A top Sacramento health officials referred to Asian Americans as “yellow folks” during Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting, Capital Public Radio reports.
County Health Director Dr. Peter Beilenson referred to Asian Americans as “yellow folks,” while speaking in support of a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis.
“It’s a crucial thing we need to be doing to address the issues of the African-American, and brown, and yellow folks, as well as the white folks” Beilenson said.
The term “yellow” is loaded with racist history. It has been historically used to other East Asian people in America by evoking feelings of exoticism and danger, according to Capital Public Radio.
Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, told Capital Public Radio that there was “no reason to use that term whatsoever.”
“I think at this moment, we’ve seen words matter, and with the rise of anti-China rhetoric, and this idea of Asians as foreigners, the word ‘yellow’ just kind of promotes that sentiment,” Kohli said. “The term connotes this idea of fear of ‘other,’ of fear of disease, and it’s not a term that Asian Americans have embraced.”
In an interview with the Sacramento Bee Beilenson apologized for his choice of words and said he was not aware of the historical context of the term.
“I wasn’t calling them ‘yellow people.’ … This is ridiculous, I’m gonna tell you,” Beilenson said. “I was saying African American, brown, yellow, whatever color. … It makes sense to have a public health emergency called for systemic racism. … I was speaking out in favor of (the resolution). I certainly apologize. I did not mean to offend anyone. If I have, I’m terribly sorry.”
“In my entire 30-year career, no one has ever talked to me about anything remotely like this,” he continued. “It was an extremely poor choice of words. I will certainly never use them again. I pride myself on being a progressive. I’ve never had any complaint about racism at all.”
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