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Protesters hold a rally Thursday demanding an end to hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after eight people died Tuesday in a series of fatal shootings in Atlanta, Georgia. (AFP/Yonhap News)

In the wake of a series of shootings in the Atlanta area that took the lives of eight people, including four Korean women, efforts to remember the victims and to combat racism and hate crimes have been emerging throughout the US.

Hopefully, this tragedy will be an opportunity to end the pervasive discrimination based on skin color in US society and united support behind the view that all lives are precious, no matter what ethnicity.

Atlanta police said Thursday that they were not ruling out the possibility of indicting the suspect for hate crimes. This seemed to represent a change in attitude after remarks the day before — which referenced the suspect’s “sex addiction” and suggested it was “too soon” to conclude that the shootings were a hate crime — resulted in growing criticisms from the public, which accused police of trying to cover up a crime committed out of racist hatred.

The New York Times noted the difficulties Asian Americans face in legally proving discrimination at a time when racist hate crimes have become a serious issue in the US. The argument is that while examples have been set for proving hate crimes in the cases of Black, Jewish and LGBTQ people, the legal system is relatively lacking when it comes to hatred directed at people of Asian descent.

The threat to the lives of Asian Americans and other minority groups in the US has become severe enough that to say that the lives of people in a particular group “matter” — something that should be self-evident — has instead turned into a desperate cry. Asian lives have been particularly endangered by the politics of hate openly stirred up by former President Donald Trump with his references to the “China virus” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic’s eruption.

It’s a hopeful sign to see the demonstrations that have been taking place throughout the US since the shootings, with people raising banners reading “stop Asian hate” or “Asian lives matter, Black lives matter and white lives matter.”

This shows a broadening of the concerns raised with the #BlackLivesMatter movement that arose last year in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man suffocated to death by a w

US President Joe Biden ordered the lowering of flags to half-staff at US federal government offices and military facilities in the US and overseas to remember the victims of the incident. On Friday, Biden joined Vice President Kamala Harris in a visit to Atlanta to meet with leaders of the Asian American community.

hite police officer. It is part of the clear changes that the US needs to make in the face of discrimination and hate crimes against minority groups.

In its international relations, the Biden administration has been emphasizing values of democracy and human rights. But it can no longer afford to ignore a domestic situation where human rights are violated and people are killed because of skin color.

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