AAPI Heritage Month: May 2024

-Mina Fedor, 13 year old founder of AAPI Youth Rising. Learn more about her here.

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month is an invitation to pay attention to the history, identities, and stories of Asian and Pacific Islander American (AAPI) peoples. It is also a chance for educators to better understand and support AAPI students. And as AAPI people continue to be victimized by increased acts of racist violence in the wake of the pandemic, educators face additional challenges around how to support students from those communities⁠, lend historical context to these harrowing events, and stand against anti-Asian racism. -Facing History & Ourselves

I’m really struck by how this month is called “AAPI Heritage Month” and not “AAPI History Month,” because it cements this idea that Asian Americans have this heritage but not a history in this country — which is problematic.

It overlooks the very real way that Asian immigrants are integral to American history. Since February is called Black History Month, why isn’t this also called AAPI History Month? There are a lot of historical contributions that Asian immigrants have made to the U.S. that really need to be recognized by everyone.

-Excerpted from Q&A with Texas A&M professor Vanita Reddy.

"The absence of Asian American history in our classrooms has serious consequences, including laying the foundations for ignorance, hate, and violence. History is not just about learning the past. It is also about belonging, and American history serves as our collective memory of “we the people” and binds us together over a shared past."

Read more from this piece featured by the Organization of American Historians by Professor Erika Lee

One of the most important historical developments in the United States over the past year has been the continued growth of the #StopAAPIHate and #StopAsianHate social justice movements. Anti-AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) hate incidents jumped 150 percent from 2019 to 2020 and remained disturbingly common in 2021. While this upswell of anti-AAPI hate and violence has come as a shock to many, scholars and researchers of Asian American and Pacific Islander history insist that this racist hatred and violence has a long history within the United States.

In this lesson, students consider why it is important to study “difficult histories” as they work in small groups to examine primary and secondary sources that reveal the long history of anti-AAPI racism in the United States and the equally long history of AAPI anti-racist resistance, community building, and social justice activism. This lesson is designed both to deepen students’ knowledge of AAPI history and social justice activism and introduce a method and rationale for studying “difficult histories.” -Brown University Choices Program

In Detroit, Michigan on June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, was beaten to death in a hate crime by two auto workers who blamed Chin for the massive lay-offs occurring in the auto industry. Before slipping into a coma, Chin’s last words were, “It’s not fair.”

Arrested and released that same night, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz were charged with second-degree murder which they plead down to manslaughter. They denied the brutal attack was racially motived and received three year’s probation and a $3,000 fine. The judge, who gave the sentencing offered, the following explanation:

These aren’t the kind of men you send to jail. . . You fit the punishment to the criminal, not the crime.

They never served one night in jail. Meanwhile, Chin was buried and what was supposed to have been is wedding day. (From Zinn Education Project)

June 19th, 2022 marked the 40th anniversary of the murder

The Vincent Chin Legacy Guide from Vincent Chin Institute

What is the impact of the Vincent Chin case? from PBS Learning

From A Whisper to A Rallying Cry by Paula Yoo

• Teaching ideas from the NEA for this 2021 YA book
• Virtual author lecture with the author from the National Archives

Oakland County Connection: In 2009, the State Bar of Michigan and the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association commemorated the Vincent Chin case as the 34th Michigan Legal Milestone with a historical marker which was dedicated at the Chinese Community Center in Madison Heights and a write up in the Bar Journal. A photograph of this marker is featured in this book.

Check out this C3-aligned inquiry for upper elementary students designed by Oakland University Assistant Professor Dr. Linda Doornbos (thank you, Linda!).

This inquiry and the ones below were created by the Teacher Education Research Collective, a project provided by CUFA through the NCSS Teaching with Primary Resources grant from the Library of Congress. Check out these other inquiries centering Asian American & Pacific Islander perspectives:

C3 Grade Band: 3-5

Breaking the Silence Asian American History in Georgia Ariel Cornett

Breaking the Silence: Asian American History in Indiana Patrick Keegan

Breaking the Silence: Asian Americans in Michigan Linda Doornbos

How Should We Combat Anti-Asian American Racism? Jenni Gallagher, Jenni Conrad

Paj ntaub “Flower Cloths” and Hmong History Brianne Pitts

We Are Because They Were: How do Asian American experiences reflect the story of the United States? Amber Godwin

What makes someone a citizen?: An Upper Elementary Inquiry Stephanie Schroeder

Why Did Yuri Kochiyama Take Civic Action to Strengthen Democracy? Laura H. Darolia

C3 Grade Band: 6-8

Asian American Action Against Separate And Unequal Education Sohyun An

Paj ntaub “Flower Cloths” and Hmong History Brianne Pitts

We Are Because They Were: How do Asian American experiences reflect the story of the United States? Amber Godwin

C3 Grade Band: 9-12

Asian American Action Against Separate And Unequal Education Sohyun An

Did Asian Influences Impact What It Meant to Be an Early “American”? Jason Fitzgerald

Finding Belonging Erin Bronstein, Amy Mungur

Resistance, Preservation, & Reclamation in Asian American History Melissa K. Stanley, Dana Serure

We Are Because They Were: How do Asian American experiences reflect the story of the United States? Amber Godwin

Why should we question the claim that Angel Island was the “Ellis Island of the West”?Chantelle Grace

Click the image to access 20 brief profiles of Asian American and Pacific Islander people and events curated by Zinn Education Center. These could serve as a starting point for further investigation or simply an avenue to center traditionally lesser-heard voices.

"Engaging children with artists who look like them, have similar experiences, and come from similar backgrounds is a great source of inspiration and empowerment. By reflecting their own identities, experiences and motivations (mirrors) and also providing insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others (windows) can move students toward more nuanced perceptions of the world around them (sliding glass doors).* Discover new BIPOC artists to add to your curriculum." (From Anti-Racist Art Teachers)

*Source: By Rudine Sims Bishop, The Ohio State University. "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors"

The Asian American Education Project robust resource that includes lesson plans and professional development opportunities (login may be required)

K-5 and 6-12 resources from ADL (lesson plans, literature recommendations, tools and strategies).

Recommended Asian American Children’s Literature from Dr. Noreen Naseem Rodríguez

Asian Americans Advancing Justice has created an official K-12 curriculum to accompany the new PBS series Asian Americans. This document is a crowdsourced book list designed to support elementary and middle school educators and to supplement other existing resources, and in the spirit of the documentary there is an emphasis on books by #OwnVoices. Resources by individuals who are featured in the PBS series are noted with an asterisk (*) and books are linked to the publisher whenever possible.

The New York Public Library has curated events, books, and readings focused on AAPI Heritage Month.

The Asian American Education Project robust resource that includes lesson plans and professional development opportunities (login may be required)

The Legacies of Chinese Exclusion lesson plan from Facing History & Ourselves

K-5 and 6-12 resources from ADL (lesson plans, literature recommendations, tools and strategies).

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Articles, Videos, and on the right side, Education Resources, which include activities from DocsTeach

The New York Public Library has curated events, books, and readings focused on AAPI Heritage Month.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage and History in the U.S. lesson plan from EDSITEment!

Bearing Witness to Japanese American Incarceration Lesson Plan from Facing History & Ourselves

How did Japanese Americans experience and resist incarceration during World War II?

a free unit from Brown University Choices Program

Teaching about Japanese Internment (incarceration) Through Primary Sources from the Library of Congress

Korematsu v.United States (1944) from iCivics

Author and historian Erika Lee shares the story of Wong Kim Ark and the landmark 1898 Supreme Court case that guaranteed birthright citizenship, regardless of a parent’s immigration status. “This is a landmark decision. It matters to all of us. It’s not just something that applies to the rights of Asian Americans.” (Video: Washington Post Live)

United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)

This mini-lesson explores the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. Students learn about the difference between jus sanguinis and jus soli citizenship. They also learn about the Chinese Exclusion Act, analyze a historical political cartoon, and review the contents of the U.S. Naturalization Oath.

Summary of the case, United States v. Wong Kim Ark

I Am An American: The Wong Kim Ark Story (children's book)

The Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) provides resources for educators who teach about issues related to immigration in Minnesota and globally. These resources are designed to help students improve their critical thinking and research skills within the complex topics of immigration.

Flexible, interdisciplinary, and discussion-based—IHRC's educator resources are a useful collection of lesson plans and toolkits for instructors and teachers to facilitate a better understanding of immigration history. Check out their free curriculum.

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For questions or complaints regarding unlawful discrimination or harassment, employees should contact the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Personnel Management and Labor Relations at (248) 209-2429 or HR@oakland.k12.mi.us. Students and others should contact the Civil Rights/Title IX Coordinator at (248) 209-2590 or Jacqueline.Zablocki@oakland.k12.mi.us.