Asian Pacific Heritage Month
The month of May has been designated as Asian-Pacific Heritage Month — a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The celebration of this month originated in a congressional bill introduced by Reps. Frank Horton of New York and Norman Y. Mineta of California in June 1977. The following year, President Jimmy Carter signed the joint resolution designating a week in the month of May for the national celebration. In 1992, the week-long celebration became a month-long celebration through an extension signed by President George H.W. Bush. The month of May was chosen to mark the anniversary of the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843. May also honors the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants. The theme for the 2013 Asian-Pacific Heritage Month is "I Want the Wide American Earth," in reference to the poem by Filipino American writer Carlos Bulosan. The theme this year celebrates the contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islanders to American history and the challenges still faced today by this growing segment of the population of the United States. The Asian American population totals 16 million (U.S Census 2009), 5.2 million of whom live in California. Asian Americans are the second fastest-growing minority group (following the Hispanic population). A few famous Asian-Pacific Americans are:
- Jerry Yang — Founded Yahoo!
- Maya Lin — Designed the Vietnam Memorial
- IM Pei — Architect who designed Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Yo-Yo Ma — Internationally recognized cellist
- Kalpana Chawla — First Indian American in space
Other interesting facts about the contributions of Asian-Pacifics:
- Frost-resistant oranges were developed by Lue Gim Gong in Florida which helped build a great citrus industry
- The 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team were all-Japanese units and were the most decorated units of World War II
- Bing Cherries were developed in Oregon by Ah Sit Bing
Also noteworthy are the Asian words adopted into the English language such as:
- Ketchup — from the Malay word meaning "seafood sauce"
- Boondocks — from the Tagalog word "bundok" meaning "mountain"
- Shampoo — from the Hindi word "capo capna" meaning "head massage"
