The UCLA Asian American Studies Center on Saturday launched a free digital textbook designed to give high school and college educators a richer, more inclusive account of Asian American and Pacific Islander history — one that goes far beyond the Chinese laborers and Japanese internment camps that have long been the standard examples.
The textbook, titled “Foundations and Futures: Asian American and Pacific Islander Multimedia Textbook,” draws on more than 100 contributors and cost $12 million. It was developed over eight years, with momentum accelerating after the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. A 2021 California law requiring ethnic studies for high school graduation gave the project a further push.
“Our presence, our practices, our cultural rituals and things like that are not deemed as ‘American,’” Karen Umemoto, director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and a co-editor of the textbook, told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of Saturday’s launch. “The actual putting together of this textbook also became our fight for inclusion and represents our right to be seen, our right to speak.”
The textbook covers 50 chapters, including sections on the formation of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Asian Americans in the South, Vietnamese and Hmong communities, and Indigenous Hawaiians. It also features archival photos and embedded videos — one, narrated by rapper Ruby Ibarra, focuses on Filipino farmworkers.
“Young people are going to have so many different opportunities to see themselves and their communities represented in this core text. Now I can’t wait,” said Kelly Fong, a co-editor.
The editorial team made a deliberate effort to highlight the stories of Asian American and Pacific Islander women. The book includes the story of Cornelia Delute, a Filipina supporter of the United Farm Workers, and Mamie Tape, an 8-year-old Chinese American girl who won the right to attend public school in a landmark California Supreme Court case.
One chapter profiles Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color and Asian American woman elected to Congress. Her daughter, Gwendolyn “Wendy” Mink, a political scientist, wrote the section. “I’m just glad that the whole project exists,” Mink said. “She was a fighter, she was principled, she offered hope to people who felt beaten down by defeats on struggles for justice. I hear it less because fewer people know about her deeply.”
The textbook’s launch comes amid a heated national debate over diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Trump administration has attempted to withhold federal funding from schools that consider race in admissions or support identity-based campus programs. Some states have set up hotlines to report DEI practices, and critics have likened ethnic studies to indoctrination.
“It’s changed for the teachers who we were hoping would use the textbook. We have tried to figure out how to respond to best support them,” Fong said. “We don’t necessarily have an answer to that yet.”
Despite the political headwinds, educators see demand. Tina Ellsworth, president of the National Council for the Social Studies, said the textbook “will come in very handy” for teachers seeking materials on marginalized histories, especially because it is free and backed by a reputable university. “It’s just about letting people know that it’s out there,” she said.
The Center is seeking an additional $5 million through private donations to expand the textbook, market it, and cover cloud storage costs. New chapters could cover Tongan Americans and Taiwanese Americans. “There are so many fascinating stories that have yet to be shared with the world,” Umemoto said.