Texas students should know more about the contributions and history of Asian Americans, advocates say.
A woman at Monday’s State Board of Education meeting asked everyone in the room to think of just one prominent Asian American.
“I would have had difficulty with this question just a few short years ago, and I have been an Asian American for 37 years now,” she said. “But can you really blame me, because I grew up in Texas?”
A stand-alone elective course covering Asian American figures, history and culture will help fill the gaps in current social studies standards, advocates urged, which is especially needed as that racial group is the fastest growing in the country.
Texas approved its first ethnic studies course to recognize the contributions of Mexican Americans in 2018. Since then, the SBOE has approved state standards for an African American Studies course. Grand Prairie ISD piloted an American Indian/Native Studies course as advocates for that course explore state approval.
Dozens of speakers urged the board members to consider how many diverse students want to learn about the ways their lives and family stories fit into the American narrative. They want lessons that break down stereotypes and show role models.
“Texas students deserve to see a more inclusive and accurate account of the ways Asian Americans have made an impact throughout our country’s history,” said Lily Trieu, interim executive director of Asian Texans for Justice.
Several Asian American students and recent graduates waited hours to speak as the discussion came amid a wider debate over what Texas students learn about history. The SBOE is engaged in a once-in-a-decade rewrite of social studies standards that will dictate what students learn at each grade level.
Included this year in the debate are standards for each of the ethnic studies courses. The drafts posted online show a new Asian American Studies course would include lessons on the factors that led to the arrival of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and South Asian immigrants to the United States; the effects of the Vietnam War on migration; and an exploration into the “model minority myth and the perpetual foreigner idea.”
Such lessons are important because current history lessons rarely mention Asian Americans outside of atrocities, several students said.
One remarked that she never learned in school about positive contributions, such those of civil rights activist Fred Korematsu, who defied government orders to be sent to incarceration camps for Japanese Americans and appealed his case to the Supreme Court, or Anna May Wong, who is considered the first Chinese American Hollywood star.
Board members expressed support for an Asian American Studies class but wondered about the best way to get it approved. Existing ethnic studies classes started off as innovative courses, piloted in districts before they received approved state standards from the SBOE.
The American Indian/Native and Asian American classes don’t have that approval yet, but the SBOE may give it at their next meeting. The board plans to meet in a month to continue discussions over the social studies curriculum.
“I’d like for those courses to be available as soon as possible for our students,” said Marisa Perez-Diaz, D-Converse.
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