Fresno State’s pledge: To cultivate, respect and honor the Valley’s Asian American roots

Though Asian Americans are a panethnic group —one that contains distinct cultures, languages and historical backgrounds — they share a history of having contributed earnestly to our country’s economy while facing deep racial harassment that was oftentimes backed by discriminatory legislation.

Indeed, since the mid-1800s, each community of Asians that came to the U.S. — whether the Chinese railroad workers, the Filipinos and Japanese agricultural workers, or the Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong or Laotian refugees who arrived in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s — has been faced with the stigma of being perpetual foreigners.

Asian immigrants have always played an essential role in California’s economic growth and vitality. The first wave of immigration occurred from the 1840s to the 1930s, with South Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Filipinos working as laborers on the transcontinental railroad, and in factories, mines, agriculture and fishing. Additionally, specific to our state, by 1870, Chinese immigrants constituted 20% of the labor force.

Fresno, too, was founded through the efforts and labor of Chinese immigrants. According to Ramon Chacon’s “The Beginning of Racial Segregation,” “By 1874, when Fresno had been named the county seat, the town had a population of 600; 200 were Chinese.” The author goes on to say that the Chinese made the bricks of the first permanent building in the city.

Such contributions to our society, though, were paid back with anti-Asian legislation and violence. There was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 — a federal law that restricted Chinese immigration for 60 years — and laws that denied naturalization for Asian immigrants, which included Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and South Asians, prevented interracial marriages or prohibited them from owning land. And, in 1942, the infamous Executive Order 9066 that forced Japanese Americans into internment camps.

Our country is currently reckoning with yet another cycle of racism and violence against our Asian American communities. As educators and leaders, we are concerned with the impact of anti-Asian sentiments on our students, staff, faculty and other community members.

The harmful rhetoric that portrays Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners has only stoked more fear and division. This rhetoric is rooted in xenophobia and the continued perception that Asian Americans will never belong to this land, nor represent the values of the American dream — love of family, hard work, and a continued contribution to the success and well-being of society.

It draws from ignorance, the failure to distinguish between diverse ethnic groups, each with their own rich histories and each composed of dynamic individuals who deserve respect for their humanity and unique accomplishments.

Fresno, as a city and region, has grown through the years thanks to the contributions of its Asian American communities as our neighbors, friends, and fellow community members. Indeed, Asian Americans, including Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos and the more recent Hmong, Cambodians and Laotians, have contributed to our region’s thriving agriculture. They all promote vitality to our state, not only producing the fruits and vegetables that feed our families but also contributing to the social, political and economic well-being of our community.

Where do we go from here? Let’s acknowledge and confront the long history of discrimination that perceives our friends and neighbors as perennial foreigners, and let’s consider that their families have roots as deep as those of any other community of immigrants.

Let’s become aware of their and our histories so that we are armed with the knowledge of our own past, and thus acknowledge and honor the contributions of this diverse and vibrant group of communities.

Fresno State, as the center of dialogue and civic engagement and discourse, pledges to invest in learning and understanding the complex histories of our Asian American communities. We affirm our commitment to education and offering courses, programs and public events that promote equity. We assert the beauty of the traditions and promise of our Asian American families and seek to cultivate true respect for their centuries-old and present-day contributions to our county, state and nation.