Legislators, Educators, Students Push for Asian American Studies in Schools

 

U.S. lawmakers, educators and students are among those pushing for all school-age children to be taught more Asian American history.

The Asian American Student Union at Farmington High School in the state of Connecticut is part of this effort. It organized a meeting after the killing¹ of six Asian women in Atlanta, Georgia in March.

Lily Feng is co-president of the group. She thought maybe 10 or 15 students would attend. By the end of the meeting, however, nearly 100 people had joined.

When she saw the reaction of other students, she said she knew how much they wanted to learn about Asian American issues.

Feng said, "Our Asian American and Pacific Islander community members, they want their voices to be heard." The student group has brought in speakers, had discussions and created lessons about Asian American history.

Illinois could become the first state to require public schools to teach events of Asian American history if the governor signs a bill that passed the state legislature in May. Lawmakers have proposed similar requirements this year in Connecticut, New York, and Wisconsin.

Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz is an Illinois state representative. She said she supported the bill because of increasing anti-Asian violence and language.

Gong-Gershowitz said she knew little of the discrimination her family had faced in earlier generations. She said she knew so little because it was not taught in school and her family did not speak openly about it.

She did not learn about the Chinese Exclusion² Act until she studied at law school. The act was an 1882 law that placed restrictions³ on immigration from China. The law was withdrawn⁴ in 1943.

Gong-Gershowitz learned about the threat of removal from the country that the law represented for her grandparents. She said she understands that history is central to dealing⁵ with violence today.

She said, "empathy comes from understanding, and we cannot do better unless we know better."

United States Representative Grace Meng is a member of the Democratic Party from New York. She has reintroduced legislation meant to increase the teaching of Asian American history.

The bill would require the Presidential and Congressional Academies to include Asian American history in their acceptance process. The academies offer history and civilian/government responsibility programs for teachers. The bill would also support including Asian American history on state and national tests.

Nicholas Hartlep is a professor at Berea College in Kentucky. He wrote a book about the way Asian Americans are shown in learning materials. He said Asian Americans are mostly not included in schoolbooks. He also said it is good to see legislation aimed at teaching history, but funding to support the requirements is necessary for them to make a difference.

The growing discussions of Asian issues have given support to efforts to develop learning materials for schools that explore Asian American history.

Some educators in the U.S. are creating their own Asian American history content. Freda Lin and Cath Golding are providing materials for teachers through Project YURI, an education group.

Jason Oliver Chang is a professor at the University of Connecticut. He has worked to provide support for the state's legislation on Asian American studies.

He commented on what he thinks ethnic⁶ studies are. "It's about teaching in a way that engages the student...with the structures of power that shape their world," Chang said.

Words in This Story

empathy – n. the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions

fund – v. to provide money for (something)

engage –v. to cause someone to take part in something, like a discussion

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。