R 021829Z MAY 18
MARADMIN 248/18
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MP//
SUBJ/2018 ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH//
REF/A/PUBLIC LAW 102-450/23OCT1992//
REF/B/WWW.NPR.ORG/THE LEGACY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA CHINESE/18MAR2017//
REF/C/WWW.NYT.COM/NEITHER BLACK NOR WHITE IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA/13MAR2017//
POC/T. M. VELAZQUEZ/CIV/UNIT: MPE/-/TEL: (703)784-9371/TEL: DSN 278-9371/TEL: COMM (703)784-9371//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  On 23 October 1992, the 102nd Congress approved and President George H. W. Bush signed Public Law 102-450, thus designating May of each year as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.”  Each May now provides us with the opportunity to honor those Americans descending from peoples across Asia and the Pacific Islands and to recognize their past and continuing contributions to the success and development of our nation.  The observance theme for 2018 is:  “Unite our vision by working together.”
2.  Over generations, the cultural traditions, the multiple languages, and the unique immigration stories of Asian and Pacific Islanders have woven deeply into the fabric of American life and legacy.  From Filipinos fighting under General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 to the first Japanese immigrants arriving to the U.S. in 1843 to the predominantly Chinese railroad workers completing the Transcontinental Railroad on “Golden Spike Day” in 1869, Asian and Pacific Islanders clearly possess an indelible part of our nation's history, and they most assuredly continue to share in our nation's challenges and triumphs.
3.  Chinese immigrants moved to the southern United States soon after the Civil War to work on cotton plantations and farms.  Later, during the Segregation Era (1900-1939), Chinese-American families on the Mississippi Delta ran segregated grocery stores for both black and white customers sometimes from shops located across the street from each other.  The Chinese-Americans themselves were ostracized and denied their civil rights while providing this essential service to their non-integrated local communities.  They lived in quarters adjacent to their grocery stores because they were denied property ownership.  Church organizations educated Chinese-American children because the public schools prohibited their admittance.  The Chinese-Americans were denied treatment at hospitals and were buried in segregated cemeteries.  For decades these Americans learned, worshipped, and socialized separately from the Delta's mainstream population until after the Civil Rights Movement when education and career opportunities were opened for the following generations.  Today, the South's Chinese-American grocery stores are becoming a faded memory as the little buildings fall into decay from disuse, yet the families who built and thrived from these businesses are an indelible part of our American story.
4.  Within the Marine Corps today, MajGen Daniel D. Yoo, Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command - Pacific (SOCPAC), is the first Korean-American general in the Marine Corps and our highest ranking general officer in service who is of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage.
5.  During this observance month, commanders are encouraged to recognize and celebrate the invaluable service and selfless contributions Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, both military and civilian, give to our country and Corps.  Commanders are further encouraged to conduct programs and promote participation in observance events within their commands and across their local communities.
6.  Release authorized by Brigadier General S. F. Benedict, Division Director, Manpower Plans and Policy.//