The month of May was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States on May 7, 1843, during the beginning of the California Gold Rush. It also marks the anniversary of the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. Most of the workers who laid the tracks that connected the frontier to the rest of the country were Chinese immigrants.
Many years after the initial waves of immigration, the official celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month began as a shorter, 10-day celebration in 1977; however, President George H.W. Bush expanded it to a month-long commemoration in 1992.
FOR EDUCATORS
A Chinese American Family and School Desegregation
California History Social Science Project
In spite of being in the country for years, sometimes Asian Americans are not seen as Americans. This lesson gives resources for teaching about a Chinese American family, the Tapes, who won their case that their children were entitled to attend public school in the California Supreme Court in 1885, well before integrated schools were made standard with Brown vs. Board of Education (1954).
Asian Americans in History
Grace Lee Boggs, who died in 2015 at 100, was an activist her whole life, working for tenants’ rights and then joining the Workers Party. She was involved in the 1941 March on Washington and her work focused on women and people of color. January 20 is Fred Korematsu Day in California, honoring the man who refused to evacuate when President Roosevelt ordered the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. He filed a case, and the Supreme Court ruled against him. But in 1983, in a big moment for civil rights, his conviction was overturned in a San Francisco federal court. These are a couple of the more than 20 profiles of Asian Americans and events of note from the Zinn Education Project.
Learn About Perspectives and Struggles in the AAPI Community
These digital resources for preK-12 include lessons on Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco and denied reentry to the United States after returning from a trip to China. His case went to the Supreme Court and when he won his rights as a citizen it was an important civil rights victory.
Lesson Plans, Concerts, and Storytelling
San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum offers online events such as storytelling by Asian American women, art activities and lesson plans.
Stop AAPI Hate and Bullying
Primarily made up of middle school students, AAPI Youth Rising offers educational resources such as a youth curriculum to stop AAPI hate and an anti-bullying campaign, particularly important since COVID led to increased physical and verbal attacks against Asian Americans, both adults and youth. The site also includes where to report hate crimes.
FOR HOME, FAMILY & BEYOND
Fight Systemic Racism
This organization, which tracks and responds to issues of hate, discrimination, and harassment against Asians, was launched in March 2020 due to the escalation in xenophobia and bigotry with the COVID-19 pandemic. Made up of the AAPI Equity Alliance, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University, members also advocate for policies to strengthen civil rights protections and dismantle systemic racism.
How AAPI Women are Portrayed in Media — Or Left Out
The Representation Project at Miss Representation has a fact sheet about AAPI women in media. Among other pieces of information, it includes that AAPI women constitute 3.1% of the speaking characters in film, 64 % of the top TV shows have not AAPI girl or women characters as regulars, and that AAPI women are often stereotyped as submissive, hypersexualized, and exotic, appearing as the “Geisha Girl,” “China Doll,” or “Dragon Lady” trope. Positive representations of AAPI women include Lara Jean, the protagonist of the popular movie, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Umma, the mother on the TV show, Kim’s Convenience.
Learn about AAPI Artists
These videos from New York’s Metropolitan Museum show some of the range of contributions from the AAPI community to the arts. They include a short documentary about the artist Isamu Noguchi; the founder of the New York Mongolian Cultural Council talking about discovering her Mongolian heritage at The Met; and the opening ceremonies for an exhibition, Atea: Nature and Divinity in Polynesia, of Polynesian artists expressing the divine.