In celebration of Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) of Seattle is launching an education initiative that circulates a recommended reading list to all public high schools in Washington State and provides an APA Curriculum Guide to educators. The purpose of this initiative is to inform students and teachers about the experiences of people of Asian ancestry and to dispel stereotypes.
“We know hate crimes, xenophobia, and the perpetuation of stereotypes can be averted through education” said Ryan Chin, JACL Seattle Education Chair. “The JACL hopes to circumvent these problems by teaching our future leaders about APAs and the ramifications of exhibiting ignorant and hurtful behavior.”
Within the past year, the internet has unveiled pictures of Cyrus (TV star more commonly known as “Hannah Montana”), Gasol (pro basketball player, Los Angeles Lakers), and Joe Jonas (of boy band, the Jonas Brothers) each, in independent incidents, pulling their eyes back to form a slant eyed look mocking Asians. Combating these types of behaviors and stereotypes is important to working together in a multi-cultural society.
Through the generous support of State Farm®, the APA Curriculum Guide was created containing lesson plans, readings, and additional resources. This guide provides teachers with the materials that they need to educate students about APA history. Both the recommended reading list and the APA Curriculum Guide can be downloaded at: http://www.jaclseattle.org/resources/jacl-materials/.
“We understand the increasing pressure on educators to teach more curriculum aimed towards scoring well on standardized tests. However, teaching APA history and necessary core skills, such as reading, are far from mutually exclusive,” added Elaine Akagi, JACL National Board Member and Seattle Public School teacher.
“By fusing the two, we can fulfill not only the objective of furthering essential skills, but we can also meet another important need for students: preparing them to function more effectively in a global and just society.”
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