AAPI Efforts During the Civil War
Between the months of March and June of 2020, over 2,120 cases of harassment, as well as over 800 instances of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have been documented. In the light of this rampant xenophobia, we felt that many did not realize the extent to which Asian Americans have been a part of the American story, going back as early as the Civil War. The centuries of discrimination and marginilization of Asian Americans, has often overshadowed their contributions to the modern United States.
To combat this problem, we, a group of Santa Clara high school students, created a website that highlights the heroism displayed by Asian American soldiers in the Civil War. In the first AI driven, Asian American Civil War interactive activity, we give users the opportunity to step into their shoes.
United States from China. Joseph Pierce enlisted in the Union Army in 1862, where he went on to fight bravely at the decisive battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. Despite his meritorious service, Joseph Pierce was never recognized, and was even denied his pension by the government. Another soldier, Hong Neok Woo, shared one of the foremost causes for many Asian Americans to enlist: "I volunteered in spite of the advice of my friends against it, for I had felt that the North was right in opposing slavery.” Even as soldiers like Pierce and Woo fought on the battlefield, their government deserted them just years later by denying many citizenship under the Exclusion Acts of 1882.
Educating yourself is the first step towards change. Take a look at the AAPI Heroes website: http://aapiheroes.org/
