How Communicators Can Help Educate America on AAPI Heritage
05/05/2021
There are several factors behind the significant rise in hate and violence against Asian Americans. Misinformation and misrepresentation are major triggers. The former president referring to COVID-19 as The China Virus didn t help.
The New York Timesrecently collected media reports of cases detailing assaults against Asian Americans where common phrases such as “You are the virus” and “Go back to China” were present.
Unfortunately, history shows such hatred is not new so how to change things?
On April 22, 2021, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an anti-Asian hate crimes bill. It now awaits House approval a sign of hope for a community that has long suffered from discrimination and racially motivated violence.
Night falls in Chinatown, San Francisco, the largest Chinatown outside of Asia as well as the oldest in North America. John Elk III/Getty Images
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is a celebration of the 22.6 million Asians and 1.6 million Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders living in the United States and the role they played in shaping American history. Although Americans have celebrated AAPI Heritage Month every year since 1992, when President George H.W. Bush signed legislation that permanently designated May as the commemorative month, it started out as a weeklong celebration in 1979 – thanks to the efforts of a woman named Jeanie F. Jew.