May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
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This May, please join Alder Foods in its celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Each May since 1992, the United States celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month as a chance to recognize the cultures and rich heritage of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and the contributions they have made to American society.?The commemoration actually first began with a congressional bill that was introduced by Reps. Frank Horton and Norman Y. Mineta in June of 1977, which requested that the first 10 days of May be recognized as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week and then was officially signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on Oct 5th, 1978.?Twelve years later, President George H.W. Bush extended the weeklong celebration to annually include the entire month of May.?The month of May was chosen as a commemoration for two primary events, the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7th, 1843, and also to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10th, 1869 as the majority of workers who laid the tracks on this project were Chinese immigrants.?
Throughout history, Asian and Pacific Americans have faced many challenges and have been subjected to racial discrimination, exclusion, inequity, and even violence going back to the mid-1800s when contracted laborers from Southern China worked as miners, railroad builders, farmers, factory workers, and fishermen began to represent a larger portion of the American workforce until the depression of 1876 when they faced backlash from other Americans for “taking their jobs.” They soon faced violence and even discriminatory legislation as Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which restricted Chinese immigration for the next sixty years until it was repealed in 1943.?Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, most notably Japanese Americans, also faced discrimination and forced relocation during World War II. And even today, Asian Americans have been subject to a recent wave of violent hate crimes.?
Despite these challenges, Asian/Pacific American traditions and cultures have been woven into mainstream America and their contributions to our society are significant.?
Below you will find some links to help celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month that includes educational books, podcasts, and films, suggestions for exploring Asian Pacific culture through art with lists of exhibits at museums located all over the United States (with virtual tours).?
Additionally, I’ve highlighted a handful of Asian American individuals and their significant contributions to American history and culture.?
Dalip Singh Saund – Mr. Saund was an Indian-American politician who became the first Sikh, Indian American and Asian American elected to the United States Congress.?
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Chien-Shiung Wu – Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics.?Wu worked on the Manhattan Project where she helped develop the process for separating Uranium into two isotopes using gaseous diffusion.?She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved.?She was awarded the Wolf Price in Physics in 1978 and is knowns as the “First Lady of Physics” and the “Queen of Nuclear Research.”
Haing S. Ngor – Ngor was a Cambodian American gynecologist, obstetrician, actor and author who is best knowns for winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in his debut performance in the 1984 film “The Killing Fields.”?Ngor survived three terms in Cambodian prison camps, using his medical knowledge to keep himself alive by eating beetles, termites and scorpions and eventually crawled between Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese lines to safety in a Red Cross refugee camp.?Ngor was murdered in a robbery outside his Los Angeles home in 1996.?
Ellison Shoji Onizuka – Onizuka was an American astronaut, engineer and USAF flight test engineer from Kealakekua, Hawaii.?Onizuka successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C.?Onizuka was serving as a Mission Specialist for Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded on January 28,1986, killing the seven crew members on board, including Onizuka.?
Jerry Yang – Yang was an internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist who is known as the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo!, Inc.?While studying at Stanford in 1994, Yang and David Filo co-created an internet website called “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web,” which consisted of a directory of other websites.?As it grew in popularity, they renamed it “Yahoo! Inc.”?In 2021, he also co-founded the Asian American Foundation, which is a $250 million initiative to address racism against Asian Americans and provide services to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.?