Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is a period for the duration of month of May for recognizing the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States
The history of North America is shaped by the stories of immigrants from Asia and the Pacific and the native people of the Pacific Islands. While some of the earliest Asian immigrants arrived from China, Japan, India, and Korea, immigration reforms tied to U.S. civil rights legislation brought even more groups to the United States – such as Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Indonesians, the Hmong, and other peoples from South and Central Asia. Discover these wide-ranging stories preserved and interpreted in our nation’s parks, trails, and historic sites.
During the 1800s, the discovery of gold in California and political upheaval in China triggered unprecedented waves of immigration from Asian countries to the United States. Asian immigrants contributed significantly to the history of American nation-building and westward expansion. At Fort Vancouver’s Kanaka village Hawaiian men were among the multi-ethnic workforce in the agricultural fields and sawmills of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) operations. AtGolden Spike National Historic Sitein Box Elder County, Utah, visitors can learn about the over 11,000 Chinese immigrants employed by the Central Pacific Railroad of California. Between 1863 and 1869, Chinese, Irish, and Anglo-American laborers endured harsh working conditions in order to build the Transcontinental Railway.
Initially welcomed as a much-needed labor source in mining, railroad, and agriculture, Asian immigrants soon became a source of resentment for those Americans who thought of themselves as white. They began to blame Asians for the economic decline and high unemployment after the Civil War. The U.S. government passed a series of measures to stem the influx of immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 severely restricted immigration by barring Chinese laborers from entering the country for ten years and made Chinese immigrants already within the United States ineligible for U.S. citizenship. In 1907, a “Gentleman’s Agreement” between the United States and Japan also limited the immigration of Japanese laborers.
#STOPASIANHATE – “For more than a year, the Asian American community has been fighting two crises – the COVID-19 pandemic and the anti-Asian hate,” Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., a co-author of the bill, said Tuesday April 12th at the Capitol.
The Senate opened debate on Wednesday, April 13th on legislation confronting the rise of potential hate crimes against Asian Americans, a growing problem during the coronavirus crisis that will also test whether the chamber can push past partisanship on an issue important to many constituents.
Typically, the Democratic-sponsored COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act might quickly face a filibuster, opposed by Republicans who prefer a different approach. But under the Senate leaders’ agreement struck at the start of the year, Republicans and Democrats pledged to try to at least try to debate bills to see if they could reach agreement through the legislative process.
Senators voted overwhelmingly, 92-6, to proceed Wednesday to consideration of the bill.
