The board of the Asian American Action Fund thanks ABC and its parent company Disney for making the right choice to cancel Roseanne over the lead actress’ racist tweets about Valerie Jarrett, a former top Obama official. Racism has no place in American discourse or society, despite our current President’s every action, utterance, and policy. We are heartened and confident in ABC’s moral authority as one of the leading studios in Hollywood, which brought a tremendous amount of diversity to our television screens in just the past 10 years alone. We are grateful to ABC for bringing Shondaland to our homes, and elevating Asian American actors and actresses like Sandra Oh as Dr. Christina Yang in Grey’s Anatomy, putting Fresh Off the Boat on television (the first AAPI sitcom in 20 years), and airing Dr. Ken. Shows like Blackish, Speechless, and Modern Family have given many communities across America the chance to be recognized and have their diverse narratives shared. We have welcomed these complex and diverse depictions of AAPI life into our homes, and our children have been able to grow up watching families like ours, seeing themselves reflected for the very first time. That is why Roseanne’s words and actions are unacceptable – she seeks to reduce and tear us apart instead of celebrating and cherishing what makes all of us unique. Diversity is America’s strength and our lifeblood.
Unless clearly identified as statements of the AAA-Fund, the views, opinions, analyses, and assumptions expressed in each blog or clearinghouse post are those of the author or contributor alone, and not those of the AAA-Fund.