GOP Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung of Rhode Island introduces bill to require Asian American history be taught in schools

Photo: Steven Senne / Associated Press

Republican Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung of Rhode Island has just introduced a bill that would require all the state’s public elementary and secondary schools to teach at least one unit of Asian American history and culture. 

Speaking to the Boston Globe, Fenton-Fung said, “It’s so people understand the horrible things that happened in history and don’t repeat them, but it’s also to understand the achievements of Asian Americans such as Yo-Yo Ma, Kamala Harris, and Lucy Liu.”

The education bill states:

“Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian American history, including the history of Asian Americans in Rhode Island and the Northeast, as well as the contributions of Asian Americans toward advancing civil rights from the 19th century onward. These events shall include the contributions made by individual Asian Americans in government and the arts, humanities, and sciences, as well as the contributions of Asian American communities to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States. The studying of this material shall constitute an affirmation by students of their commitment to respect the dignity of all races and peoples and to forever eschew every form of discrimination in their lives and careers.”

According to the Boston Globe, the bill was scheduled to be heard this week before the House Education Committee but the hearing has been moved to March in observance of Lunar New Year celebrations.

Fenton-Fung is the wife of Allan Fung, the former mayor of Cranston, RI. Fung was the state’s first-ever Asian American mayor.