City College hosts first event for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Your guide to resources and events AAPI Heritage Month

Filipino traditional art of healing Hilot

Susan Hasegawa, history professor and SAMAFILA club advisor, leads a discussion in a virtual event for AAPI Heritage Month. Screenshot from Zoom

Kathryn Gray, Multimedia Journalist

San Diego City College will be hosting several events celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month throughout May.

Congress chose May to recognize Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage, which represents the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad that would not have been possible without Chinese immigrant workers on May 10, 1869, and the immigration of the first Japanese people to the United States on May 7, 1843. 

Visit the National Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month website, hosted by the Library of Congress, to learn more.

City’s first event of the month was “Traditional Filipino Medicine (HILOT) and Meditation”  but with the scheduled presenter unable to join, the discussion pivoted to focus on recent incidents of hate against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. 

Susan Hasegawa, a City history professor and SAMAFILA club advisor, said to better understand you have to consider the history. 

“There has always been a very different standard for Asian immigrants,” Hasegawa said. 

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first law restricting immigration in this country, which forbade Chinese people from becoming citizens. The act began the trend of social and institutionalized racism against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the United States, according to Hasegawa.

The next event is called “Addressing Hate Against the Asian American Community,” which is on Thursday, May 13 from 1-2 p.m. Kirin Macapugay, a professor of human services and social work at City College, will partner with Kent Lee, co-chair of the San Diego Asian Pacific Islander Coalition, to discuss history and racism against the Asian American community in the current climate. 

To learn more about the rich history of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the United States, visit the City Library-curated AAPI Heritage Month Reading List