In 1977, the idea of Asian Pacific Americans (APA) Heritage Month was born. It's basically as old as ECAASU, and follows a very similar trend. The creation of APA Heritage month can be attributed to Representatives Frank Horten (NY), Norman Mineta (CA), along with Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga. It became official with President Carter passed the motion in 1978.
The idea for ECAASU (or as it was known back in the days, ECASU) was born when a bunch of students gathered at Yale in 1977 for the Inter-Collegiate Liaison Committee (ICLC). In 1978, the first ECASU conference was held at Princeton in 1978.
Personally, I think this month is a time to not only reflect on our Asian Americans identity, but also on our Asian heritage. I feel like there are a lot of people who are so fearful of the Asians-as-foreigners stereotype that they try so hard to be American, often ignoring the Asian in Asian American. Hopefully, this month can serve to remind us of the unique Asian culture, in addition to the Asian American culture, with which history endows us.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
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