For 2022, the Asian Culture Center at Indiana University has selected Renew and Rebuild: Our Communities and Beyond as their theme for Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Given the intense strain that has been placed on America’s AAPI communities over the past few years, it is indeed fitting to create a dedicated intention to renew and rebuild.
AAPI community members have long had to endure a significant amount of “othering” and systemic exclusion. However, some of the worst instances of routine violence and aggressive discrimination against the AAPI community have happened since the beginning of the pandemic, with NPR noting that some 9,081 incidents were reported between April 2020 and the end of June 2021. Sadly, many more go unreported, and women in the community have been impacted in more than 60 percent of all reported incidents.
This unprecedented experience has created intense fear and worry, damaging community connections with neighbors and potential allies as many AAPI members have chosen to withdraw from unnecessary socialization or community exploration. However, isolation creates an opportunity for further othering and fails to allow AAPI members to build the community bridges they need to fight back against harassment, discrimination, and incidents of violence. It is therefore more important than ever for AAPI members to be involved in their communities, to be allies and develop allyship relationships, and to be active in local groups and governance.
Toward that end, Indiana University’s Asian Culture Center will be using AAPI Heritage month as a launching point for a number of workshops and conversation sessions on building partnerships and collaboration points. These include opportunities to build solidarity with other minority communities and create allies within local institutions.
A leading focus will be how AAPI community members can show up as agents of change in their community circles. AAPI communities are one of America’s fastest growing demographics, but they have historically been almost totally without representation in city and national governments. Particularly away from Hawaii and the West Coast, it can be hard for AAPI community members to find familiar faces in positions of local authority, though this has been changing.
Even outside of governmental structures, there is a huge need for AAPI community voices to make themselves heard and to make an impact. For too long, community members have been more or less invisible in the eyes of activists, donors, and philanthropists around the country. For example, for every dollar of community giving by foundations, less than 0.2% has historically been given to AAPI or AAPI aligned community groups, according to the 2020 Seeking to Soar report.
It is difficult to renew or rebuild any community without funding and support! In the spirit of becoming their own best allies, the Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) have formed a coalition of more than 500 institutions and individual to unite in collective philanthropy specifically aimed at AAPI individual and institutions. Their pledge was signed in 2021, and already AAPIP and other groups have benefited substantially, receiving more than $1.1 billion dollars from a number of significant and influential donors.
The funding helps, not just by covering the costs of defending the AAPI community but also by providing space and resources to expand it. As the students and community participants around Indiana University conduct their AAPI Heritage Month activities, they deserve to see that support isn’t confined to just one month or one particular pocket of academia. As they learn to build bridges, make connections, and be allies, they deserve to see that out in the world there are indeed other sides to these bridges, other halves to the connections, and a multitude of others rising up to be worthy allies. AAPI communities have been under stress and invisible for too long, and it is high time – this year and for years to come – to do the necessary work of uplifting, renewing, rebuilding, and nourishing them as a vital part of our vibrant world.
GROWING REPRESENTATION AND LEADERSHIP THROUGH COLLABORATION
For 2022, the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC), the premier organization representing Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) employees in the Federal and District of Columbia governments, has selected “Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration" as their theme for Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This is a continuation of the theme from 2021. The 2022 focus is on FAPAC’s efforts to advance leaders at the Federal level and within DC government.
This focus is vital to the AANHPI community, as they are one of the least represented demographics at the Federal level. This is true both in politics and general governance. Politico notes that AANHPI community members are the least likely to hold elected office at the federal level. In federal governance, which includes agencies, bureaus, and departments, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notes that only some six percent of federal employees are of Asian descent. Of that six percent, just 3.4 serve in the Senior Executive Service, the nation’s top level of governmental leadership.
However, when one looks further down from the federal level, AANHPI representation in local governments has been rapidly growing over the last few years. According to reports from the Reflective Democracy Campaign, in the last two years AANHPI have made major strides in elections at the city level. This includes gaining positions in city governments outside of regions traditionally thought of as “Asian strongholds” along the West Coast. Some notable wins have included Michelle Wu becoming Mayor of Boston, and Aftab Pureval becoming Mayor of Cincinnati.
Many of these newcomers have been motivated by the rise in violence and discrimination against AANHPI community members during the pandemic years. Realizing that without participating in politics or governance agencies their voices would not be heard, these individuals have been stepping forward to try and make a difference in how AANHPI members are viewed and treated.
Crunching the data, it seems that when there is the opportunity to be included on the ballot, AANHPI community members can be elected at a rate equal to other types of candidates. The larger issue is thus getting community members onto the ballot. Longstanding political gatekeepers can discourage “non-traditional” candidates from running or pursuing federal agency positions, hampering efforts by the AANHPI community to represent themselves.
It is in this space that FAPAC’s efforts at building channels of collaboration become incredibly valuable. Many AANHPI candidates are younger and more likely to be first-time participants in elections or governmental agency hiring processes. As a result, without a partner or advocate, it can feel like pushing a boulder uphill to navigate the process and successfully compete on equal footing.
One of the methods FAPAC uses to create these bonds and give practical training to interested community members is through its National Leadership Training Program (NLTP). 2022 marks the 37th year of the NLTP, a four-day live training event that aligns with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) requirements as an appropriate training for the Federal workforce in accordance with 5 U.S.C. Chapter 41 and 5 CFR 410.404. As a result of attending, participants can gain insights into professional development opportunities and participant in career fairs and network building sessions.
The event is also a time when FAPAC recognizes key leaders in the AANHPI community already in governance. This allows participants to see who is already breaking down barriers and creates the opportunities for mentorship and collaboration. Each new link is a chance to expand opportunities and move past gatekeepers at every level.
Of course, not everyone will be able to attend the live event. Thus, as a part of Heritage Month and beyond, FAPAC makes a variety of training materials available virtually and also hosts dedicated career and networking events. Through these efforts and others, FAPAC hopes to continue to support the entire AANHPI community as it expands its presence in America’s highest levels of office and in critical governmental agencies. By collaborating from the city level on up through the highest positions, a strong talent pool can be created to ensure more quality representation of the community in government moving forward.
STOP ASIAN HATE BY BUILDING BETTER BRIDGES
American philosopher Eric Hoffer once described rudeness as a behavior that comes from a place of weakness. Using that same framework, we find that hatred often stems from a place of fear and misunderstanding. Where members of the Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) community are feeling that hatred, rudeness… even bullying and harassment… it can be a sign that misunderstanding, fear, and weakness are playing a major role.
To stop Asian hate… and especially the forms of Asian hate that are manifesting themselves in violent incidents and harassment of AAPI community members around the country… it is therefore necessary to do more to break through those barriers of ignorance and fear. To do this, we must turn to education and connection building across multiple community touch points. Here’s how that can translate into specific actions on the ground.
First, education. The tumultuous history of AAPI community members in America is largely absent from major school curriculums. This leaves millions of otherwise well-educated people completely ignorant about what members of the AAPI community have struggled with and had to overcome over the decades. What they have had to do to prosper and participate as full members of society has been truly extraordinary – and is traditionally ignored.
Thus, to help others in their education – and especially others from fellow minority groups and underrepresented populations – it is vital to make sharing AAPI stories a priority. From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the exploitation of native Hawaiians to the WWII era Japanese internment camps, AAPI communities have faced unbelievable amounts of persecution, racism, and discrimination. Sharing that history provides perspective and a space to have critically important conversations.
It also provides an opportunity to build connections. AAPI communities experience significant amounts of “othering” and isolation, which makes them more vulnerable as a group and as individuals. Creating partnerships through special events, interactive presentations, and bringing forward buried histories can fight this, removing some of the fear of the “other” and eliminating some of the misunderstandings that have arisen between AAPI communities and other minority group advocates.
This kind of more active and activist-style role is something that is new to many AAPI community members. Yet what was being done previously clearly wasn’t enough to make a difference in AAPI lives, and it perpetuated the environment that has allowed AAPI peoples to be so targeted during the pandemic years. Stepping forward with their voices and participating more vocally and more frequently in community diversity events and political processes can be transformative.
Becoming more active also clearly telegraphs to diversity leaders, community leaders, friends, and neighbors that this is not a temporary thing. Destructive narratives like the “model minority” stereotype that holds that AAPI members won’t make a big deal out of ethnic bias may have some thinking that all of this attention on AAPI bias is going to be a flash in the pan kind of thing. This needs to be overcome, and it needs to be made clear through things like running for office, stepping onto community boards and committees, and actively reporting incidents that this bias is not okay and that standing against it is not going away.
Those who mistreat and attack AAPI community members need these lessons. Often, their bad behaviors are coming from places of weakness, fear, and misunderstanding, but those excuses are temporary shields. As AAPI community members come forward with education about their experiences, it removes the otherings and knowledge gaps. As they participate more with other minority groups and in community committees, it erases destructive narratives and creates meaningful connections. And of course, when AAPI community members and their allies continue their efforts not just during Asian History Month but continually and at all appropriate opportunities, it signals that the old, ignorant behaviors were never acceptable and will not be accepted in the future. In this way, weak links become strong bridges, and everyone can enjoy a world with less Asian-based hate.