Atlanta shooting leaves 8 dead

Eight people were killed during a mass shooting in Atlanta, including six Asian women; Uber will reclassify 70,000 drivers as workers in the UK. Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum. TOP NEWS Mass shooting at Atlanta spas Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images - Eight people were shot and killed on Tuesday at three spas just north of Atlanta; six of the victims were Asian women. The killings occurred amid increasing reports of anti-Asian violence, particularly against Asian women. [[Vox / Rachel Ramirez](] - The suspect, a 21-year-old man named Robert Aaron Long, is in police custody and has been charged with murder. He claimed the shooting was not racially motivated, instead saying he had a sex addiction and was motivated by a desire to eliminate “temptations.” Police said it is too early to decide if the shooting was a hate crime. [[Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Alexis Stevens and Shaddi Abusaid](] - There is a long, racist, misogynist history of fetishization of Asian women that has been used to justify violence and harm. On Twitter, many Asian women and nonbinary people discussed how white supremacist violence is the foundation of hypersexualization. [[AsAmNews / Akemi Tamanaha](] - The suspect was apprehended with a 9mm firearm in a car on his way to Florida, where, according to police, he planned to enact more violence related to the porn industry in the state. [[NPR / Bill Chappell]]( - The South Korean Consulate said four of the eight victims are ethnic Koreans. [[NYT / Richard Faucette and Neil Vigdor](] - In Georgia, Asian Americans have been reporting increasing harassment and abuse since the beginning of the pandemic, with many being called racial slurs used by former President Trump, who promoted anti-Asian racism regarding the coronavirus. [[Washington Post / Andrea Salcedo and Paulina Firozi](] - Nationally, Stop AAPI Hate reported over 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate in the year since the pandemic hit the US. Sixty-eight percent of those incidents were targeted at women, underscoring the role misogyny often plays in anti-Asian hate. [[NBC News / Kimmy Yam](] - But anti-Asian hate has a long history in the US, and goes much deeper than Trump or the pandemic. Asians have been legally targeted in the US through policies like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the World War II-era internment of Japanese Americans. They have been victims of the harmful “forever foreigner” trope, particularly on social class lines and based on ethnicity, such as racism toward South Asians after 9/11. [[Vox / Li Zhou](] - Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), the chair of the Congressional Asian American Pacific Caucus, said she met with the Justice Department to discuss hate crimes against Asian Americans. The caucus, and Democrats, are pushing for stronger hate crime laws, gun control bills, and a national day against Asian American hate. [[USA Today / Nicholas Wu](] Go deeper Vox will continue to follow this story. We've compiled this [list of resources]( to help you and your communities learn about the history of anti-Asian racism in America. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Uber will classify its UK drivers as workers - For the first time in its history, Uber will classify some of its drivers as workers rather than contractors. The company will reclassify its more than 70,000 drivers in Britain after the British Supreme Court found that drivers deserve workplace protection based on British labor law that has a middle distinction between full employees and freelancers. [[NYT / Adam Satariano](] - Now UK drivers will receive minimum wage pay, holiday benefits, and contributions to their pensions. [[AP / Kelvin Chan](] - The battle between the drivers and the company underscores global challenges to Uber and to regulating the larger gig economy. Uber has spent millions in court and in advertising trying to stop similar lawsuits elsewhere. [[CNBC / Deirdre Bosa and Laura Batchelor](] - Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the decision signals his company’s “willingness to change,” but the company pointed out the new policy only applies in Britain based on its unique labor law. [[BBC News](] - In California, Uber was more successful in maintaining that its drivers are independent contractors rather than workers subject to state labor law. California passed a ballot measure in November to exempt Uber and other gig economy companies. [[CNN / Sara O’Brien](] MISCELLANEOUS The IRS will move the tax filing deadline to mid-May. [[WSJ / Richard Rubin](] - Prince Harry's conversations with his father Prince Charles and his brother Prince William, following his and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey, have been "unproductive." [[CNN / Rob Picheta and Sharon Braithwaite](] - Dr. Anthony Fauci said high school students will likely be able to get the coronavirus vaccine this fall, and younger children should be able to get it early next year. [[CNBC / Noah Higgins-Dunn](] - A Pensacola teen and her mom were arrested for allegedly rigging a high school election so that the teen would win homecoming queen. [[BuzzFeed News / Amber Jamieson](] Support our journalism Reader contributions help keep Vox and newsletters like Sentences free for all. Support our work from as little as $3. [Contribute]( VERBATIM “Knowing the increasing level of hate crimes against our Asian American brothers and sisters, we also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge that none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate." [[Vice President Kamala Harris on the shooting in Atlanta](] LISTEN TO THIS [Journey toward the center of the Earth]( Sixty years ago, geologists tried to drill down through Earth’s crust to pull up a piece of the mantle. Their mission didn’t go exactly as planned. But it sowed the seeds for a new field of science that’s helped us rewrite not only the history of the planet but also, potentially, our definitions of life itself. [[Spotify / Vox](] [Read more from Vox](#) [3.9 million lost years: What the pandemic took from American families]( [Cities aren't designed for women. Sarah Everard's murder shows us the consequences.]( [Joe Manchin just took an important filibuster reform off the table]( ["We're both the comfortable and the afflicted": What gets overlooked when we talk about anti-Asian racism]( [How 9 Americans are spending their stimulus checks]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Notice]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.