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.

Get these SEARAC gifts before they’re gone!

This is your last chance to get beautiful commemorative merchandise for the 50th anniversary of Southeast Asian refugee resettlement in the United States. These designs will be leaving the SEARAC store at the end of this year. Order now to receive your shipment by December 25th!

Browse the SEARAC store at searac.org/shop-searac-merch/

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We celebrate the introduction of a national resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of Southeast Asian American resettlement. Our stories have shaped this nation for five decades and Southeast Asian American voices deserve to be honored, heard, and uplifted.

Stand with us as we commemorate 50 years of strength and community power by signing onto SEARAC’s open letter at bit.ly/seaa50resolution.

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In 2025, we celebrated the Southeast Asian American community’s power by commemorating the introduction of a national resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of Southeast Asian refugee resettlement. 

This national resolution led by SEARAC recognizes not just our past, but the powerful future we are building together, and we need your help to ensure it passes. Take action by visiting bit.ly/seaa50resolution and urge your Congressional representatives to move the resolution forward.

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