The Jolt: Georgia state senator warned of Asian hate crimes Monday

As Georgians wake up to the horrific details of a spate of shootings that killed eight people Tuesday, including six victims who were of Asian descent, the words of a Georgia state senator a day earlier seem an ominous foreshadowing.

During a point of personal privilege Monday morning, Georgia state Sen. Michelle Au told her fellow senators about the alarming rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans in Georgia and beyond during the coronavirus pandemic.

Au is a first-generation Chinese-American who was elected in November. She grew up in New York and moved to Georgia in 2008 after medical school at Columbia University.

“Asian Americans are part of our country’s plurality. We are some of the many, and we’re part of that one,” she said. “And all I’m asking right now, as the first East Asian state senator in Georgia, is simply to fully consider us as part of our communities. Recognize that we need help, we need protection, and we need people in power to stand up for us against hate.”

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