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Giving Your Speech for APA Heritage Month

Over 20 years ago, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month was designed to celebrate the culture and contributions of Asian Americans. Since then, organizations from around the country have created programs to bring music, dance and speakers to the general public.

As someone who has spoken to hundreds of groups about APA history and issues over the years, I’ve noticed that the few faces on the lecture circuit haven’t changed much. Most of the federal agencies here in D.C. sponsor a speaker and refreshments, but not enough schools, companies, religious institutions and nonprofits take the time to plan a program.

Part of the problem is that the fundamental purpose of Heritage Month programs has shifted, but many of us are still laboring under the old notion. We, as Americans, used to believe that we should recognize women, African Americans, APAs, and other groups and give them some credit for some of the advances in our society, but then go about life as if nothing fundamental had changed.

But in fact, the rise of the new women’s movement, evidenced in part by female majorities entering classes at many professional schools and increased participation in female sports leagues, has profoundly “de-centered” white advantaged men from the category of “normal” in this society.

Add to this the situation in California, where whites are officially just another “minority” group, and you can see the necessity of developing effective skills for working with people who differ from you by race, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion and diet.

Each person entering the workforce today will be interacting with a heterogeneous potpourri of people. Helping our schools and workplaces to be multicultural, anti-racist and anti-sexist does not mean denying the important contributions of white men. It means that Shakespeare is one of the important writers we study, along with Maya Angelou and Maxine Hong Kingston. It means re-centering the stories of union organizers as well as those of presidents, youth, seniors, gays and straights, conservatives and liberals.

Knowledge alone cannot undo years of minimization and hurtful exclusion in textbooks. Skills are needed to deal with the inevitable conflicts that will arise as we all deal with a social contract that has changed and is changing every day. Asian Americans can now own land, work as attorneys, marry whites, and do many other things that we were forbidden to do as recently as a few decades ago. But we still must overcome perceptions that we are technicians and backroom workers, not marketers and managers.

Those of us who see the importance of APA Heritage Month in the context of this larger paradigm shift should each be speaking at two or three venues each May. For starters, try the schools where you or your children go, your place of worship, and your place of work. Also, work to bring in outside speakers and entertainers to places.

I have spoken with several APAs about going out to speak during APA Heritage Month, and a common refrain is “I don’t know the history well enough” or “I can speak about Vietnamese Americans, but not the other ethnic or nationality groups.” If this is true, you have two alternatives: take the time to learn the material yourself, or bring along someone who can answer questions if they arise.

I have found that a good 30-minute speech can be limited in scope and doesn’t have to be an all-inclusive, omnibus compendium on APA history and culture. Instead, here is a sample outline any of you can use to create your own speech, so that your own voice can be heard:

• Definitions: Who are APAs? We definitely are not “Orientals.” Those are rugs. Look at www.census.gov to get a few statistics, if you like. Add local statistics if you can.

• History: Where have we been? What have we accomplished? Who are some people worth knowing? Start with a website like www.ocanatl.org, and follow the links to get the history.

• Current Events: Start with the archive at www.asianweek.com. Look in your local newspaper. Fold in some stories about your own experiences, or the experiences of others in your community.

• Lessons: Remind the audience that this is more than just a “trivial pursuit” approach to knowledge. The main lesson of APA Heritage Month is that if we, and our children, want to participate effectively in an increasingly multicultural world, we need deep knowledge about similarities and differences, as well as strong conflict-resolution skills. To get the best out of any classroom, work team, or society, we need everyone to bring their whole self to the enterprise. No one should feel like an outsider. No one should get unfair advantages based on the presumption of white male competence or any other unfair presumption.

• Conclusion: Tie it all together with a story or anecdote from your own experience. How have you or others overcome prejudice? How was the participation of others essential to making the situation better? How did moving beyond blame mode allow you and your colleagues to bring about justice and fairness—as well as multiculturalism?

• Follow Up: This is the most important part of your Heritage Month presentation. Thank the event organizers. Help them to buy books for their library (www.asianamericanbooks.com). Help them to find videos for future screenings (www.naatanet.org). Make them glad that they participated in making multiculturalism a reality.