Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Magazine
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Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PMB Administrative Services AVSO CADR IBC OFAS OHA Our Vision: To Deliver Outstanding Products and Customer Service While Actively Creating and Sustaining a Respectful Focus Welcome Embracing Diversity By Julie P. Bednar Associate Director Human Resources Directorate Interior Business Center Welcome to our inaugural Special Emphasis Program Magazine. I've been a federal civil servant for almost 30 years in Human Resources. I use the term "civil servant" in its truest form - I am proud to have served the citizens of our If each of us embraced diversity in all of its forms, and country to my fullest extent and to bring value to our showed respect for all of the diversity that surrounds us taxpayers. I'm extremely proud of the diversity of our every day, imagine the possibilities! federal workforce. I challenge each of you to have one new experience each In my eyes, "diversity" has so many different meanings. day for the next two weeks - it can be as simple as trying Diversity can be the personal characteristics that you a new dish for your next meal or considering an opinion observe when you first meet someone. Diversity can be that is different from your own. Then reflect upon what how each of us grew up, which has an impact on how we you have learned in two weeks. interpret our daily experiences. Diversity can be how Keep on going -- embrace a new experience every day, each person's ideas can be harvested to create day after day. I would love to get feedback from you innovative ways of delivering government service. after time, to know how your lives have been impacted Diversity is the world around us - Earth's diverse by this view of diversity. Please share your thoughts ecosystem constantly amazes me. with me at [email protected]. Thank you! Pictured, above: Julie Bednar presenting former IBC Associate Director LC Williams with the United States Flag that was flown over the United States Capitol in his honor on the occasion of his retirement after more than 30 years of service in the U.S. Military and the U.S. Department of the Interior. 2 Welcome: Embracing Diversity 3 About AAPI 5 A Legacy of Public Service: Daniel Ken Inouye 7 Perspectives: Hawai’i 9 Perspectives: New Zealand 11 Unrepresented Nations and Peoples: The Hmong 12 Chinese Communities in Western America 13 Perspectives: Taiwan and Japan 14 Remembering and Giving 15 DOI Celebrates AAPI 16 Spotlight on Origami 17 Flavors of Asia 18 About the Special Emphasis Program 2 About AAPI Telling All Americans' Stories: Introduction to Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Courtesy of National Park Service In the wake of exclusionary immigration policies and racial discrimination, early The history of North America is shaped by the stories of Asian immigrants nevertheless immigrants from Asia and the Pacific and the native people of successfully built ethnic enclaves throughout the United States. the Pacific Islands. While some of the earliest Asian immigrants In the Sacramento delta, the small settlements of Locke and arrived from China, Japan, India, and Korea, immigration Walnut Grove were once thriving nihonmachi’s (Japan towns) reforms tied to U.S. civil rights legislation brought even more and Chinatowns that were the homes of immigrants who groups to the United States—such as Vietnamese, Cambodians, flocked to California during the Gold Rush. The Stedman- Laotians, Indonesians, the Hmong and other peoples from Thomas Historic District of Ketchikan, Alaska, was home to a South and Central Asia. During the 1800s, the discovery of gold in California and political upheaval in China triggered unprecedented waves of immigration from Asian countries to the United States. Asian immigrants contributed significantly to the history of American nation-building and westward expansion. Initially welcomed as a much needed labor source in mining, railroad, and agriculture, Asian immigrants soon became a source of resentment for those Americans who thought of themselves as white. Oh good! They began to blame Asians for the economic decline and high unemployment after the Civil War. The U.S. government passed a series of measures to stem the influx of immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act of diverse community of Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, and Filipinos 1882 severely restricted immigration by barring Chinese who helped build the region’s fishing industry. laborers from entering the country for ten years and made Chinese immigrants already within the United States ineligible By the mid-1900s, generations of Asian Americans had built for U.S. citizenship. In 1907, a “Gentleman’s Agreement” enduring communities throughout the United States. However, between the United States and Japan also limited the Japan’s attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 immigration of Japanese laborers. revived existing hostility towards Japanese Americans. In response to public outcry against the attack and widespread fear of Japanese American disloyalty, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which forcibly relocated over 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast to one of ten Relocation Centers. The Minidoka National Historic Site is one of the places that interprets this largest forced relocation of American citizens. Despite the denial of their civil liberties and constitutional rights, many Japanese Americans still felt it was their duty to contribute to the war effort. Initially barred from enlisting following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the armed forces later formed a segregated unit for Japanese Americans: The 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team. They fought on the battlefields of Italy, Germany, and southern France while most of their families remained in internment camps for the duration of the war. The 442nd would go on to become the most decorated unit of its size in American military history. 3 About AAPI Currently, over 20 million people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent live in the United States, totaling about 6 percent of the U.S. population. As diverse communities built strong roots in the United States, they retained cultural heritages that stretch across the globe. As the nation’s storyteller, the National Park Service strives to tell the stories of ordinary and extraordinary Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders preserved in our nation’s parks, memorials, and historic sites. Visit the National Park Service Telling All Americans' Stories portal to learn more about this topic and American heritage themes and histories. An antique porcelain sculpture of Quan Yin, the goddess of compassion and mercy Here is an alphabetized list of capitols in Asia. Can you name the country for each capitol? Answer key on page 17 Abu Dhabi Islamabad Phnom Penh Amman Jakarta Pyongyang Ankara Jerusalem Riyadh Ashgabat Jerusalem (East) Sana'a Baghdad Kabul Seoul Baku Kathmandu Singapore Bandar Seri Begawan Kuala Lumpur Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Bangkok Kuwait City Taipei Beijing Male Tashkent Beirut Manama Tbilisi Bishkek Manila Tehran Damascus Moscow Thimphu Dhaka Muscat Tokyo Dili Naypyidaw Ulaanbaatar Doha New Delhi Vientiane Dushanbe Nicosia Yerevan Hanoi Nur-Sultan 4 A Legacy of Public Service Remembering Daniel Ken Inouye By Shaun House Auditor/Negotiator Interior Business Center From humble beginnings in 1924, Daniel K. Inouye was destined for a life of public service. His mother, of Japanese ancestry, was adopted by a Native Hawaiian minister and his family, whom Daniel was named after. Inouye said of his mother, “She made it very clear to me from the time I was very young that I owe a lot to the Hawaiian people, and she expected me to repay that debt.” During World War II, Inouye attempted to enlist into the military at the age of 18, but was denied admission due to his race. After petitioning the government, Inouye was allowed to enlist into the U.S. Army as a private in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was primarily comprised of Japanese American Soldiers. Inouye was injured in battle on the 21st of April, 1945, resulting in the amputation of his right arm. His actions on that day would eventually earn him the Medal of Honor, but not for half a century. Inouye retired as a Captain in 1947, after spending almost 2 years in U.S. Army hospitals. Upon leaving military service, Inouye graduated from the University of Hawaii before attending George Washington University Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1953. Shortly after admittance to the bar, Inouye was elected to a territorial house of representatives in the then territory of Hawaii. In 1959, when Hawaii attained statehood, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as the first Japanese American congressman. From 1959 until his death in 2012, Inouye served as an elected representative of Hawaii. Left: Amputee Daniel Inouye with Bob Dole at Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan Robert Dole Library 5 A Legacy of Public Service During his time in Congress, Inouye worked tirelessly for his constituency and others he felt had inadequate representation. He proposed legislation to help the Hawaiian people and was paramount in passing the Native Hawaiian Education Act and the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act. His commitment to the people didn’t end at his constituency. He also proposed legislation for the Japanese Americans that were interned during WWII, leading to the Civil Liberties Act, and worked diligently to right the wrongs he felt were made against Native Americans while working on the Committee on Indian Affairs. "My father just looked straight ahead, In June of 2000, Inouye was awarded the Medal of Honor he had earned so and I looked straight ahead, and then For over 100 years, the Kīlauea long ago in San Terenzo, Italy.