Asian-Americans make up a small portion of America but have contributed to many arts, sciences and sports in the United States. May is Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) month in the U.S. and you may wonder what is the history of AAPI month? Well wonder no more!
“In June of 1977, U.S. Representatives Frank Horton of New York and Norman Mineta of California introduced a resolution to establish Asian Pacific Heritage Week, to be celebrated each year at the beginning of May. Hawaiian senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced similar legislation in the Senate. The following year, President Jimmy Carter signed into law a joint resolution to establish the annual event, and the first celebration took place in May of 1979. In 1992, the month of May was designated by President George H. W. Bush as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The annual celebration honors the many contributions and accomplishments of Asian Americans, Pacific Islander Americans, and Native Hawaiians.
Hiram Fong, one of Hawaii’s first two senators, became the first Asian Pacific American to serve in the U.S. Senate in 1959. Seven others have followed in his historic footsteps: Samuel Hayakawa of California (1977-1983); Spark Matsunaga (1977-1990), Daniel Inouye (1963-2012), and Daniel Akaka (1990-2013) all of Hawaii; and current senators Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and Vice President Kamala Harris of California.”1
Here are some interesting facts from The Pew Research Center about Asian-Americans in America:
Chinese Americans are the largest Asian origin group in the U.S., making up 24% of the Asian population, or 5.4 million people. The next two largest origin groups are Indian Americans, who account for 21% of the total (4.6 million people), and Filipinos, who account for 19% (or 4.2 million people). Those with roots in Vietnam (2.2 million), Korea (1.9 million) and Japan (1.5 million) each have a population of at least 1 million. The other 13 groups in this analysis account for 12% of all U.S. Asians, totaling 2.7 million people, with no one group surpassing 600,000. The remaining 3% of U.S. Asians provided other origins or indicated they are Asian but did not indicate a specific origin.2
Despite a growing demographic, many Asian-Americans have faced some racism or prejudice. According to the Pew Research Center, “research was conducted in the wake of a recent rise in attacks against Asian Americans, including during the Covid-19 pandemic amid misinformation and misplaced aggression about the origins of the virus.
Reported hate crimes against Asians in 16 of the nation’s largest cities and counties rose 164% in 2021, according to a study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernardino. And a 2022 report from Pew found about a third of Asian Americans reported changing their daily routine due to concerns of racially motivated violence.”3
Unfortunately “an estimated 1 in 5 Asian Americans in the US have hidden details about their heritage from people who are not Asian.” Hopefully next May’s celebration will find this number will be less significant.
May 9th is Fentanyl Awareness Day and Suffolk County has been hit hard by this crisis. Not only does it affect adults but also children, teens and families. New York State has a website that has data on the most current trends of this awful epidemic.4 There are some resources for teens to turn to help them how to handle and navigate dealing with this: ALATEEN5, NAR Anon6, and NARAteen7 .
Of course, children have to deal with all sorts of other family issues and there are some books that can help you help your child deal with them. Some titles we have at the library are:
Up and down the mountain : helping children cope with parental alcoholism by Pamela Higgins
A terrible thing happened / written by Margaret M. Holmes
My big sister takes drugs / story and pictures by Judith Vigna
I wish Daddy didn’t drink so much / story and pictures by Judith Vigna
While these are very difficult topics, the library can help your family cope with finding books, databases, and many other resources.
1. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/News_Asian_Pacific_Month.htm
2. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/
3. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/08/us/asian-american-identity-pew-report-reaj/index.html
4. https://webbi1.health.ny.gov/SASStoredProcess/guest?_program=/EBI/PHIG/apps/opioid_dashboard/op_dashboard&p=sh
5. https://al-anon.org/newcomers/teen-corner-alateen/
6. https://www.nar-anon.org/
7. https://www.nynaranon.org/narateen.html
