When talking to Asian American students about this bill, they told me they had never been assigned material to read by an Asian American author and that they had never learned about their history or culture in school,” Fenton-Fung said in a statement.
Advocates previously told NBC News that teaching Asian American history could help lower incidents of bullying and harassment targeting Asian American students. The push for inclusive history comes as anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 339% between 2020 and 2021, according to data published by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
“Combined with the rising bias against Asian Americans, there is a clear need to break this cycle of cultural misunderstandings and this legislation is a good first step in that direction,” Fenton-Fung said in the statement.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/rhode-island-becomes-fourth-state-require-asian-american-history-schoo-rcna46720
