A San Francisco small business owner has alleged that the president of the city’s NAACP chapter, Rev. Amos Brown, threatened him over a rap video critical of Mayor London Breed. According to a report by KRON4, Andy "Chino" Yang claims Brown came to his business and demanded he apologize for the video, which blamed the mayor for a rise in crime.
In a statement obtained by KRON4, Yang expressed his concern that Brown, purportedly representing the NAACP, was pitting the Asian and Black communities against one another. He said, "Our communities share a common history of fighting prejudice and hatred. We are stronger when we stand together." Despite issuing an apology on Instagram, Yang expressed feeling coerced to do so.
The Asian Justice Movement (AJM) echoed Yang's grievances and detailed the threats that Brown allegedly made. The AJM's statement highlighted Brown's demands for a public apology and his alleged threat to turn the Black community against Yang if he did not repudiate the video.
Yang complied with issuing an apology, yet Brown, who held a press conference, said it was not satisfying and that he would proceed with his threat to call Yang out publicly. The AJM has since called for Brown to apologize for his actions.
Meanwhile, Brown has denied the allegations. He told KRON4 that if Yang felt threatened, he was responsible for communicating this. On his Instagram account @chinoyang415, Yang posted an apology to Mayor Breed, asking that his family be left out of the controversy and taking full responsibility for his actions in the music video.
