China News Service, May 26. According to the US "World Journal" report, the U.S. State Senate of Illinois passed the "Asian American Historical Equality Education Act" (The TEAACH Act, HB376) by a unanimous vote on the 25th. Starting from the 2022-2023 school year, from kindergartens to high schools and public schools across the state, Asian American history must be taught. As a result, Illinois may become the first state in the United States to include Asian American history in its basic education curriculum.
The bill will be sent back to the House of Representatives for a second vote and passed to Governor Pritzker for signature. Since the State House of Representatives passed the bill with a high approval rate of more than 90 votes as early as mid-April, the second vote is expected to go smoothly. After passing the customs, plus the governor's public support, the whole case has almost been finalized.
This bill stipulates that teachers from kindergarten to high school must include Asian American history in their teaching content, and teachers can use public television's five-hour documentary about Asian American history as teaching materials.
The initial leading member of the bill was the Chinese state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, and it was supported by the three Chinese women members of the House of Representatives: Ma Jingyi, Yang Qihua, and Wang Minghua (Denise Wang Stoneback). They unanimously expressed their hatred. With the frequent occurrence of Asian incidents, "it is very important for our children to learn relevant history."
The bill was controversial for a while, mainly because the bill required the teaching of World War II Japanese Americans in concentration camps, but it did not explicitly include the Chinese Exclusion Act in the textbook. After actively promoting amendments, the Chinatown Better Solidarity Alliance, the Hualian Association, and The Iraqi branch of the Chinese Federation and the efforts of hundreds of Chinese to sign the petition finally won the support of the Indian Senator Ram Villivalam of the Illinois State Assembly, and successfully deleted part of the controversial text of the bill.
Ram Villivalam said that after the passage of the bill, regardless of background, all students will have the opportunity to learn and understand the differences between different cultures and ethnicities, and therefore understand that systemic inequities still exist, which is a milestone in the development of Asian Americans.
Josina Morita, head of the Asian American Caucus working group in Illinois, expressed excitement about the passage of the bill, especially when it was passed in the Asian American Caucus Month, which is particularly meaningful.
Regarding the passage of HB376, Chen Zenghua, the founder of the Chinatown Better Unity Alliance, said, "This is a very important step for Asian Americans," and he also hopes that other states can follow up. (Huang Huiling)