Trump may have popularized the term “Chinese virus” about a year ago, but America has been fetishizing and hypersexualizing Asian women for much longer than a century. It’s a racialized misogyny that’s very, very specific to Asian women. Even for people who did recognize the shootings as an act of racism, I had to explain to them that it’s not just racism. Six of the people he killed were women of Asian descent, yet a sheriff’s deputy with a history of anti-Asian Facebook posts told us that there was no evidence the murders were racially motivated-that the shooter, who described himself as a sex addict, had been having a “bad day.” Lots of other white men, including some of my husband’s journalism colleagues, were quick to comment that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It was such a struggle even to get the shooting recognized as race related. I took on this new role partly out of anger and sadness, and partly because I found my voice over the course of replying to texts from well-meaning white friends. I’m no expert on race, gender and social issues, but-like many other Asian American women these last few weeks since a gunman killed eight people in the Atlanta area on March 16-I suddenly found myself as an educator of sorts, a designated spokeswoman for the Asian woman experience in America. I rely on data and interviews with researchers.