Amid a wave of violence against Asian-Americans, some push for more of their history in classrooms

California-born Japanese-American Fred Korematsu was just 23 years old when he resisted being sent to an internment camp in 1942. He was convicted for violating military orders, sentenced to five years' probation and was interned with his family in Utah. It was not until 1983 his case was reopened and overturned.

These days, Korematsu is remembered as a notable civil rights campaigner and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the highest award that can be bestowed to a civilian.

But his story is one of many that are going largely untaught in American classrooms. Even as schools across the country increasingly seek to include the history of America's minority groups in curricula, particularly amid the Black Lives Matter movement, teachers and advocacy groups have warned that Asian-American history remains absent.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Among those who have experienced this first hand is Kayla Huynh, the daughter of Vietnamese and Thai immigrants who grew up in the city of Bloomington, Illinois about 135 miles south of Chicago.

"I don't recall learning anything related to Asian-American history," recalled Huynh, now an aspiring writer and student at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. "Except when we learned about Hiroshima, and a bit about the Japanese internment camps."

Among the topics not mentioned: Chinese immigrants in the 19th century and their role in building the transcontinental railroad, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, xenophobic violence against immigrant communities, waves of immigration in the 20th century, or the activism of civil rights leaders like Korematsu.

More recent events are even less likely to be mentioned in class. The 1982 killing of Chinese-American man Vincent Chin in Michigan - where racial tensions ran high as a result of animosity towards Japanese competition in the US car market - rarely warrants a mention.

Nor does the 1960s grape strike by Filipino farm workers and their mostly Mexican-American allies in Delano, California, which ended in a victory and collective bargaining agreements.

In scattered states across the country - such as Illinois, California and Connecticut - legislators and school boards have slowly begun taking steps to introduce Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history to schools, sometimes working in conjunction with advocacy groups or educational non-profit organisations.

Fred Korematsu received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. Photo: VA Capital News Service/CC BY-NC 2.0 alt=Fred Korematsu received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. Photo: VA Capital News Service/CC BY-NC 2.0

This, however, is far from universally the case in the US, where the development of curricula is left to state and local authorities, with the federal Education Department playing no role in what students learn day-to-day.

In many conservative areas of the country, AAPI advocates also report opposition from local communities who prefer to keep the status quo intact.

Noreen Naseem Rodriguez, an assistant professor of primary school social studies at Iowa State University who has been developing relevant curricula for primary and secondary students, puts opponents and advocates of AAPI-focused education into three main camps.

"First, there are those who think that the founding fathers and presidents are all we need to teach in order to develop patriotic citizens," she said.

"Second, there are those who recognise the need to sprinkle in a little diversity vis-a-vis a handful of indigenous people and historical figures of colour, as long as the narrative arc of American exceptionalism, progress and meritocracy and individualism remains intact.

"And third, there are those who recognise that the other two narratives are incredibly exclusionary and paint an incomplete version of history that needs to be disrupted and reimagined to better represent our pluralistic democracy."

Despite the fact that Asian Americans represent a diverse population of more than 23 million - or about 7 per cent of the total US population - and make up the fastest growing population in the country, Huynh is far from alone in having learned little of the Asian-American story between primary and secondary school.

Yingyi Ma, an associate professor of sociology and director of Asian and Asian-American Studies at Syracuse University, said it's "actually very common" for students to complete their primary and secondary education with little, if any, attention paid to AAPI-related topics.

"There are a lot of reasons, but I think it's largely the 'invisibility' of Asian-Americans," the professor added.

"They're almost like a forgotten minority in our discussion of social justice and equality. This has a lot to do with the 'model minority' myth that's perceived in American society. We're covered in the media as 'successful' minorities, because of educational attainment and pretty high-income level."

Experts warn that the exclusion of Asian-American history and culture in schools can have a range of consequences, including on a psychological and social level for many students.

"[This issue] perpetuates perceptions of them [and] us as what [author] Mia Tuan calls 'forever foreigners'," added Rodriguez.

"We rarely see ourselves reflected, which has a number of psychological effects, and principally calls into [question] notions of [belonging] and challenges related to identity," she added.

Protesters hold signs during a rally to show solidarity with Asian-Americans on March 26 in San Francisco, California. Photo: Getty Images via AFP alt=Protesters hold signs during a rally to show solidarity with Asian-Americans on March 26 in San Francisco, California. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

A recent poll commissioned by the organisation Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change found that 42 per cent of respondents were unable to name a prominent Asian-American. About 11 per cent named Hong Kong-born actor Jackie Chan.

Rodriguez's assessment was echoed by Kayla Huynh, who said that the lack of AAPI education in school "can be isolating" for Asian-American students.

"When I was young, I always wondered why I never got to learn about people who looked like me. It was always very uncomfortable," she recalled. "I started to see myself as an outsider. It's a confusing thing when you have absolutely no knowledge of your own history and culture."

Others have noted that an ignorance or fear of AAPI history and culture plays a significant role in xenophobia, harassment or even violence directed in the community - incidents that have spiked since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While verbal harassment and shunning have made up the bulk of recorded incidents, there have also been incidents of violence that have left the community on edge. These include a series of shootings in Georgia that left eight dead in March.

"These issues are all linked. Ignorance about this community is very much linked with the lack of education," Syracuse's Yingyi Ma said. "If it's not part of the curriculum, our students will not really get the knowledge they need. Part of that ignorance will come forward when political tensions arise, or can lead to racism, xenophobia and violence."

Conversely, advocates note that the inclusion of AAPI education in schools can provide a partial solution to America's alarming levels of anti-Asian racism.

"It's not going to happen overnight. We should have started this kind of education decades ago," said Karen Korematsu, Fred Korematsu's daughter and the founder and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education.

"Americans have very short memories when it comes to understanding history, cultures and issues," added Karen Korematsu. "This is the approach we need to take ... but it's going to take a long time, maybe another decade, before we see any results."

The lack of AAPI-focused education in schools, however, may slowly be changing. In March, for example, the California State Board of Education approved guidance to help local high schools in developing ethnic studies courses that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said would "uplift the voices of marginalised communities" in California, including Asian-Americans.

Meanwhile, in Illinois, a bill introduced by Asian-American advocates in February would mandate schools to begin teaching AAPI history starting in 2022. State legislators are expected to vote on the bill by the end of this month. Various other organisations - including the Smithsonian - have also offered resources or lesson plans for educators.

But there is sometimes resistance. When the Illinois bill was passed by the state's lower house in April, Reuters reported that lawmaker Avery Bourne supported efforts to encourage AAPI history, but she believed that the decision should be left to local school boards.

"Americans have very short memories when it comes to understanding history, cultures and issues," said Karen Korematsu, executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education. Photo: Carlo de la Cruz alt="Americans have very short memories when it comes to understanding history, cultures and issues," said Karen Korematsu, executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education. Photo: Carlo de la Cruz

In an opinion piece in the conservative National Review, Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Centre called a previous effort to approve new "culturally responsive" teaching standards as "woke indoctrination" and "political re-education".

According to Karen Korematsu, opposition sometimes comes from the "right, conservative" wing of politics. Or some of these efforts are being labelled "anti-American".

"They are afraid of this education. They feel that it's a threat to them," she explained. "But that's not what this is about, this is about being inclusive."

In the longer-term, Karen Korematsu said that she believes that civic engagement - from individuals - will be the key, along with funding for educational programmes.

"[People] need to be participatory at their own level, whether with school districts and superintendents, or city councils. These are matters that can be raised at meetings," she said. "That's part of what it means to be an American."

"My father said to stand up for what's right and to not be afraid to speak," she added. "I'm saying that people shouldn't be afraid to speak up against anti-Asian hate. Education is the answer."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2021 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.