Why Are Asian Americans Missing From Our Textbooks?

Ethnic studies classes are slowly gaining traction in elementary and secondary education, but Asian Americans still remain largely erased from the history they played a large role in.

I still remember my fourth-grade social studies project. Our class was studying the Gold Rush, something all California fourth-graders learned. I was excited because I had asked to research Chinese immigrants during that era. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had always known that “San Francisco” translated to “Gold Mountain” in Chinese. The name had stuck ever since Chinese immigrants arrived on the shores of Northern California in the 1850s, eager to try their luck in the gold mines. Now I’d have the chance to learn about them.

My excitement was short-lived. I remember heading to the library with my class and asking for help. I remember the librarian’s hesitation. She finally led me past row after row of books, to a corner of the library where she pulled an oversized book off the shelf. She checked the index and flipped to a page about early Chinese immigrants in California.

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