FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 27, 2023
CONTACT: Virginia Lucy, media@napawf.org       

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As a coalition of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations working to address sexual violence both nationally and within our local communities, we call for a deeper commitment by AAPI communities to end misogyny and anti-Black racism amid the rightful pain and outrage surrounding artist David Choe and the Netflix series Beef:

“As agents of change working to end oppression, gender-based, and power-based violence, our liberation and dreams of a violence-free world are inextricable from the liberation of all BIPOC communities. We acknowledge the enduring history of anti-Blackness within Asian American communities and firmly commit to fighting against it. For far too long, some Asian Americans have been complicit in perpetuating anti-Blackness. Asian American women live at the intersection of racism and misogyny, and yet the Asian American community often fails to recognize and call out the misogyny and racism perpetrated within our communities. 

Choe’s comments related to committing sexual violence against a Black woman are deplorable. Sexual assault is not, and will never be, funny. We will not stand by and accept the normalization of sexual violence “jokes” nor allow for the glorification of rape culture within our communities.  

Representation cannot come at the price of violence against Black women and Black communities. The statement released last Friday by Beef creator Lee Sung Jin, along with its stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, fails to fully acknowledge the harm and violence caused by Choe’s words and actions. Their statement is a missed opportunity for the creator and actors, including Choe himself, to proactively engage in the fight against racism and misogyny. Additionally, to cast blame for his comments on mental illness causes harm to, and further stigmatizes, people living with mental illness. 

It is imperative that we collectively stand in solidarity to end gender-based, power-based, and racial violence.”

APNA GHAR
ASIAN PACIFIC INSTITUTE ON GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (API-GBV)
ASIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESOURCE PROJECT (DVRP)
EMPOWERING PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITIES (EPIC)
HEART WOMEN & GIRLS
KAN-WIN
LAOTIAN AMERICAN NATIONAL ALLIANCE (LANA)
JAHAJEE SISTERS
NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN WOMEN’S FORUM (NAPAWF)

# # #

The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.