Include Southeast Asian American ethnic studies in school curricula

Six people wear traditional attire adorned with flowers

Learning about the histories, culture, and experiences of our diverse communities, including SEAAs, benefits all students.

Key resources:

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“I’m constantly telling people about our history, or some of the struggles we are going through, because they don’t get to learn about it. [Teachers] don’t teach it in school. I have to educate people about us, and that’s hard.”

From our “Can You See Me” report

“Next year, it will be 50 years since our Hmong families left their homeland to escape war and come to America, and yet many people still don’t know why we are here and who we are.”

AAPI Coalition of Wisconsin

“Recognizing the Laotian refugee experience in our schools not only provides Southeast Asian American youth with the visibility, acknowledgment, and celebration they deserve but also enriches the education of all students by deepening their understanding around a subject that is historically overlooked.”

Laotian American National Alliance
Shania smiling.

“Ethnic studies is particularly important for Asian Americans because the racialization of Asian Americans is deeply haunted by American and European military intervention and imperialism in Asia and the foundations of settler-colonialism and anti-Blackness in the United States.”

SEARAC intern
People pose, some jumping in the area, around a sign saying Made By Refugees

People Power in Action

Post-its and handwritten messages on a posterboard labeled with the year 1975

Increase federal funding for Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions

These colleges and universities are essential for increasing higher education access and success to low-income, first generation Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students, including SEAAs.

Increase federal funding to support SEAA students’ success

SEAAs’ refugee history, their invisibility in education data and policy, and systemic racism create barriers to our students’ educational success. Our government must address the disparities that SEAA students experience and invest in their futures.

SEARAC's June 2026 newsletter is live! This month's newsletter features a staff reflection on sabbatical, an overview of recent rulings from the Supreme Court, update on health care in CA, and more. 

Read the newsletter at the link in our bio!

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SEARAC applauds the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold birthright citizenship. It affirms the idea that every child born here is entitled to the same rights, dignity, and chance to thrive and rejects efforts to erode the constitutional protections guaranteed to everyone born in the United States.

Read SEARAC's full response at the link in our bio.

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This year, Vyvian from our partners at @vietrainbowoc shared a reflection that we want to leave you with as we close out June: 

“One day, I hope that LGBTQIA+ Southeast Asian Americans, young and old alike, are able to fully express their identity as an homage to our rich histories of Queerness... I know there is endless potential in the Southeast Asian American community for love, action, and justice and my hope is that we come together to maximize it.”

Happy Pride Month 🌈 To our LGBTQIA+ Southeast Asian American community: your history is rich, your joy is resistance, and your community is bigger than you know.

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