An editorial by Leonard Chan

Hey, when did we switch to AAPI to describe ourselves? Suddenly, AAPI is being used everywhere. How did this come about and why?

So here’s my problem with AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) – in all the places that I’ve seen AAPI, it’s used to describe Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. By placing the word American after only Asian, Pacific Islanders become non-specific to the Americans that the term is trying to describe.

Perhaps I’m splitting hairs, but this is similar to an issue that has bothered me for a long while. Back in May of 2009, I wrote a short piece complaining about how people were leaving out the word “American” to describe “Asian Pacific American Heritage Month” (APAHM).

In the case of APAHM, the word American was vital in that the month was created to “bring to the attention of the American people the contributions that Asian/Pacific Americans have made to this Nation.” (Reported to House from the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service with amendment, H. Rept. 95-1335)

By leaving out the word American in describing Pacific Islanders in AAPI are we slighting their contribution to America and reaffirms the image of their foreignness?

I am not sure of the origins of AAPI, but I’ve read and know of some criticisms of the lumping of Pacific Islanders Americans together with Asian Americans, and even over the wording of how Pacific Islander Americans want to be identified (Seattle Times: “Why it’s time to retire the term ‘Asian Pacific Islander’” and Wikipedia’s “Controversies about the term”). Moreover, some Pacific Islanders take exception with America’s colonial past that brought them into the sphere of America and thus may resist being labeled as Americans. Some native Hawaiian groups are even advocating for the restoration of the kingdom of Hawaii (Wikipedia”s “Hawaiian sovereignty movement”).

The use of AAPI probably dates back to before 2009. In May of 2009, President Obama used it in his first proclamation for APAHM.

Although the law officially states the month as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, presidents appear to be able to change the month’s name in their proclamations. President Biden is now calling the month Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Interestingly, Federal government websites (such as the main one asianpacificheritage.gov) are still using the name as specified in the original 1992 law (an overview and most of the presidential proclamations can be found on a web page maintained by the Library of Congress).

Is part of the resistance to including Pacific Islanders as American connected with the issue of Samoans’ non-citizen status? Even though American Samoa is a U.S. territory, people born there are not full U.S. citizens – they’re classified as U.S. Nationals. The issue of American Samoans’ citizenship status is complex and worth an article in itself. You can hear an interesting Radiolab program on the topic (Americanish). There’s also a case in the court system of an American Samoan named John Fitisemanu (ACLU article), who lives in Utah, and is fighting for automatic birth right citizenship (as prescribed under the Fourteenth Amendment).

Contrary to what you may be thinking, many in American Samoa are not anxious to have full American citizenship. It’s more of a case of resistance to change and a concern of how full citizenship may result in a loss of their lands and culture. If native Samoans and immigrants coming to American Samoa had equal U.S. citizen rights, then the non-native population could potentially take over their islands like what happened in Hawaii.

Even with this resistance to citizenship, American Samoans see themselves as Americans. They enlist in the U.S. military at a higher per capita rate than any other state or territory and are fully educated in U.S. history and civics. As Julia Longoria noted in her Radiolab radio program, American Samoan students recite the pledge of allegiance in their classes and the American flag could be seen hanging in numerous places.

Is the use of AAPI out of convenience or other reasons? I admit that it rolls off the tongue easier than the alternatives like AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander), AAPIA (Asian American and Pacific Islander Americans), and other acronyms that are out there. API (Asian Pacific Islander) is fine if you’re describing people in the wider Pan Asian and Pacific regions of the world. I’ve always wonder what the P, for Pacific, exactly meant in APA (Asian Pacific Americans) – did it mean Pacific Islanders or was it just a catch-all for all the Pacific Rim and Island regions?

My preference is APIA for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans – with Americans including anyone living in the United States, not just citizens. Many people have lived in America for years without even having the ability to become naturalized U.S. citizens (including my great-grandfather). Chinese were not given the opportunity to become naturalized United States Citizens until 1943.

However you choose to identify us, we’re all Americans.