2023-10-08 12:01:13
With the addition of Delaware, the non-profit group now has 19 active chapters nationwide. Jiang says getting better lessons regarding Asian American history in school might help tackle the growing problem of anti-Asian American violence.
“This is a long-term preventative solution to anti-Asian American violence when students of all backgrounds can learn regarding the contributions and stories of Asian Americans on American history,” he said. “Ever since 2020, because during that pandemic I really witnessed how Asian Americans were bullied. They were harassed, the sharp rising anti-Asian hate crimes. It was really saddening.”
The Stop AAPI Hate national report found that from March 2020 to March 2022, 11,500 individuals of Asian descent faced hate incidents. Two-thirds of these incidents consisted of harassment, which included verbal or written hate speech and inappropriate gestures.
“It starts with education, starts with a classroom,” Jiang said.
Co-founder of the Make Us Visible Chapter in Delaware, Devin Jiang spoke at their Community Launch event last week. (Courtesy of Devin Jiang)
He said Asian American history often goes unnoticed, but these stories should be told to highlight the fact that Asian Americans are an important part of the American story, not a separate entity.
“There’s a guy named George ‘Yod’ Dupont. George ‘Yod’ Dupont was a Thai immigrant who fought in the American Civil War for the North and participated in many key battles like Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chancellorsville,” he said. “He helped the Union meet the South and ultimately united the nation and freed slaves.”
To spark the inclusion of AAPI history, Jiang is personally visiting elementary and middle schools, delivering coloring books that educate regarding Asian culture. However, his goals extend beyond that, with plans to seek to engage with the broader Delaware community.
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