SAAFF would like to make an apology to the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community and also use this as a learning opportunity for the greater Asian American community.
We no longer use terms like “AAPI” because it perpetuates harm in the continued conflation of NH/PI folks with Asians. Read our newsletter to learn more as well as alternatives to using “AAPI,” “API,” and “APA.”
For SAAFF’s fundraiser last August, we had a panel originally titled “Celebrating Asian American & Pasifika Joy in Storytelling,” members of the local Pasifika community called out the performative nature of using the term “Pasifika” since SAAFF historically and at the time did not engage in meaningful equitable relationships with Pasifika communities.
Pasifika is a term used by Indigenous folks of the Pacific who fare from Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia. It is a term used by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NH/PI) folks to self-identify as one way to counteract erasure that happens under the ‘API’ lumping. The term ‘API’ or ‘AAPI’ is seen as harmful to NH/PI folks due to the erasure that happens. To see the term Pasifika being used for another iteration of ‘API’ was disheartening to the NH/PI community.
We deeply apologize for not doing our due diligence and are committed to being supportive allies to the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community.
While SAAFF has programmed NH/PI content from seeing a lack of NH/PI films shared in our region, we acknowledge that we do not have any NH/PI folks on staff.
We are now taking steps in assisting with NH/PI film program organizing for the Greater Seattle Area with local NH/PI community members and orgs, with our mission to support NH/PI organizers in creating film programs.
Keep reading to learn why terms like AAPI should not be used
In June 2020, this article came out in the Seattle Times by Naomi Ishisaka, which quoted Joseph Seia, Executive Director of Pacific Islander Community Association of WA (PICA-WA):
They wrote about how terms like Asian Pacific Islander (API), Asian Pacific American (APA), and Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) are racist.
Why is it racist?
To conflate Asian Americans with Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders under the same racial group is wrong, and use of this terminology over the decades has done much more harm than good.
Why terms like AAPI need to be retired
While Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders may have commonalities in our histories impacted by colonization and imperialism, Asian and NH/PI communities have very wide and different experiences in social and economic issues.
Continuing the use of “AAPI” minimizes the issues that NH/PI communities face. With Asian Americans often centered in conversations and spaces labeled “AAPI,” it leaves NH/PI issues, experiences, and histories overshadowed and more often than not, erased.
The use of these terms takes away resources and opportunities from Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and organizations, because most funding revenues for our communities are shared and not separated. There are many organizations that are Asian-centered and use APA/API/AAPI language, yet they do not actually include or serve NH/PI communities within their scope.
Disaggregation of data (such as breaking down demographic numbers from the U.S. Census) has been one long-standing issue that NH/PI orgs and communities have been fighting for. To be acknowledged on a federal level, to continue advocating for recognition and resources, and to have their voices heard.
What can we use instead of AAPI?
Below is an excerpt from a letter released by the National Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) Policy Council in June 2021, sharing anti-racist language recommendations:
Last year, the White House officially recognized May as Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a change from the previous name of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Local NH/PI organizations are now working on a national level with their local state governments to make the month of August NH/PI Heritage month. The state of Utah has been celebrating August as Pacific Islander Heritage Month since 2012.
We hope sharing what we have learned will help Asian Americans and other communities examine their language usage and allyship with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
This post can also be found on our Instagram.