For centuries, the American Dream has epitomized freedom, hope and opportunity for people from all over the world.
A recent unprecedented surge of anti-Asian hate, however, has ignited debates about whether we as a country can truly live up to our founding values.
Waving the flags of their adoptive country and chanting slogans like “Stop Asian Hate,” Americans of Asian descent across the country are sending a rallying cry against hate and intolerance: that Asian Americans deserve to be visible in their homeland, where they are just as American as everyone else.
The Asian American community’s fight for justice is a deeply American struggle—one that seeks to realize the ideas upon which America was founded: that all people are created equal and deserve access to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
AAPIConnect’s Mission
The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community faces an array of challenges, including outright anti-Asian racism and hate (particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic), roadblocks to full civic and political participation and a lack of representation in Hollywood, Washington and many places in between. To build a brighter future for all Americans, AAPIConnect focuses on a unique mission, which we hope to achieve through our various initiatives.
In the pursuit of American unity, AAPIConnect connects the public with AAPI culture and AAPIs with civic engagement, anti-hate resources and broader society.
To achieve our goal, we have outlined a (non-exhaustive) list of challenges facing the Asian American community, each paired up with the action that our organization will take to make progress on the issue and move toward a brighter future.
1
Only 20 U.S. states have statutes that require Asian American studies curriculum or academic standards that include AAPI studies, and 18 states have K-12 history standards that do not even mention Asian Americans.
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Partner with the Asian American Education Project in adding a student perspective to their AAPI history curriculum.
Create and distribute an updated Legislative Progress Calendar tracking AAPI curriculum bills.
Empower students to write letters to and call their state legislators through campus, state and regional chapters.
2
Because of prominent misconceptions that categorize the AAPI community as a monolith, many AAPI students lack access to meaningful educational opportunities that allow them to discover their cultural heritage.
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Initiate and fully fund a Youth Essay Contest for students (especially AAPI ones) to write authentically about their cultural identity, including by speaking with and interviewing their own family members.
Found a pen pal initiative—the first of its kind—connecting Asian American students with counterparts of a similar age in Asia to facilitate cultural exchange, connection and discovery.
3
Many members of the public without the ability to attend expensive events—including youth—lack the ability to hear, learn and gain advice on careers and advocacy from Asian American leaders and activists.
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Host frequent Guest Speaker events that are free and fully accessible to all, where panelists discuss their experiences in advocacy and leadership, offer career advice and field questions from attendees.
4
Out of AAPI youth who reported discrimination, one-quarter experienced shunning and/or social isolation, and youth are over 9 times more likely than adults to be harassed at school and over 1.6 times more likely than adults to be harassed online.
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Build a cookie-cutter, easily-implementable “AAPI History Hour” toolkit for all students to take action and create a safe space for Asian Americans on their school campuses.
Outreach to students across the country to encourage them to establish campus chapters of AAPIConnect at their middle school, high school or college/university.
5
Asian Americans of all political stripes experience roadblocks to full political participation, yet voter turnout is at a low 47% compared to 66% for African American voters and 64% for non-Hispanic white voters.
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Include in our leadership (especially our adult Advisory Board) Asian American leaders who are Republicans, Democrats and independents.
Host speakers and events that intentionally value the political diversity of the Asian American community, recognizing that Asian American voters are not a monolith.