Article: Asian American Heritage Month

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Asian American Heritage Month

Ten Pieces of Advice for the Whole Year

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Since 1992, May has officially been Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As you begin thinking about how the lessons of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month can impact your whole year, I recommend that you take time to have some conversations with your Asian employees, customers, and vendors. Ask them how they think your organization is doing at making them feel valued and setting them up for success. I had lunch last week with three of ProGroup's Asian employees and here are 10 pieces of advice they gave me to share with you, our valued clients.

Advice from Allen, Amber and Sumiko

1. Recognize our rich cultural backgrounds all year, not just in May. We want our unique life skills, experiences, and cultural expertise to be utilized all year long. If you are our manager or colleague, sit down with us and really find out about who we are, what we know, what we've done, what we have to contribute, how we want to be recognized, and any other questions that come to mind. We would like to do the same and find out about you.

2. Remember that we are from many different countries, cultures, and religions. Ask if you don't know my country of origin or heritage. Amber says that if she had a dollar for every time someone told her, as he or she showed up with Chinese takeout, "I'm having your food today," she'd be wealthy enough to buy a restaurant.

3. Realize that many of us still have relatives in our countries of origin and have strong ties there. Allen's parents still visit the Philippines regularly and fulfill what they see as their cultural obligation to send frequent gifts of money to their relatives there.

4. Learn about the contributions that Asian Pacific Islanders have made to our culture. It goes way beyond the stars of Kung Fu movies and Tiger Woods. Go to Encyclopedia Smithsonian, Factmonster, or Wikipedia for a general introduction and to learn more about their contributions in fields beyond the arts and athletics.

5. Understand that being an Asian American doesn't mean that an employee will be friends or hang out with other Asians at work. Across cultural groups and within their own cultures, people often judge each other. All three of our employees talked about times when others within their cultural groups have said to them, "You aren't really Asian because..."

•	"You were born here."

•	"You were adopted and raised by white people."

•	"You are married to an American."

•	"You don't speak our language."

•	"You turned your back on our religion and became a__."

6. Be patient with people who are struggling to learn and understand our complex language and our confusing culture. Make an effort to guide and educate them. Give people for whom English is a second language a bit more time to understand what you're saying and to communicate their messages. Sumiko commented, "Often I don't know what I don't know about how things work here. If I make social blunders or say or do things wrong, let me know. I want to learn."

7. Look around your company and at an org chart and notice where your Asian employees are. If they are clumped into one or two departments or at lower levels in the organization, ask yourself if it may be because of assumptions and stereotypes about Asians. Please understand that within the Asian American populations, there are people who have the background, skills, and abilities to do any job in your organization. As an example of a resource of Asian American professionals, go to National Association of Asian American Professionals.

8. When you attend college and trade fairs, include at your table or booth Asian employees who are excited about working for your organization. It sends a strong message that your organization values diversity and supports and retains Asian employees.

9. Educate yourself and your employees that:

•	We are not all alike.

•	We never want to be referred to as "oriental."

•	We are not all immigrants.

•	We don't all look like others in our families but they are still our families.

•	We don't all have accents but if we do it doesn't indicate that we are less smart or educated.

•	We have as many different personalities, interests, and styles as everyone else.

•	We want to succeed for all of the same reasons that everyone else does.

10. We are 13 million strong in the United States and we are part of this country's history and future. We played a role in building this great nation, and we will play an even stronger role going forward.

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SOURCE(S):
Officially designated months:
African American History Month: February
Women's History Month: March
Asian Pacific Heritage Month: May
Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 to October 15
Disability Employment Awareness Month: October
American Indian Heritage Month: November

Older Americans Month (May) and Gay and Lesbian Pride Month (June) are by presidential proclamation only and must be renewed, unlike those that were proclaimed by Congress.

Further Reading

Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling by Jane Hyun
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman