May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, But Why Are So Many Asian Americans Oblivious To It's Existence?

I think it is safe to say that we are all aware of the different months of the year dedicated to various groups of people, such as Black History Month and National Hispanic Heritage Month. While these two months in specific are celebrated by many and publicized by the media, there are some other months that receive less attention. The month of May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This month has been recognized as APAHM annually since 1992, and yet is still unheard of by many, especially those in the APA community. 

As someone who is very involved and tries to stay updated with everything that goes on in the Asian community, I was surprised to hear that many of my closest friends, who are Asian American, had not heard of this month until they noticed a Snapchat filter that had "Asian Pacific American Heritage Month" written on it.  I know that there are still a lot of people who aren't truly proud of their heritage and or are very uninformed about their culture, but the number of people who don't care or simply don't know about this month is baffling.

I believe that this unawareness is due to the minor media coverage this month receives, on top of the little effort and attention it is given by people who are of Asian Pacific American backgrounds. I remember back in elementary school, there was always a presentation, lesson, and announcement at school during February, in honor of Black History Month. This time of the year was always very interesting to me, because I got to learn more about a different culture and its history. While this month was the most covered and discussed heritage month we celebrated in school, other heritage months were also announced throughout the year.

I have noticed that my high school in particular, has announced various national holidays annually for the past two years.  However, it is now the month of May, and I have yet to hear any form of an announcement that wished students a "Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month." This may just be a timing issue, as the announcements in the morning are rather short, but if that is so, I do not see it as a valid excuse, since the school has made the extra effort to announce other important holidays previously. While the APA community should not need a school-wide announcement of APAHM in order to know about the month, I think it is important that we do recognize this month for what it is and that people begin to celebrate and honor their heritage like other cultures do.

I am very proud to be Asian American. Growing up, I have always been taught to be proud of where I come from ( I am half Japanese and half Chinese), and that I would not be who I am today if it were not for my heritage. I encourage everyone, whether you are part of the APA community or not, to celebrate who you are, and to celebrate the people around you as well, since we are all the products of our own personal histories. While we should not limit the celebration of our heritages to one month out of the year, I do believe that there is power in celebrating and embracing where we come from, and that this feeling should be reciprocated by everyone.