AAPI Heritage Month: History and Importance
Happy Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage month to all of our AAPI siblings!
What Is It?
AAPI Heritage month is nationally recognized in the United States and celebrates the history and influences of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community – a community that includes all countries within the continent of Asia (including East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia) and all Pacific Islands (including those of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia).
It is important to acknowledge the fact that there are 48 countries in Asia and about 30,000 Pacific Islands. Many people’s knowledge of the AAPI community rely on stereotypes, cliches, and limited information — disregarding and overlooking hundreds to thousands of cultures. While celebrating AAPI month, it is important to consider learning about and supporting a multitude of different AAPI cultures and expanding one’s knowledge of this community.
History
1977: Representatives Frank Horton from New York and Norman Mineta from California proposed that the first 10 days of May be dedicated to celebrating and acknowledging the community of AAPI. Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga from Hawaii introduced a similar bill not long after.
1978: President Jimmy Carter signed into law this joint resolution officially dedicating the first 10 days of May to celebrate the AAPI community.
1979: The first official celebration of the AAPI community took place in the first 10 days of May.
1990: President George H.W. Bush extended AAPI Heritage Month to all 31 days of May.
May was picked as AAPI month to commemorate the history of the first Japanese immigrants to come to the United States in 1843. It was also chosen to commemorate the month of completion of the Transcontinental Railroad – a revolutionary addition to the U.S. that would not have been made possible without the Chinese immigrant workers who laid the tracks that changed American transportation forever.
Why it is Important to Support the AAPI Community
Violence, hatred, racism, and bigotry skyrocketed towards AAPI people during the COVID-19 pandemic. In one week alone in 2020, 673 incidents of anti-Asian hate crimes were reported. Anti-Asian racism was sparked even more in 2020 when former President Donald Trump deemed COVID-19 as the “China Virus” and the “Kung Flu,” installing xenophobia and racist attitudes within many Americans. More events in American history documenting anti-Asian hate can be found on this timeline created by Stop AAPI Hate.
This hatred still continues today. It is important to support and advocate for the AAPI community even beyond the month of May. From supporting Asian and Pacific Islander artists, authors, and musicians, visiting local AAPI shops and restaurants, watching documentaries and films created by or starring AAPI actors and actresses, and reading books about the AAPI experience and history to educate oneself about more AAPI cultures are all ways one can support the AAPI community. To find more ways and ideas to support the AAPI community this month, check out these articles by Public Allies, Draper & Kramer, and Lotus Midwest.
To join the fight against Anti-Asian hate, report any form of an anti-Asian health crime here (here are more instructions on how to report a hate crime). It is also important to unfollow platforms that express any form of racism towards the AAPI community or to any marginalized community as well. To effectively combat racism, simply being “not racist” is not enough. If one notices racism, it is important to speak out and speak up; one must be anti-racist.
“To be anti-racist is a radical choice in the face of history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness.” Ibram Kendi, author of How to be an Antiracist.
Founder’s Note
As a second-generation/third-generation Filipino-American, AAPI Month is very important to me. Growing up in the suburbs of central Virginia, I have attended white-dominated schools all my life. From watered-down history, lack of Filipino representation in literature and the media, racist actions, remarks, and microaggressions I experienced in and outside of school, and a mindset that I gathered from the community around me that as a person of color, I was different and the odd one out – I felt invisible and exposed at the same time.
I used to wear long sleeves and rash guards in the summertime to prevent myself from getting “too dark” because of a comment someone’s mom made about my brown skin, and I stopped bringing pancit and lumpia to lunch because of the disgusted looks I got from my classmates. I never brought up my family background or culture because I was embarrassed and conditioned to believe that it was gross and unimportant. From the time I experienced racism for the first time at five years old when my classmates made me cry by making fun of my dark complexion, pointing fingers at me and claiming I was related to the janitor (an African-American man), I learned to suppress my culture and hide any notion of “Asian” about me.
From suppressing my culture all my life, I have ignored the racism I experienced as a way to ignore my own Asian identity. But in a strange, mortified way, the anti-Asian hate crimes of 2020 that flashed across the news channel on my TV led me to see and recognize the racism towards my community – finally recognizing and acknowledging the racism I’ve experienced myself. It was during that long first quarantine where I sat down and researched as much as I could about ways to fight against racism. I read articles and books and watched the news and documentaries —arming myself with knowledge and ideas; a lot of my quarantine was dedicated to learning more about social justice.
2020 was also the year I began to take a deep dive into my heritage. I called my grandparents to ask questions about their childhood and life in the Philippines, watched history documentaries, read articles online, and asked my mom to teach me as much Tagalog as she could. By doing this, I began to heal and accept my culture. I fell in love with my brown complexion I inherited from my dad and the almond eyes I inherited from my mom. I began to love everything about my Filipino identity and my heart warmed learning about the history of my family and ancestors. It was then this distinct feeling of specialness and pride arose, and I aim to foster this feeling everyday. I am still healing from the racism I experienced as a young kid, but I try to make an effort to learn from my past to better my future.
My experiences were a significant reason why I created The Empowerment Paper. I absolutely love this website and this platform it has given me to extend my fight for equality, inclusivity, and diversity to the world in hopes of helping young kids who are going through what I did; I hope to use this website to help others know that they’re not alone.
I hope this article inspires you to join the fight against racism.
Thank you for reading.
Sources:
"About Asian/Pacific Heritage Month." Asian Pacific Heritage Month, asianpacificheritage.gov/about/. Accessed 7 May 2023.
"Asian American & Pacific Islander Historical Timeline." STOP AAPI HATE, stopaapihate.org/timeline/. Accessed 7 May 2023.
"Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month." United States Senate, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/News_Asian_Pacific_Month.htm#:~:text=In%201992%2C%20the%20month%20of,Islander%20Americans%2C%20and%20Native%20Hawaiians. Accessed 7 May 2023.
"The History of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month." Arlington Public Schools, www.apsva.us/aapi-heritage-month-history/. Accessed 7 May 2023.
"THE PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION." Pacific RISA, www.pacificrisa.org/places/. Accessed 7 May 2023.
PBS. www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pbs.org/articles/celebrate-asian-american-and-pacific-islander-heritage-month/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1683436665983104&usg=AOvVaw04Y9bjY-UQiDwMfcf26Im7. Accessed 7 May 2023.