As the school year is around the corner, I’d like to talk about a few ways that students can support the Asian-American community at your school, which is a great way to support diversity, inclusion, and cultural understanding!
Educate Yourself and Others About Asian-American History and Culture
One of the most crucial ways that students of all backgrounds can support the Asian-American community at their schools is through educating themselves about Asian and Asian-American history. You don’t have to dedicate all your free time to learning about these topics, but it would be helpful to have a basic understanding. Using this newfound knowledge, you can educate your friends and other students around you, increasing awareness for the Asian-American community!
Participating in Asian-American Student Organizations
Even if you don’t identify as Asian-American, participating in Asian-American student organizations can be a great way to educate yourself and support the Asian-American community. As an Asian-American student myself, I find it to be a great way to unite with other Asian-American students and organize different fun events and gatherings for not only our community but also the entire school! If your school doesn’t have such a club already, it would be a great idea to start one yourself to promote your and fellow Asian-American students’ backgrounds!
Celebrate Asian-American Heritage
As I mentioned earlier, some school clubs will host events revolving around Asian-American holidays or other events. For instance, one of the main Asian-American Heritage events in my school’s community is our Lunar New Year Event, where the Asian Students Union provides food and fun games for the rest of the community to enjoy! Similar to Asian-American student organizations, if your school doesn’t host any of these events, it may be fun to try your hand at gathering a group of friends and hosting such an event! Another method could be attending an event outside of your school that maybe your community might hold!
Foster Dialogue and Advocate for Representation and Inclusion
One unique way for students to support the Asian-American community at their schools is to create a dialogue event or help advocate for increased representation or inclusion if needed. For instance, convincing your school administration to create a dialogue event for affinity groups to have a safe space to discuss their identities would be an instrumental step in increasing the feeling of being accepted among Asian-American students. Similarly, if your school has issues with Asian Americans being less represented in different areas, it would be important to advocate for their representation and inclusion!
Learn a Language
While this might seem like it requires the most dedication out of all of the suggestions I have given, it doesn’t really have to be. Depending on how much time you’re willing to put in, you could try learning a few phrases or become relatively conversational in that language. This way, you can try communicating with Asian-American students in the language that their ancestors spoke!