May 4, 2022

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

In the United States, the month of May is commemorated annually as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. It is a time to celebrate the cultures, histories, and achievements of US Americans of Asian and/or Pacific Islander descent. Early supporters of this commemorative month followed in the footsteps of Black History Month, fighting to get Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week enacted for the first time in 1977 before expanding it to a full month in 1990. The original congressional sponsors of the week included US Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga and US Representatives Norman Mineta and Frank Horton; Inouye, Matsunaga, and Mineta were all Nisei (children born to Japanese immigrants in a new country), and during WWII, Matsunaga and Mineta were incarcerated with their families in US concentration camps. You can learn more about why May

There has always been controversy over the name of the month, and this year, more groups are using the language “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander”. “Asian” and “Pacific” are extraordinarily broad terms that gloss over the extraordinary diversity of peoples, regions, and cultures included under those umbrellas—and the distinct needs and concerns of those peoples. Within the continental boundaries of Asia (the concept of Asia as a continent distinct from Europe is a product of eurocentrism) are dozens of countries across six major regions: North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, Western Asia (often called the “Middle East”), South Asia (the Indian subcontinent), East Asia, and Southeast Asia. There are hundreds of Pacific islands, which fall into three main island groups, Melanesia (including New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Fiji), Micronesia (including Guam, Palau, and Marshall Islands), and Polynesia (including New Zealand, Hawaii, Samoa, and Tonga).

The Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAAPA) has a webpage for AANHPI Heritage Month, which includes information about relevant events happening this month and links to educational resources. The UW Combined Fund Drive has also shared more resources, including actions you can take and organizations you can support. A couple more organizations specifically for Pacific Islanders in Washington include UTOPIA, which supports the Pacific Islander LGBTQIA+ community, and the PICA-WA, which offers wellness, cultural, and youth services to Pacific Islander communities in Washington. If you’re looking for some reading or listening material, check out the short comic “I Do Not Want to Write Today” by Seattle artist Shing Yin Khor, this list of Top 5 Reads from the University Book Store, a Q&A with UW history professor Moon-Ho Jung “Exposing the anti-radical origins of anti-Asian racism”, the Vietnamese Boat People podcast, or the Vosa podcast. The SAFS DEI Learning Group just read “Qualities of Regenerative and Liberatory Culture” by Daniel Lim, which offers hopeful alternatives to supremacy culture.

As always, be careful to avoid tokenizing Asian American and Pacific Islander folks this month. We encourage you to spend some time educating yourself on the rich and complex history of these regions and peoples to inform your research, curriculum, personal life, and community engagement all year round.