Celebrating AAPI Month

The month of May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month. This month celebrates the wide range of identities of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans and their heritages within the U.S. Often times when people think of  “asian” they are limited to the knowledge of China, South Korea, and Japan. However, Asians are way more varied.

According to the U.S. Senate, in June of 1977 U.S. Representatives Frank Horton of New York and Norman Mineta of California established Asian Pacific Heritage Week as the first week of May every year. The next year, President Jimmy Carter signed a law to make it an annual event and the first celebration was May of 1979. Later in 1992, President George H.W. Bush assigned May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which is now celebrated today to celebrate the accomplishments of AAPI Americans and Native Hawaiians in the United States. 

This month is significant to the recognition of AAPI Americans because the asian experience is very versatile and unique to live as an American. In 2021, Asian hate crime was recorded to increase 339 percent when major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco surpassed their numbers in 2020, based on information from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and reported by NBC news. 

After the extreme increase in Asian hate over the past few years, AAPI Americans have made attempts to rework American society to be more educated on the AAPI experience and significant figures. By incorporating AAPI history in education and creating culture clubs are ways to educate the nation and combat the hate.