OPINION | The History and Heritage of Asian and Pacific Islander Communities Belong in Our Classrooms

by Kyle Kinoshita

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Among the many celebrations, it's a time to honor family histories and learn from how our ancestors met and overcame the challenges of landing on these shores from their home countries. It's also time to ensure these valuable stories are known to future generations of learners — meaning all students, not just those in our communities.

When my grandfather stepped off a ship in Seattle's port in 1907 to work in railroad construction, I'm sure he had no idea of the racialized experience he was about to have in this country. He was just looking for a better life, having no future in Japan as the youngest son of the family. But he couldn't have known that because he was an Asian immigrant, he wouldn't be legally allowed to own property or apply for U.S. citizenship. Or, because of the 1924 U.S. ban on further admitting Japanese, that one of my uncles would be left behind in Japan, an early instance of immigrant family separation. Or that his daughter, my mom, because of the same endemic racism, would be barred from even doing secretarial work to earn tuition money for her dream of attending the University of Washington. Or that the whole family would lose everything in 1942, forcibly removed to an American concentration camp in the Idaho desert at the onset of World War II, the direct outcome of a racist narrative that had existed for decades. The story continues in the years following, when my family members not only overcame adversity but also achieved a measure of reparations for this injustice.

Stories of families like mine have long been absent in school history textbooks. But there is a growing effort in Washington State to require the inclusion of experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islander peoples in the P—12 core curriculum, along with those of Black, Latinx, sovereign Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ communities. Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnic studies in schools is decades overdue and a matter of basic justice — our country must own the lessons of this complex history.

Despite the tremendous diversity of the origins of the Asian and Pacific Islander community, there are realities that compel common solidarity. The ugly upsurge of hate and the "China virus" scapegoating of anyone who looked Asian during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that we've not reckoned with a long-standing undercurrent of anti-Asian racism. Members of our community were targeted no matter what country they or their ancestors were from, nor how many generations their families have been in the U.S.

As a third-generation member of Seattle's AANHPI community and leader of one of its organizations, I believe the inclusion of AANHPI ethnic studies is essential for all students. The continued invisibility of AANHPIs in the core curriculum is directly connected to ongoing anti-Asian hate. And we need to stand up against those who would silence any conversation of race and racism, both in our history and how it remains an oppressive reality. But to truly benefit our students, AANHPI ethnic studies must have, at minimum, these essential components:

An honest account of our communities' experience with racism, in the past as well as present. The racism my grandfather encountered was faced by thousands of early Asian immigrants to the U.S. They were lured here to be exploitable labor for industries, such as railroads and industrialized agriculture, helping to complete the colonization of the western U.S. and Hawai'i. They then faced vicious exclusion from citizenship and life opportunities, which was accompanied by violent attacks against our communities. Up and down the West Coast in cities such as Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima, and Bellingham, anti-Chinese, anti-Filipinx, and anti-South Asian riots and expulsion from their communities occurred. One of the largest acts of violence was the forced removal of 125,000 Japanese Americans in World War II. Pacific Islanders, who are often invisibilized within the construct of Asian American Pacific Islander ethnicity, have had a long history of colonization and displacement. None of these were isolated instances, but a part of systemic, endemic racism that also kept Black, Latinx, and Native communities in a strict white supremacist racial hierarchy. The race-baiting of AANHPIs today is actually an old narrative — a continuation of a long tradition of scapegoating that emerges from the shadows during societal crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To leave out this account only allows today's anti-Asian narratives to be untouched.

A strong critique of the toxic "model minority" myth, and its core of anti-Black racism. Criticizing the "model minority" myth is not about disrespecting the striving for a better life for the next generation that is a huge strength of Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Nor is it belittling the many Asian and Pacific Islander figures that we look up to. I personally, for example, greatly respect Star Trek's George Takei, not just for being a pioneer Asian American actor, but for his outspoken voice for LGBTQ+ rights and for writing children's books on the Japanese American incarceration he experienced.

Instead, the toxic "model minority" myth is a reactionary narrative about what a "good Asian" should be. One harmful message is the extreme pressure for Asian and Pacific Islander youth to completely assimilate into whiteness and divest themselves of any trace of identity with their ancestral homelands. Or the idea that to get ahead, one must remain absolutely silent about racism and microaggressions toward themselves. Further, the "model minority" narrative actively promotes anti-Blackness and being a divisive "wedge" by pitting Asian Americans against civil rights for Black and Brown communities. Witness Asian American groups across the country who have been on the front lines of the racist attacks against affirmative action on college campuses.

An accurate history would highlight that the "model minority" myth did not come from the AANHPI community. Instead, it was created in the 1950s and '60s by white power structures that popularized the image of the "good Asian" overcoming racism through "hard work" and "American values." This narrative was used to scold the just protests of the Black Civil Rights Movement. As we've seen with recent Asian American attacks on affirmative action, the "model minority" storyline is still being used as a "divide and conquer" strategy against racial justice movements.

The "model minority" myth that AANHPIs are "beyond racism" also hides the fact that despite the affluence of some sections of our community, there is continued poverty, exploitation, educational marginalization, and invisibility of Chinese, Korean, Filipinx, Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian, South Asian, and other immigrant communities in neighborhoods such as South Seattle and South King County. All of this is why a strong critique of the "model minority" myth is a necessary component of AANHPI ethnic studies.

The inclusion of the history and traditions of resistance to racism by the AANHPI community. Jim Akutsu, Larry Itliong, Yuri Kochiyama, Grace Lee Boggs, Warren Furutani, Haunani-Kay Trask, Cherry Kinoshita — for me, names to remember in our history. In direct opposition to the "model minority" narrative, young people need to know the heroism of AANHPIs who stood up to racism and violence, such as the World War II Japanese Americans who resisted the incarceration and the military draft, the Filipinx farmworker labor leaders of the '60s, the AANHPI allies who supported Black civil rights struggles, the student activists who fought for the establishment of ethnic studies in the '70s, the advocates for Hawaiian sovereignty, and leaders like my own mother, who achieved reparations for the Japanese American incarceration.

In recent years, AANHPIs have protested anti-Muslim hysteria following 9/11 and anti-Arab immigration bans. Members and organizations in our local community, such as Tsuru for Solidarity, have spoken out against the incarceration and horrible conditions that immigrant detainees suffer at Tacoma's Northwest ICE Processing Center. Pacific Islanders, who have their own history of resistance against colonization, have stood up for their sovereignty. And there are AANHPI groups across the country who are ardent supporters of Black reparations. These traditions have been buried, and must come to light in a strong, complete AANHPI ethnic studies program.

An Asian and Pacific Islander American Ethnic Studies that teaches solidarity. A final thought: AANHPI ethnic studies can't stand apart from Black, Latino, Native American, and LGBTQ+ studies. What I learned long ago from my own undergrad degree in ethnic studies is that the racism and multiple oppressions impacting our communities has the same source, and our stories are intertwined. I've appreciated my connection with Washington Ethnic Studies Now (WAESN), a local nonprofit I've learned from that has supported teachers with curriculum and training and that, most of all, champions the approach that ethnic studies must lift the solidarity between everyone experiencing the sting of racism and oppression.

My advocacy for Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic studies is about presenting all of our historical narratives so future generations can achieve what my grandfather hoped to have — a country and society where justice prevails.

The South Seattle Emerald is committed to holding space for a variety of viewpoints within our community, with the understanding that differing perspectives do not negate mutual respect amongst community members.

The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the contributors on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the Emerald or official policies of the Emerald.

Dr. Kyle Kinoshita is a lifelong K—12 educator, leader, and university faculty member. He is currently president of the Seattle Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). A product of Seattle Public Schools, he grew up on south Beacon Hill. For further reading, he recommends "The Making of Asian America" by Erika Lee.

📸 Featured Image: Protestors display signs protesting anti-Asian hate during a rally in Hing Hay Park in 2021. (Photo: Maile Anderson)