If you knew me, you would know that I am Filipino American and that I graduated with a BA in Asian American Studies from the University of California, Davis (UCD). If you really knew me, you would know that I only became shallowly aware of my Asian American identity my sophomore year of high school, when I did a project on the landmark Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court case regarding bilingual education, and then in my senior year when I learned that Filipino World War II veterans were denied their benefits from the United States Armed Forces, even though they were conscripted into those same armed forces during World War II. Then, at UCD, when I got involved with the different Filipino American organizations Today, I encourage you to take a look at May from a different perspective, because Asian American history is American history.
Here is a description of the commemoration from the Asian American Pacific Heritage Month Web site at http://asianpacificheritage.gov/index.html:
"May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian-Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).
"Like most commemorative months, Asian-Pacific Heritage Month originated in a congressional bill. In June 1977, Reps. Frank Horton of New York and Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a House resolution that called upon the president to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. The following month, senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both were passed. On October 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a Joint Resolution designating the annual celebration. Twelve years later, President George H.W. Bush signed an extension making the week-long celebration into a month-long celebration. In 1992, the official designation of May as Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month was signed into law.
"The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants."
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