DEI Digest Summer 2022

Summer 2022 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

was constructed mainly by Asian immigrant workers, in May of 1869, and to mark the immigration of the first Japanese people to the United States in May of 1843. In October of 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed a resolution to make this a week-long celebration. This was further extended to include the entire month of May in 1990 when President George H. W. Bush signed a bill passed by the Congress. Since then, every year the sitting President proclaims May as the Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month. During the AANHPI heritage month, community festivals, educational activities, and celebrations that involve expression of ethnic wear, dances, martial arts, and food samplings take place all across the United States of America. In his proclamation this year, President Biden stated, “ This month, we celebrate our fellow Americans from Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities and pay tribute to all they have done to help fulfill the promise of America for all. Together, let us recommit ourselves to building a country in which every American — regardless of who they are, where they come from, or what they look like — has an equal opportunity to thrive .”

Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month is celebrated during the month of May. This month commemorates the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the culture of the United States of America. In June 1977, a resolution was introduced in the United States House of Representatives to proclaim the first 10 days of the month of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Month. The month of May was chosen in remembrance of the completion of transcontinental railroad, which

Juneteenth Celebrations Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day when more than 200,000 slaves were issued freedom due to a regiment of Union army soldiers reaching Galveston Bay, Texas. This day has hitherto been referred to as “Juneteenth” as it was named by the newly freed people in Texas. Juneteenth is a holiday that is celebrated by the African American community in the United States of America. Many refer to Juneteenth as the second Independence Day of the United States of America. Juneteenth became a Texas state holiday on January 1, 1980. On June 19, 2021, President Joe Biden signed legisla­ tion to make Juneteenth a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States of America. This is the first federal holiday to be declared since the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

When President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, he stated in his remarks that, “ Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation, and a promise of a brighter morning to come. This is a day of profound — in my view — profound weight and profound power. A day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take — what I’ve long called “America’s original sin.”… By making June­ teenth a federal holiday, all Americans can feel the power of this day, and learn from our history, and celebrate progress, and grapple with the distance we’ve come but the distance we have to travel… ”

Issue 5 | 3

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs