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Amid tragedies in California, FL lawmakers want to add Asian American history instruction into law

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Amid tragedies in California, FL lawmakers want to add Asian American history instruction into law

Jan 30, 2023 | 1:43 pm ET
By Danielle J. Brown
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Amid tragedies in California, FL lawmakers want to add Asian American history instruction into law
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MONTEREY PARK, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 23: People gather at a candlelight vigil for victims of a deadly mass shooting at a ballroom dance studio on January 23, 2023 in Monterey Park, California. An 11th person has died and nine more were injured at the studio near a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday night. The vigil was held at City Hall in the predominantly Asian American community. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

As the nation grapples with a string of deadly attacks on Asian American communities in California, a handful of bipartisan  lawmakers want to require Florida’s K-12 students to learn about the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in school.

Legislation requiring such instruction has been pushed by a group called Make Us Visible, an advocacy organization that works towards integrating classroom instruction on Asian American history as part of the larger issue of combating violence against Asian Americans.

Mimi Chan, the director of the Florida chapter of Make Us Visible, said in a written statement that she did not learn about Asian American history while growing up in Florida. She started a petition last year on the issue, which has grown to more than 14,500 signatures.

“All students will benefit from learning about the civic contributions of AAPIs. Asian American history is American history,” Chan said in a written statement Monday.

In Florida, two bills have been filed for the 2023 legislative session to bring in the required instruction on Asian American and Pacific Islander history. So far, several Republicans and one Democrat have sponsored bills on the issue.

The AAPI curriculum would discuss “the immigration, citizenship, civil rights, identity, and culture of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to American society. Instructional materials shall include the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to American society,” according to the bill language.

The House version, HB 287, is sponsored by Rep. Susan Plasencia of Central Florida and co-sponsored by seven other Republicans.

The Senate version, SB 294, is sponsored by Republican Sen. Ana Rodriguez of South Florida and Democrat Sen. Linda Stewart of Central Florida.

If approved by the Legislature and the governor, the AAPI courses and other materials would be added to required instruction under Florida law, such as history of African Americans and the history of the Holocaust.

On Jan. 21, a mass shooter at Monterey Park in California took the lives of 11 people. On Jan. 23, another shooting killed seven Asian and Latino farm workers, according to the Florida Phoenix.

Amid tragedies in California, FL lawmakers want to add Asian American history instruction into law
Activists on March 16, 2022 commemorating 1-year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder.

This is the second year the bill has been proposed to the Florida Legislature amid ongoing discussion of violence against Asian American communities in the backdrop.

In October of 2021, Democratic lawmakers announced that they would be sponsoring the bill for the 2022 legislative session as the nation was still reeling from the Atlanta Spa shootings from earlier that year, when a mass shooter killed eight people, six of whom were Asian American women.

The previous legislation, which was introduced in the 2022 legislative session, had support in its first committee meeting but did not make it through the final legislative process.

Currently, Asian American and Pacific Islander history is not specified in the law as part of K-12 instruction in Florida.