must ask ourselves include: How do we continuously educate our friends and family members about the relationship of race to these crimes, even when they disagree? How do we discuss these issues with our students and community at large? Ultimately, how do we show up for our Asian American and Pacific Islander clients who are hurting right now? We must make known their narratives and increase their visibility. We must acknowledge this is happening and we are aware. It starts with you and me.
This is a call to action. This is a call to prioritizing continued dialogue. This is a call to commitment to ongoing growth. Anti-Asian violence and hate can be stopped through education, doing your personal work, and showing up on a regular basis.
