"All You Asians Look Alike:" Asian Pacific American Activism at MSU

In 1982, Asians living in the United States were reminded that they were just as vulnerable to racially-motivated hate crimes as other people of color were with the brutal murder of Vincent Chin, which happened in our backyard of Detroit, Michigan. From this tragedy, Asian Pacific Americans began to realize that the general populace knew little about who “those Asian people” were -- the ones who lived next door to them, the ones they went to school with, the ones who worked in the next cubicle, and the ones who operated the corner convenience store. All Asians looked alike, and therefore, regardless of the ethnic and cultural distinctions we had, nobody cared because nobody knew any better, especially in the Midwest where Asians were far between. Nationally, many ethnic Asian communities became outraged by the grossly lenient verdict of Chin’s perpetrators, who to this day, have never served a single day in jail for taking the human life of an Asian American. APA communities began to understand the need to organize and form a more united and collective identity if their outrage was to be heard. It was time to organize.

Concurrently, Sandy Tsuneyoshi, a Japanese American graduate student, had come to MSU to pursue her Clinical Psychology doctorate. In 1982, Sandy organized a small group of undergraduate students who quickly learned how they shared similar complaints about the cafeterias’ poorly cooked rice, and about how others commented on how well they spoke English. Being from various ethnicities and from vastly different backgrounds, they began to learn from each other and they began to share with the rest of campus who Asian Pacific Americans were, building the foundation for a pan-Asian, collective Asian Pacific American community at Michigan State: This was the birth of the Asian Pacific Activism at MSU that would provide outreach and services to APA students.

Since 1982, APASO has lobbied for key staff positions at MSU that would provide outreach and services to APA students under the able leadership of Maggie Chen (Hernandez) who served as APASO Advisor and as Coordinator in OCAT (formally know as Office of Minority Student Affairs) for many years. With each year passing, the torch was passed along to new APA student leaders who continued to push for Asian American Studies.. Prior to 1990, advocacy for Asian American Studies at MSU originated from the Asian American student community, primarily from APASO, and later working with APAAFSA (Asian Pacific American Asian Faculty Staff Association) to formally lobby for Asian American Studies initiatives.

The Asian American Studies Legacy

In 1991, Roger Bresnahan, Professor of ATL (now WRAC), approached Maggie to see if there might be students who would be interested in taking an Asian American studies course. As a result, in the spring of 1992, 18 students signed up for an independent study course, ATL300, co-taught by Roger and Maggie Chen. This first Asian American studies class at MSU was a general survey class of Asian American studies, covering literature, history, and socio-political issues. In spring semester of 1995, HST319 Asian American History became the first regularly scheduled Asian American studies course; its first professor, Dr. Victor Jew, was the first faculty member hired specifically to teach Asian American studies.

In Fall of 2004, MSU approved an interdisciplinary specialization in APA Studies, allowing students to focus on Asian Pacific American studies while pursuing another major. Then Provost, President Lou Anna Simon had appointed the College of Social Science as the lead college for APA Studies, and charged Dean Marietta Baba with the task of developing the program. In collaboration with other faculty and staff, Dr. Andrea Louie, then an Assistant Professor of Anthropology, worked to develop the curriculum for the specialization, and upon its approval in Fall 2004 was appointed as its first director. Her commitment and strong leadership has been invaluable to it current success. Dr. Joe Cousins was hired as program coordinator in 2006 to provide critical advising and office support for the specialization. The program is now supported by a growing number of faculty and staff committed to Asian American issues. The number of Asian American Studies courses has continued to grow, including both regular courses and specially focused sections of larger courses. Furthermore the program currently boasts 18 students who will have received their certification by the end of this semester.