National Archives Celebrates AANHPI Voices in the American Story
By Pete Lewis | National Archives News
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 – In celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the National Archives hosted a conversation on the role historians and media have played in our nation's cultural storytelling and the potential impact AANHPI voices will continue to have on that narrative in the future. This conversation was moderated by MSNBC/NBC journalist and author Richard Lui, with panelists Stewart Kwoh, Co-founder of the Asian American Education Project and Founding President of Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Karen Korematsu, Founder and President of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute; and Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director of the Asian American Scholar Forum.
From left: Stewart Kwoh, Co-founder of the Asian American Education Project and Founding President of Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director of the Asian American Scholar Forum; Karen Korematsu, Founder and President of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute; and MSNBC/NBC journalist and author Richard Lui discuss the important contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) in the United States, during a celebration of AANHPI Heritage Month at the National Archives in Washington, DC, May 1. (National Archives photo)
Micki Chen, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Verizon Global Networks and Technology, gave opening remarks and discussed the importance of remembering AANHPI peoples and stories.
“History allows us to appreciate the diversity of cultures. It helps us to understand different perspectives and to foster empathy and tolerance. History plays a crucial role in shaping individual and collective identities,” Chen said. “So by understanding history, we gain a deeper sense of the challenges that need to be overcome in order to create a culture of belonging.”
The group conversation started with a focus on the Japanese American incarcerations during World War II. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, fears grew regarding vulnerabilities in national security, especially on the West Coast. In February 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the internment of more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, many of whom were American citizens.
“It’s important to understand our history because in 1882, Chinese were excluded from coming to the United States [via] the Chinese Exclusion Act. It was supposed to last for 10 years. It lasted until 1943. But then they added all the other Asian groups: Korean, Japanese American, Filipino American. In 1924 they added the Japanese Americans, so only 18 years later, the incarceration happened,” Kwoh said. “This was a violent period. A period of legislative, as well as physical, isolation and discrimination.”
Lui was quick to make comparisons to recent events in American history.
“When you talk about the Chinese Exclusion Act, it is the first and only racist law passed by this greatest deliberative body in the world. Ever,” he said. “I remember when I was on air during the Muslim ban. There I was on a Saturday covering, across the country, the airports where we saw all of these amazing families being kept away from each other. And I could not help but think, because my family was directly affected by the Chinese Exclusion Act, ‘Let’s not do that again!’”
The conversation then turned toward how people of different Asian backgrounds have banded together in the hopes of making their voices louder and increasing their power to influence change in this country.
“We [immigrants] came to the United States and truly experienced being a minority,” Perez Kusakawa said. “We experienced directly what it means to be scrutinized by law enforcement, or the FBI. We have been targeted. We have been harassed. And we have experienced tremendous amounts of violence. And I think somewhere along the line, we realized that we needed to come together as a group to really be able to empower each other.”
The discussion ended with Lui speaking of the late Young Corky Lee, a Chinese American activist and photojournalist who spent more than five decades documenting the stories of Asian American communities around the country. Lee’s photos of Asian American protests were displayed, as well as photos of other influential, yet lesser-known, Asian Americans including Mitsuye Endo and Dr. Gang Chen.
A question-and-answer session was held after the discussion.
View the discussion on the National Archives YouTube Channel.
View the National Archives Calendar of Events for information on future events, and the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month special topics page for online resources, including articles, educational resources, and videos.
This program is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of Verizon.