Are there Chinese American heroes? You bet, but they have all been invisible. Chinese Americans and their contributions are often ignored, overlooked or unknown,” said Roger Dong, who is trying to change that with his ambitious new nonprofit organization, Chinese American Heroes.
He and Dr. David Chai have created a Web site documenting the positive impact Chinese Americans have made on society, beginning with the railroad workers in the 1860s to contemporary icons like Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang, historian and journalist Iris Chang, and architect I.M. Pei.
The Web site will launch on Oct. 1 and features sections about notable Chinese Americans, significant events in Chinese American history and youth achievement.
Dong became passionate about Chinese American history two years ago after volunteering as a docent for the Chinese Historical Society of America. To prepare, he read numerous history books and was shocked to discover the hardship and discrimination his early ancestors faced, especially due to the Exclusion Act.
“I had never taken a course in Chinese American history, and all these historical facts were eye-opening,” recalls Dong.
Moved by these revelations, he joined the Organization of Chinese Americans, where he met Chai. The idea for their project was born after Dong gave an impromptu speech at a Committee of 100 conference in San Francisco last year, voicing the need for a project chronicling the contributions of Chinese Americans. The crowd applauded his concept, and from that moment on, Dong was motivated to bring the project to life.
Talks of a book were considered, but Chai suggested using the Internet.
“The Internet is efficient, easily accessible and the best way to reach out to thousands of people,” said Chai. “When we went to register our Web site, we were surprised that no one had claimed it. ‘Chinese Americans’ and ‘heroes’ are two terms that people don’t associate with each other.”
Dong believes the way Chinese Americans are raised is one of the reasons why their contributions have been ignored by mainstream society.
“Chinese are taught to be humble, not to brag about our accomplishments,” said Dong. “We have to override our sense of humility to document our stories.”
Over the next two years, Chinese American Heroes has a goal of compiling 5,000 biographies, but Chai and Dong realize they cannot do it on their own. They are currently seeking funding to hire staff around the country who will help gather and prepare biographies, and also write different inspiring stories each day for the Web site.
“We have so much talent in the Chinese American community,” Dong said. “There’s only so much the two of us can do.”
