Op-ed: Recognizing unique AAPI experiences in DC

As Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month draws to a close, DC shouldn’t stop celebrating our city’s rich history and diverse communities. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are- and for generations have been- residents of this city and greater region. The two of us come from AAPI families who took parallel, but substantially different, paths to flee persecution and to build community.

Our paths met here, in DC, as two people entrusted in positions of leadership in DC public education: the first AAPI elected member of the DC State Board of Education and the first AAPI chair of the DC Public Charter School Board. We want to use this moment and the opportunities afforded us by our roles to recognize and celebrate our community’s realities, and to invite our neighbors to join this celebration- not just this month, but year-round.

AAPI communities in the United States have repeatedly been held responsible for the actions of governments thousands of miles away, the most egregious instance being Japanese internment during World War II. These prejudiced conflations haven’t gone away, nor has DC been immune to anti-AAPI sentiment. In 2021, AAPI people made up 4% of DC’s population but were the target for 25% of hate crimes involving ethnicity.

The realities of AAPI communities are often invisible to broader public rhetoric and attention. Today, we call upon our neighbors to see and center every member of our community- especially those who are too often treated as invisible, including but not exclusively AAPI communities. It is in honor of AAPI people in DC who have contributed to our city’s rich social fabric that we write today.

Public education can play a significant role in deepening understanding. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong expressed it well: “When you don’t know that history, that provides a firm foundation of ignorance and for people to act out on their hate and to buy into myths that Asian Americans are a model minority.” Connecticut is now one of several states that have passed legislation requiring that AAPI studies be included in public school curricula. In DC, proposed revisions to our social studies standards- currently under review by the State Board of Education- seek to do this by teaching our students a more comprehensive history of the many racial and ethnic communities in our city and our country.

As School Without Walls graduating senior Camila Merryshaw testified recently to the State Board of Education, too few students in DC have opportunities to learn about AAPI communities. We commend DC’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), which is currently revising DC’s social studies standards, for its work to equip all DC students with both “windows” and “mirrors” to our city’s many racial and ethnic communities. We also commend the work of community-based initiatives such as AAPI in DC, an 18-month research project by the 1882 Foundation in cooperation with the DC Historic Preservation Office and the DC Preservation League.

Beyond schools and beyond Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we encourage all Washingtonians to continue celebrating diverse AAPI experiences and realities in DC. The two authors here celebrate our opportunities to live, march and build alongside our neighbors, as AAPI people in DC have for generations.

Read our op-ed via The DC Line

Allister Chang represents Ward 2 on the DC State Board of Education, and Lea Crusey chairs the DC Public Charter School Board.