Artwork by Nina Gruteser
Education has never been a simple social process; it has never been just about sending one’s kids to school for the day, or picking up the skills to make one good at work. Education has always been about self-affirmation and enlightenment through the proliferation of new ideas and cultures.
This year, as we celebrate the 31st Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month since its establishment in 1992, we must remember the great struggles of Asians in America. They have been marginalized, discriminated against, and ignored. Yet despite the odds, the Asian-American community finds itself stronger than ever. Asian-Americans are now found at the highest peaks of political, economic, and cultural power across the country. I believe there is no better time than now for Asian-American youth to affirm themselves by having the study of Asian-American history officially codified in an AP Asian-American Studies class in our high schools.
Forgive the name; I am well aware that many histories, cultures, and religions fall under the umbrella of “Asian-American.” It is a rudimentary framework that will expand over time, perhaps branching into “Chinese-American Studies” or “Indian-American Studies.” What such a class would look like! The lives of Hawaiians, contemporary and past; the strife and success of recent Asian-American immigrants in the 60’s; and modern Asian-American advocacy groups could all be topics of discussion. The very intent of this month, to honor those Asian-Americans who contributed to the fabric of this country, can be made whole in this class. We may remember individuals like Jeanie Jew, Norman Mineta, Spark Matsunaga, and Daniel Inouye, who made Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month a reality. Or Larry Itliong, a Filipino farm worker who unionized California farm workers and helped found the United Farm Workers union. We may remind ourselves just how integrated Asian-Americans are with the history of the United States by eulogizing John Tomney, a Chinese-American Union soldier who died at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.
However, it is important to remember that this class is more than intellectual exercise, personal validation, or Asian-American self-affirmation. Sadly, hate against the Asian-American community continues to plague the country, with hate crimes against Asian-Americans spiking dramatically in recent years. Violence against Asian-Americans has many causes, among them misunderstanding, racism, and jealousy; but fortunately, these can all be mitigated through education. Research from Harvard has shown that just a 5-day civic learning seminar was enough to instill greater “tolerance for others with different views” among high schoolers. Imagine, now, what a full, 38-week semester of education could achieve.
It is the opportunity to move toward acceptance and understanding among the budding members of our society, and the opportunity for Asian-Americans to reclaim their history, that I believe makes the idea of Asian-American Studies in American high schools such an exciting and hopeful prospect.