May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the contributions, achievements, and diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in the United States. From leaders and trailblazers to artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans have made significant contributions to the fabric of American society. This month serves as an opportunity to honor their heritage, share their stories, and promote awareness and understanding of their cultures. In this blog, we will explore the rich history, culture, and experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, showcasing their influence on American society. 

Originally written by Dr. Masako Endo, Adjunct Professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Sociology & Anthropology) 

Updated by Rowan DEI in May 2023.   

Terms

How Did Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Start?

The creation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month cannot be discussed without mentioning Jeanie Jew, a former Capitol Hill staffer. Jeanie Jew witnessed the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations of 1976 and was concerned about the lack of recognition given to Asian Pacific Americans, compared to the other racially minoritized groups. Jew first approached Representative Frank Horton of New York about the idea of promoting public awareness of Asian Pacific Americans’ contributions to the United States. In 1977, Representatives Horton and Norman Mineta introduced a United States House of Representatives resolution to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Week. In the same year, Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar resolution, however, neither of these resolutions passed. In 1978, Representative Horton introduced a joint resolution, which proposed that the President should proclaim the week beginning on May 4 as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. After the joint resolution was passed by the House, President Jimmy Carter signed it into law on October 5, 1978. However, the law did not contain provisions for the following years. Therefore, community organizations and advocates were required to submit new requests each year by having Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Bush continue to reauthorize the bill. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a bill passed by Congress to expand the commemorative week to the entire month of May. Then, in 1992, Horton, along with multiple co-sponsors, introduced the legislation that would permanently designate May as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month,” which became law after Congress supported it.

The Month of May and the History of Asian Pacific Americans

Upon establishing Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, it was important to recognize the week beginning on May 4 to be designated to honor Asian Pacific Americans. During this particular week in history included the following key events: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the U.S. on May 7, 1843; and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, of which Chinese laborers were an integral part. As these events indicate, there has been a long history of Asian immigration to the United States since the mid-1800s. From the beginning, Asian immigrant groups contributed greatly to the building of the United States by working as miners, railroad builders, farmers, and laborers

Yet, Asian Americans have historically been constructed as “the Other” in American culture. In the 1850s, anti-Chinese sentiment began to spread as white miners blamed Chinese miners for taking their jobs. The rhetoric of Chinese taking “white jobs” led to a series of violent attacks against the Chinese, and such events culminated into the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Furthermore, in 1885, armed white miners attacked the Chinese section of Rock Springs, Wyoming, killing twenty-eight Chinese miners, looting, and burning their homes. In the late nineteenth century, racism against the Chinese further continued and shortly became directed against the growing number of Japanese laborers. People of Asian descent as a whole were racialized as the “yellow peril.”

Asian’s racial “Otherness” was officially articulated in the following rulings and laws regarding immigration:

• The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

The purpose of this law was to stem the flow of laborers and immigrants from China.

• Takao Ozawa v. The United States (1922)

The United States Supreme Court found that Takao Ozawa, a Japanese immigrant, who claimed himself to be fully Americanized, was ineligible for naturalization due to him not being Caucasian.

• The United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923)

The United States Supreme Court ruled that Bhagat Singh Thind, an immigrant from India, who had previously been granted U.S. citizenship by the federal court in Oregon, was ineligible for citizenship. The ruling emphasized that Indians were not white while acknowledging Thind’s claim that Indians belonged to the Caucasian race.

• The Immigration Act of 1924

This law terminated further immigration from Japan to the United States.

U.S. Asian Relations and Asian Americans/Continued Exclusion Always Foreign

Throughout the twentieth century, people of Asian descent continued to be treated as outsiders in the United States. In 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which forced approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans to leave their homes and property to live in internment camps. In the context of the war against the Axis powers, Japanese Americans, unlike German and Italian Americans, were viewed as foreign and therefore possible threats during the war. In the 1980s, racism against Asians and Asian Americans revived with the rise of Pacific Rim economies. Between the 1980s and the 1990s, the number of hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans rapidly increased. For example, in 1982, Vincent Chin, a Chinese American draftsman was beaten to death by two white men in a Detroit bar. Chin’s killers, a Chrysler foreman and a laid-off auto worker mistook him for Japanese and blamed him for the declining Detroit auto industry. What these examples show is that racism against Asian Pacific Americans has persisted in relation to the U.S.’s relations with Asian countries. Whether it is WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Japanese economic miracle, the rise of the East Asian NIEs, or China’s rapid economic growth, each event has aroused xenophobia among some Americans and directed their anxiety onto the Asian Pacific American community.

What Now?

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen ongoing racist and xenophobic attacks against Asian Pacific Americans. This is yet another instance of scapegoating the Asian and Pacific Islander community. As many of us know and as history shows, scapegoating does not solve anything. We need to remember the history of Asia Pacific Americans and learn from it. As Jeanie Jew hoped in the 1970s, let us observe Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by learning and celebrating the contributions that Asian Pacific Americans have made to American society. In 2021, we need to do so more than ever.

Rowan University Community of Support for Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Identities:

Wellness Center: All Rowan University students are encouraged to access mental health resources and support through the Wellness Center, by calling 856.256.4333 or emailing wellnesscenter@rowan.edu 

Employee Advisory Service: All Rowan University faculty and staff are encouraged to access mental health resources and support by contacting the Employee Advisory Service. Schedule a session by calling 1.866.327.9133

Student clubs to join include the Asian Cultural Association, South Asian Students Association, Rowan Rangeela, Japanese Culture Club, Vietnamese Students Association, Rowan University Philippine American Coalition, Women of Color Alliance, Men of Color Alliance, Minority Association of Premedical Students, International Club, and Muslim Student Association.

Women of Color Collective (WOCA): WOCA aims to build a community among women, womyn, and womxn of color on campus. Through WCC, women, womyn, and womxn of color will gain a network to share their stories and provide support for challenges and successes they experience in their daily lives. 

For all student complaints involving discrimination and harassment, please visit go.rowan.edu/titlevi

Further Emotional Support

As anti-Asian attacks continue, Asian-Pacific Americans feel fear, anger, and anxiety. Please do not hesitate to seek help.

Asian American-Led Mental Health Resources

-Asian Mental Health Collective  www.asianmhc.org

-The Asian Mental Health Project  www.asianmentalhealthproject.com

-Asians Do Therapy   www.asiansdotherapy.com

Resources for Continued Learning:

Virtual AAPI Events

Asian Pacific Heritage Month https://asianpacificheritage.gov/

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center https://smithsonianapa.org/

Asia Society https://asiasociety.org/asian-americans-building-america

Selected further readings (online)

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month https://asianpacificheritage.gov/about/

What You Can Do to Fight Violence and Racism against Asian Americans https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/what-you-can-do-to-fight-violence-and-racism-against-asian-americans

The Long, Ugly History of Anti-Asian Racism and Violence in the U.S. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/03/18/history-anti-asian-violence-racism/

Asian Americans Then and Now https://asiasociety.org/education/asian-americans-then-and-now

American Incarceration https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/injustice-japanese-americans-internment-camps-resonates-strongly-180961422/

How One Woman’s Story Led to the Creation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month https://time.com/5592591/asian-pacific-heritage-month-history (This article focuses on Jeanie Jew.)

Videos and Documentaries

Stop Asian Hate www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ps1D-hESes

White House Proclamation www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/…

Asian Americans https://www.pbs.org/show/asian-americans/

Books

Abelmann, Nancy and John Lie. 1995. Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Baldoz, Rick. 2011. The Third Asiatic Invasion: Empire and Migration in Filipino America,1898-1946. New York: New York University Press.

Espiritu, Yen Le. 1992. Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Ichioka, Yuji. 1988. The Issei: The World of the First Generation Japanese Immigrants, 1885-1924.New York: The Free Press.

Lee, Robert G. 1999. Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture. Philadelphia: TempleUniversity Press.

Shah, Nayan. 2012. Stranger Intimacy: Contesting Race, Sexuality and the Law in the North American West. Berkley and Los Angeles, California: the University of California Press.

Takaki, Ronald. 1998 [1989]. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Takaki, Ronald. 1984[1983]. Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Wu, Ellen D. 2014. The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the ModelMinority. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.