Crosscut Now
Feb. 15, 2023 - The Wah Mee tragedy
2/15/2023 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
How WA's worst mass shooting isolated Seattle's Chinese Americans.
The Wah Mee tragedy shook the Chinatown-International District 40 years ago. The ensuing media coverage further traumatized a grieving community.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS
Crosscut Now
Feb. 15, 2023 - The Wah Mee tragedy
2/15/2023 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
The Wah Mee tragedy shook the Chinatown-International District 40 years ago. The ensuing media coverage further traumatized a grieving community.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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40 years ago this week, three men attacked a gambling club in Seattle's Chinatown international district and murdered 13 people.
While history books remember the Wah Mee massacre as the worst mass shooting in Washington's history, Seattle's Chinese community remembers February 19th, 1983 differently.
Ron Chew, former editor of the International Examiner says the killings at Wah Mee became sensationalized with vulgar headlines and graphic images, racial stereotypes in media coverage, and long-term curiosity from the public rub salt in some wounds that may never heal even 40 years later.
The mistreatment of communities in the aftermath of Wah Mee serves as a cautionary tale to outsiders especially as marginalized groups like Asian Americans continue to experience violence to this day.
I'm Jay Martin Jr. Find nonprofit Northwest News every day on crosscut.com.
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Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS