MEETING IN A BOX Asian-American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month For All Employees Jono Erasmus/Shutterstock.com sian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month takes place in May to celebrate the diverse cultures and accomplishments of those who trace their roots to Asia Aand the Pacific Islands. During this time, we acknowledge and pay homage to the contributions Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made to American society and culture. In this Meeting in a Box, we provide information on the breadth of these regions both geographically and culturally, a historic timeline that outlines Asian American and Pacific Islander accomplishments and boundary-breaking moments, and facts and figures that offer demographic and workplace information. We also include an outline that highlights various Asian American and Pacific Islander resource groups at our partner companies. Share this document with your staff to further your team’s cultural competence education. © 2020 DiversityInc PAGE 1 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX 1 DEFINING ASIA AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS The terms Asian and Pacific Islander refer to a vast geographical region, but have also been racialized. According to the National Resource Conservation Service, Asian American did not become a widely used term until the late 1960s and early ‘70s. The term refers largely to race because native Australians and New Zealanders are not considered Pacific Islanders, and white people born in the Asian region of the former Soviet Union are not counted as Asian. The U.S. Census Bureau defines the following as Asian regions: (Russia is not included despite it being on the continent of Asia.) EASTERN ASIA: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, South Korea, North Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Paracel Islands, Taiwan SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan SOUTHEASTERN ASIA: Brunei, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam WESTERN ASIA: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen The U.S. Census Bureau also explains the delineation of the Pacific Islands as follows: The Pacific Ocean contains an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 islands (the exact number has yet to be precisely determined). Those islands lying south of the Tropic of Cancer but excluding Australia are traditionally grouped into three divisions: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Melanesia means black islands. These include New Guinea (the largest Pacific island, which is divided into the sovereign nation of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian provinces of Maluku, Papua and West Papua), New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands. Micronesia means small islands. These include the Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Most of these lie north of the equator. Polynesia means many islands. These include New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, the Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Easter Island. It is the largest of the three zones. “There are also many other islands located within the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean, but these are not considered part of Oceania. These islands include the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador; the Aleutian Islands in Alaska; the Russian islands of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands; Taiwan; the Philippines; the South China Sea Islands; most of the islands of Indonesia; and the island nation of Japan, which includes the Ryukyu Islands. The inhabitants of these islands are not considered to be Pacific Islanders and are usually identified with their nearest continent.” Some of these classifications and definitions are contentious. Many Pacific Islanders have spoken out against being grouped in with Asians because of the vast array of ethnic groups under these general terms. Ultimately, it is important to understand that these classifications are government tools and often do not take into account the complexity of various cultures and identities. “Asia-Pacific Group Member States”; Jesuiseduardo; CC BY-SA 4.0 © 2020 DiversityInc Source: nrcs.usda.gov PAGE 2 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX 2 ASIA PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE: TIMELINE Asians and Pacific Islanders have played an integral role in shaping Amer- Discussion Questions for Employees ican history, business, art and other advancements. This timeline outlines just some important moments in Asian American and Pacific Islander history, from the time Asian immigrants first arrived in the U.S. to today’s ? What comes to mind when you think broadly of Asian barrier-breaking accomplishments in politics, activism and media. Share American and Pacific Islander history in the U.S.? What figures this timeline with your team to help contextualize and celebrate various stand out to you? aspects of Asian-American and Pacific Islander heritage. ? Why is it important to discuss some of the darker times in Asian- American and Pacific Islander history along with the triumphs? How can we help stand up to racism and xenophobia? ? How does our company acknowledge Asian American and Pacific Islander history? What else can we do? 1985 2016 CC BY 2.0 2014 NASA Cornelius Poppe/EPA/Shutterstock © 2020 DiversityInc PAGE 3 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX Timeline 1763 eligible for naturalization. -Filipinos settling in Louisiana are considered the first Asians recorded in what will become the United States. 1879 -California’s Second Constitution prohibits the employment of Chinese immigrants. 1790 -The first recorded immigrants from India arrive in the U.S. 1882 -The Chinese Exclusion Act suspends Chinese immigration 1820 to the United States for 10 years. -The first recorded immigrants from China arrive in the U.S. 1885 1847 -The first recorded Korean immigrant, Philip Jaisohn arrives -Yung Wing graduates from Yale College, becoming the first in the U.S. as a political exile. He becomes the first Korean Chinese person to graduate from a U.S. college. He goes to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen and the first Korean on to champion higher education for other Chinese by American medical doctor. He returns home in 1896 and establishing the Chinese Educational Mission, which helps becomes a well-known political activist. send other Chinese students to U.S. schools. He also writes a memoir, “My Life in China and America,” where he outlines 1886 how the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 impacts his life. -In Yick Wo v. Hopkins, the Supreme Court rules that law with unequal impact on different groups is discriminatory. 1848 -The California Gold Rush leads to the first large-scale 1898 immigration of Chinese to the U.S. -The U.S. assumes control of Hawaii and the Philippines upon winning the Spanish-American War. 1854 -In the United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court -In People v. Hall, the California Supreme Court rules that upholds the 14th Amendment: that all people born in the Chinese people cannot testify against whites accused of U.S. are citizens. murder, just as Native American and Black people could not. 1906 1858 -The San Francisco Board of Education segregates Chinese, -California bans Chinese immigrants. Japanese and Korean schoolchildren. 1865 1907 -The Central Pacific Railroad Company hires the first of -Executive Order 589 prevents Japanese and Korean people 12,000 Chinese workers. from entering the U.S. mainland. 1869 1922 -The first transcontinental railroad is completed. The Central -In Takao Ozawa v. United States, the Supreme Court rules Pacific crew is made up of primarily Chinese immigrants, that Japanese migrants cannot be naturalized. while the Union Pacific crew is made up of primarily Irish immigrants. These sides often clash. The laborers work 1923 as long as 15 hours a day in treacherous conditions to -In United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, the Supreme Court complete the project. rules that Indian migrants cannot be naturalized. -The first Japanese settlers arrive on the U.S. mainland in California. 1870 -The Naturalization Act of 1870 restricts citizenship to whites and Blacks, making Asians ineligible. 1878 -A California circuit court rules that “Mongolians” are not 1847 1865–1869 Messrs. Henry Holt & Co Harper’s Weekly © 2020 DiversityInc PAGE 4 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month For All Employees MEETING IN A BOX 1924 Southeast Asians to the U.S. -The Immigration Act of 1924 effectively prohibits the immigration of all Asians to the U.S. Mid-1970s -Capitol Hill staffer and member of the Organization of 1942 Chinese Americans, Jeanie Jew first brings up the necessity -Executive Order 9066 results in 120,000 Japanese to designate a month to celebrate Asian and Pacific Americans being sent to internment camps. Islander heritage. 1943 1979 -Congress repeals the Chinese Exclusion Act and grants -The first Asian Pacific American Heritage Week is naturalization rights. celebrated. 1946 1985 -The Luce-Celler Act permits Filipinos and Indians to -Ellison Onizuka becomes the first Asian American — and immigrate and become naturalized. first American of Japanese ancestry — in space. -Democrat Wing Ong becomes the first Chinese-American not born in the U.S. to be elected to state office. He serves 1988 in the Arizona State House of Representatives. -The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 pays surviving Japanese American internees $20,000 each in reparations. 1949 -The U.S grants 5,000 educated Chinese people refugee 1989 status after the Communist takeover of China. -The Amerasian Homecoming Act Allows children of Vietnamese mothers and American servicement to 1955 immigrate to the U.S. -The Vietnam War begins, ultimately sparking resistance from many Asian Americans. The Asian-American 1990 Movement, made up of a number of grassroots -May becomes Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.