A group of Asian-American and Pacific Islander scholars are praising the Obama administration for trying to more fully integrate places and histories of AAPI significance into National Park Service initiatives, but they caution that because of long-running underrepresentation, the work has barely begun.
As an example, among the National Historic Landmarks in the state of Hawaii, about a dozen have U.S. military significance, said Dr. Franklin Odo, a former professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
However, only one sugar plantation has been designated such a landmark, Odo said, despite the many decades in which the plantations impacted Hawaii’s socioeconomic landscape and natural resources. “To look at this list of landmarks,” he said, shaking his head, “you would not have a clue about how important the plantations have been. This is an extraordinary problem and an example of just one state. We have a lot of work to do.”
Dr. Dawn Mabalon, associate professor of history at San Francisco State University, said she didn’t know anything about the Filipino-American history of her hometown of Stockton, Calif. until she was a University of California, Los Angeles undergraduate — despite the fact that Stockton had boasted the largest Filipino community in this country shortly after World War II. “It shows how absent we as Filipinos are from the American narrative that I had to go all the way to UCLA to learn about my people,” she said.
The scholars’ remarks occurred last week at a Washington, D.C., forum examining how the legacy of Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders should be recognized, preserved and interpreted for future generations. Hosted by the U. S. Department of the Interior, scholars, historians and national leaders discussed how the National Park Service can appropriately and more comprehensively identify and understand AAPI heritage and culture within places and artifacts.
Dr. Pawan Dhingra, professor of sociology at Tufts University, noted how Asian-American culture “affects every dimension of our lives, so therefore, our culture is everywhere.” For example, about half of the motels in this country are owned by South-Asian Indian-Americans, he said. In fact, more Indian-operated motels are in the state of Florida than in all of India, he noted.
Odo is chairman of an AAPI panel of scholars representing a cross-section of 48 ethnicities. That panel is working with the National Park Service on a new theme study that explores ways to consider and celebrate the stories of AAPI heritage. The theme study is part of President Barack Obama’s “America’s Great Outdoors” program to commemorate and tell a more inclusive story of Americans by reaching out to more women and minorities because their perspectives have not been well-recognized in the past.
