WA passed a pickleball bill. So why did Democrats deny Chinese American History Month?
In 1785, three Chinese immigrants landed in the US, starting Americans of Chinese descent’s long history in this country. In Washington, this history can be traced back to the beginning of the Washington Territory in 1853, at which time a measure was adopted to deny Chinese people the right to vote. Despite this discrimination, Chinese Americans continue to call this land their home and contribute to Washington’s growth and prosperity.
From building the Transcontinental Railroad and the Northern Pacific Rail Line to digging the canals that connect Lake Union with Salmon Bay and Lake Washington, the work and contributions of Chinese Americans are everywhere. Washingtonians enjoy the fruits of that work, yet not many are aware of their stories.
The Washington Legislature established Japanese American Remembrance Day in 2003, Korean American Day in 2007 and Filipino American History Month in 2019. However, there is no designated time in Washington to recognize the contributions and hardships of Chinese Americans.
This year, Washington legislators were again presented with a bill to mark January as Chinese American History Month. If it had passed, the bill would have encouraged (not mandated) public schools to commemorate the lives, history, achievements and contributions of Americans of Chinese descent.
The Senate quickly passed the bill, 48 to 0, in January. This gave the bill enough time to navigate through the House. It would have easily run and passed in only a few minutes, yet the bill failed to bring the bill up for a vote. By contrast, the House swiftly passed a bill making pickleball Washington’s state sport.
The power to pass the Americans of Chinese descent history month bill was firmly in the hands of House Speaker Laurie Jinkins from Tacoma. As Speaker, Jinkins had power to determine if this bill received a vote. She chose to take the floor time to pass the pickleball bill instead.
The Chinese American community is deeply insulted. Chinese Americans’ 237 years of history seem to carry little weight in the eyes of the House Democratic leadership. Our generations of contributions, discrimination and sufferings are not worthy of recognition, but pickleball is? We see no concern or compassion from House leadership or Speaker Jinkins. This has been going on for far too long.
I have been sending all Washington legislators a daily note about Chinese American history since Jan. 10. It is deeply saddening that the rich history of Americans of Chinese descent was once again ignored. This is even more deeply puzzling, considering Jinkins is from Tacoma, a city with such a dark Chinese exclusion history. On Nov. 3, 1885 Tacoma’s remaining 300 Chinese Americans were forcefully expelled from the city. They lost their homes and possession, and some lost their lives along this terrible journey.
In 1993 the Tacoma City Council adopted the milestone Resolution 32415, acknowledging that the 1885 Chinese expulsion was a most reprehensible occurrence. Now, on Tacoma’s beautiful Ruston Way waterfront sits Chinese Reconciliation Park, a place dedicated to commemorating Tacoma’s terrible history of hatred, murder and repression. It expresses the city’s commitment to ending racism and hatred. But unfortunately, the Democratic leadership in our legislature has not learned from Tacoma’s dark past.
House Democratic leadership failed the Chinese American community, failed our schools and our students. We deserve an answer and closure. There must be accountability.
Linda Yang is director of Washington Asians For Equality.
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.