Asian-Pacific American

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Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month May 2011
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Asian-Pacific American Facts

• May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Montha
  celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in
  the United States. Asian-Pacific encompasses
  the entire Asian continent and the Pacific
  Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
  

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Asian-Pacific American Facts

• May was chosen in order to commemorate the
  immigration of the first Japanese people to the
  United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the
  anniversary of the completion of the first
  Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. The
  majority of the workers who laid the tracks were
  Chinese immigrants.

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Asian-Pacific American Facts

President Obama said in his 2010 Presidential
Proclamation- Asian-Americans and Pacific
Islanders have persevered and flourished,
achieving success in every sector of American
life. They stood shoulder to shoulder with their
fellow citizens during the civil rights movement
they have served proudly in our Armed Forces and
they have prospered as leaders in business,
academia, and public service.
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2011 Theme

• Diversity,
• Leadership, Empowerment, and Beyond
• The next few slides focus on Diversity

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Trivia Questions

• What is the significance of the numbers 3, 13,
  and 19?
• What language (after Spanish), was the most
  widely spoken non-English language according to
  the Census Bureau?

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3 is Significant The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau
Questionnaires were available in three
languages (Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean)
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13 is Significant
The 2010 Census Bureau Public Service
Announcements were translated into 13 Asian
languages Bengali, Chinese (Mandarin and
Cantonese), Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Khmer,
Korean, Laotian, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, and
Vietnamese
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19 is Significant
The 2010 Census Bureau Language Assistance
Guides (instructions) were created in 19
languages Bengali, Burmese, Cebuano, Chinese,
Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Japanese, Khmer, Korean,
Laotian, Malayalam, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai,
Urdu, and Vietnamese and also available in Native
Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander languages
Chamorro, Chuukese, Marshallese, Samoan, and
Tongan
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Asian-Pacific American Facts
2.5 millionThe number of people age 5 and older
who spoke Chinese at home in 2009. After
Spanish, Chinese was the most widely spoken
non-English language.
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Asian-Pacific American Facts
15.5 millionThe estimated number of U.S.
residents in July 2008 who said they were Asian
or Asian in combination with one or more other
races comprising 5 of the total population.
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Asian-Pacific American Facts
48The proportion of civilian employed
single-race Asians age 16 and older who worked in
management, professional, and related
occupations, such as financial managers,
engineers, teachers, and registered nurses.
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Asian-Pacific American Ethnicities

• AsianAsian-Indian B
  angladesh BhutaneseBurmese Cambodian Ceram
• Chinese Kampuchea IndochineseFilipino Hmong Ik
  inawan
• Indonesian Japanese Malayan Javanese Korean La
  otian
• Mien Mongolian Sumatran Nepali Singaporean Sr
  i LankanTaiwanese Thai Tibetan
• Vietnamese Urdu

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Asian-Pacific American Ethnicities

• Pacific Islander
• Fijian Guamanian Hawaiian Melanesian Tongan No
  rthern New Guinean Polynesian Mariana
  IslanderPaluan Papua Samoan TahitianMicronesi
  an Yapese Solomon Islander

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2011 Theme

• Diversity,
• Leadership, Empowerment, and Beyond
• The next few slides focus on Leadership and
  Empowerment

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Military Facts

• Thailand-born Ladda "Tammy" Duckworth is the
  Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for
  public and intergovernmental affairs.
• She was a National Guard soldier, Black Hawk
  pilot, and an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran.
• In 2004, her helicopter was shot down during a
  combat mission in Iraq, resulting in the loss of
  both legs and was limited to partial use of one
  arm.

Photo courtesy of Defense.gov
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Military Facts

• During World War II, the 442nd Regimental Combat
  Team was a unit made up of the sons of
  Nisei-American born sons of Japanese immigrants.
  
• The 442nd was the most decorated unit for its
  size and length of service in the entire history
  of the U.S. military.

Photo courtesy of the White House
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Military Facts

• Korean-American Herbert Choy, previously a 1st
  lieutenant in the Army, became the first
  Asian-American federal judge in 1971.

Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense
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Military Facts

• Juan T. Salas was the first Chamorro (Asian
  Pacific Islander from Guam) to graduate from the
  U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Class of 1968).  He was
  also the first Chamorro to reach the rank of
  commanding officer.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard
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Military Facts
On December 15, 1943, Wilbur Carl Sze was
commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and the first
Chinese-American officer in the U.S. Marine
Corps.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps
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Military Facts

• Thirty-one Asian-Pacific Americans have been
  awarded the Medal of Honor.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army
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Doua Thor Executive Director

• Doua Thor is the executive director of the
  Southeast Asia Resource Action Center .
• She and her family were among the thousands of
  Hmong refugees who were resettled in the United
  States after fighting alongside the U.S. during
  the Vietnam War.
• Thor was appointed by President Obama to the
  President's Advisory Commission on
  Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in 2010.

Photo courtesy of the White House
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Taro Akebono Sumo Wrestler

• Taro Akebono, the worlds best sumo wrestler, is
  an American.
• Akebono is the only yokozuna in sumo wrestling,
  the highest classification in Japan's most
  traditional sport.
• "You have to be able to swallow your pride, no
  matter how much you get kicked down and thrown
  around," he said in English. "You just swallow
  your pride and keep working as hard as you can.

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Ellison Onizuka Astronaut

• Ellison Onizuka was selected as an astronaut
  candidate by NASA in 1978.
• He worked at the Kennedy Space Center
• for STS-l and STS-2. He flew on
• the first Space Shuttle DoD mission,
• which launched in 1985.
• Lieutenant Colonel Onizuka was a mission
• specialist on the Challenger when it exploded
  January 28, 1986, 1 minute 13 seconds after
  launch.

Photo courtesy of NASA
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Dr. Steven Chu Scientist Secretary of Energy

Dr. Steven Chu is a distinguished scientist and
cowinner of the Nobel Prize for Physics (1997).
As United States Secretary of Energy, Chu is
implementing President Obama's agenda to invest
in clean energy, reduce our dependence on foreign
oil, address the global climate crisis, and
create new jobs.
Photo courtesy of the Department of Energy
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Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Surfer

• Born in Honolulu in 1890, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku
  was known as the father of international
  surfing.
• He won gold at the 1920 Olympics, silver at the
  1924 Olympics, and bronze at the 1932 Olympics.
• Kahanamoku's surfing talents caught the
  attention of Hollywood, where he appeared in
  nearly 30 movies. He also served as sheriff of
  Honolulu for 26 years.

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Empowerment

There's a basic philosophy here that by
empowering ... workers you'll make their jobs far
more interesting, and they'll be able to work at
a higher level. Bill Gates, American
entrepreneur and founder of Microsoft
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2011 Theme

• Diversity,
• Leadership, Empowerment, and Beyond
• The remaining slides focus on Beyond

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• The Art of Feng Shui
• As Asian culture becomes more popular in the
  U.S., the ancient Chinese method of creating a
  harmonious environment, feng shui, is also
  gaining ground. Pronounced "fung shway," it means
  "wind and water.
• The art of feng shui is nearly 5,000 years old
  and seeks to promote prosperity, good health, and
  general well-being by examining how energy, qi
  (pronounced "chee,") flows through a particular
  room, house, building, or garden.

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Inventions

• You may have used these items in your daily
  lives. Do you know where these inventions came
  from?
• abacus compass fireworks
• ink cards kite paper
• porcelain silk wheelbarrow

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Inventions

• The facts are modern agriculture, shipping,
  astronomical observatories, decimal mathematics,
  paper money, umbrellas, papermaking, printing,
  gunpowder, the mariner's compass, wheelbarrows,
  multi-stage rockets, brandy and whiskey, chess,
  and much more, all came from China.

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Celebrations

Two examples of Asian New Years celebrations
are Genjitsu Japanese New Year's Day
Gung Hay Fat Choy Chinese New Year
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Celebrations

• Genjitsu
• This is a special festival in Japan. On New
  Year's morning, the family dresses in new
  clothes. They eat soup, black beans, and seaweed
  (symbolizing happiness). After the meal, children
  receive their special New Year's gifts, usually
  coins sealed in special gift envelopes.
• On the second day, the first writing or
  kakizome occurs. Every family member uses a brush
  and ink to write a poem or proverb on a long
  piece of paper.

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Celebrations

• Gung Hay Fat Choy
• The Chinese add a year to their age on New Year's
  Day, regardless of the day on which they were
  born.
• It is a time for new clothes, homes are filled
  with flowers and fruit, and families remember
  their ancestors. Money is wrapped in red paper
  for the children, called lai see, and
  firecrackers are set off to scare away any evil
  spirits.
• The ceremonial dragon winds its way through the
  throngs of happy people in the streets.

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Bibliography

• http//www.uscg.mil
• http//www.chcp.org
• http//www.fourthmarinesband.com
• http//www.history.com
• http//www.navy.mil
• http//goforbroke.org
• http//www.army.mil
• asianpacificheritage.gov
• http//www.loc.gov
• http//www.whitehouse.gov
• http//asiasociety.org
• http//www.infoplease.com
• http//www.teachervision.fen.com

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Prepared byJose A. Principe, MBAon behalf of
theDefense Equal OpportunityManagement
InstitutePatrick Air Force Base, FloridaAll
photographs are public domain and are from
various sources as cited.Opinions expressed in
this report are those of the author andshould
not be construed to represent the official
position ofDEOMI, the U.S. Military services, or
the Department of Defense.