By Nina Huang
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
A group of local Chinese Americans are hoping to get the state to pass a bill that would honor and celebrate the accomplishments of Chinese Americans during the month of January.
According to the Pew Research Center’s 2021 report, Chinese Americans were the largest Asian origin group in the United States, making up 24% of the Asian population, or 5.4 million people.
Yet, they still don’t have an official month dedicated to their heritage.
Even the Filipino Americans celebrate their history in the month of October and Korean Americans celebrate annually on Jan. 13.
Several local Chinese Americans are hoping to change that and started discussions around designating a month to celebrate the accomplishments and history of Chinese Americans.
Earlier this year, the United Chinese Americans of Washington and Washington Asians for Equality created the initial proposal to celebrate the Americans of Chinese descent in January. However, there was some back and forth between community members around the name and month.
Connie So
On Jan. 11, 2023, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) asked Dr. Connie So, teaching professor at the University of Washington’s American Ethnic Studies Department, to evaluate whether January is the best month to honor “Americans of Chinese Descent”—the title of the original bill. So created a survey to obtain additional perspectives on the title of the month, and whether January or another month would be the best choice to honor “Americans of Chinese Descent”/“Chinese Americans.”
For this evaluation, in addition to her own expertise, Dr. So solicited the input of four notable local Chinese American historians—Doug Chin, Dr. Chuimei Ho, Betty Lau, and Bettie Luke—each of whom will be paid a small honorarium for their consultation by OSPI. The consultants were chosen for their expertise on local Chinese American histories and their longstanding commitment to the…
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