On Being Asian American Part III
This month is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. So I thought it would be appropriate to make a follow-up post regarding the issue of anti-Asian sentiment.
To be honest with you, I didn’t really hear much about AAPI Heritage month until this year. Perhaps I was alone in this, so I decided to reach out to a mix of AAPI friends and students from multiple generations to see their thoughts about AAPI heritage and this month that it is celebrated.
It was easy to find out that I am not alone in my experience. When it comes to celebrating AAPI heritage or the Asian’s contribution to the US society, there is very little knowledge around it, even among AAPI. Among non-AAPI populations, the response is even more dismal. Very few knew any AAPI names who contributed to the US society. Some people didn’t even realize that famous celebrities like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or Jason Momoa is AAPI. Most people think of Bruce Lee and maybe a few actors and actresses. But outside of the entertainment industry, very few people I conversed with can think of an AAPI name contributing to US society.
In my conversations with other AAPI’s, none of them remember ever celebrating AAPI heritage month in their schools. I spoke with various age ranges, from 15 years old to 50 years old, and everyone said the same thing. Everyone, except one person, stated that their school did not celebrate, highlight, or even mention AAPI month. One person commented that they remember a poster in their school and a one-time announcement, and that was it. When asked whether AAPI Heritage month is important, there is consensus, it is imperative. In the words of one of my AAPI collegues,
“I think AAPI Heritage month is important... As far as I know, I haven't found my school celebrating or highlighting it, and I think that's very odd. This gives AAPI people a chance to really learn about and celebrate the culture… I believe that this was the first year I knew that it was AAPI Heritage month, and that doesn't feel great.“
So what is AAPI’s contribution to US culture? Who are the Asian Americans that have contributed significantly to US culture, society, and history?
Asking this question among AAPI friends made me realize how little we know about this. I asked them to name an AAPI who has made significant contributions to the United States. No one can think of a name except for one person. She emphasized that she did not learn it in school but instead learned it from fellow Asian Americans.
She talked about Larry Itliong, a Filipino who inspired Cesar Chavez. It was Larry Itliong who contacted Cesar Chavez and asked Mexican farmworkers to join the Filipino farmworkers in their strike. The Filipino grape workers had been protesting regarding the labor conditions. He convinced Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez to speak to the nearly one thousand NFWA members. In a unanimous vote, the Mexicans joined the Filipinos. A year later, the Filipino labor organizations of farmworkers merged with the Mexican labor organization to become the United Farm Workers (UFW).
Everyone I talked to spoke about the fact that they never learned of any AAPI individual from their school who contributed to the US. One of them stated,
“It is disappointing to me that I am unable to think of anyone. I feel like it is important to recognize people in my culture that has been a large influencer on US history.”
Why don’t AAPI know their own contributions to the US? Why don’t the majority of the US population recognize the AAPI contribution to our society? Everyone I spoke with said the same thing - they never talk about it, nor was it taught in their schools. It was never included in their curriculum.
Chinese people built the first US transcontinental railroad. During World War II, several Asian American men and women such as Hazel Lee, Maggie Gee, Nieves Fernandez, a group of Nisei Linguists (the US secret weapon in decoding the Japanese military documents), and others ensured that the US and the Allied forces won the war. Several key AAPI individuals helped lead several civil reforms, including the Suffrage March of 1912, the southeast Asians who worked with Dr. Martin Lutherking Jr, and the Filipinos who helped launch Cesar Chavez. The AAPI population has contributed to school desegregation efforts, immigration reforms, racial reconciliation efforts, veteran benefit advocacy, and criminal justice reforms.
How about actual individuals such as Chien-Shuing Wu, the first lady of physics who made significant contributions to particle physics. Ajay Bhatt, who created the Universal Serial Bus (USB), you know, that thing you use in your everyday technology that we have all become dependent on? Or Steve Chen, creator and co-founder of Youtube? The award-winning artist Mine Okubo? I can name more AAPI who have had numerous contributions to the US, winners of Presidential Awards, Nobel Prize, and other accolades. US citizens, some foreign-born citizens like myself, some immigrants, and some born here and as “American” as anyone else who changed the course of US history, culture, and society.
Why does this matter? Because if we really want to acknowledge AAPI heritage and not just have some political posturing or hashtag fad, we need to start with education. More importantly, my fellow AAPI needs to begin to talk about this and know our own contributions to this great country. We need to start advocating and teaching our own AAPI heritage to the younger generation so that they can begin to change the image of Asians in the United States. As one of my AAPI friends eloquently stated:
“It is important to raise awareness for AAPI contributions through social media and in our school systems to allow other young Asian Americans like me to understand the impact we can make in this country.”
To move forward from the issues and history of racism, we must be willing to have these difficult conversations, acknowledge our own hypocrisies, and strive to be better. In my faith, a change of heart is central in addressing the injustices that we experience and perpetuate. We must embrace each other, look past our differences, and begin to realize the humanity in each of us. To make things better, we must be willing to acknowledge oppression, the different roles, and together find a solution that makes it possible for all humans to be accepted as equally important. For my AAPI readers, let’s keep the conversation going. For my non-AAPI readers, let’s learn more from each other. When we all work together to learn, repent, forgive, acknowledge, and restore each other, we can inch forward to an even better version of our current cultures.
I'd like to acknowledge the contributions of several AAPI friends and students who requested to remain anonymous, an asian Tucson High School student, and Cezeelia Velasco a Filipino-American.