Unlike exchange students with their TOEFL scores, these massage workers typically have only a junior high or high school education. There are countless Chinese massage parlors in Chinese enclaves across America, and countless Chinese women working in those parlors. Nearly 70 percent of the victims have been women. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, there have been at least 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents in the United States. Demonstrations against anti-Asian discrimination erupted around the country.
The shootings became a catalyst for the Stop AAPI Hate movement. On March 16, 2021, eight people died following shootings at three massage parlors in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The original can be listened to on Story FM’s channel on Himalaya and Apple Podcasts (in Chinese only). It has been translated from Chinese by TWOC and edited for clarity. This story is published as part of TWOC’s new collaboration with Story FM, a renowned storytelling podcast in China.
