Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2022

AANHPIs have served honorably in the United States military since the War of 1812. The first AANHPI individual to reach general officer rank was Brigadier General Albert Lyman (1885-1942), who was Hawaiian and Chinese American and the commanding general of the 32nd Army Division that fought in the Leyte campaigns in the Philippines in World War II. The highest ranked AANHPI in the military was former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who was a four-star general and the Army Chief of Staff.

AANHPIs are the fastest growing racial group in the U.S. Between 2000 and 2019, the AANHPI population grew 81%, faster than any other racial group in the nation during that time. By 2060, AANHPIs are expected to increase over four times as rapidly as the total U.S. population and grow to more than 47 million.

According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam is Asian. A Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands.

Although AANHPIs have helped build a strong and vibrant U.S., many still face linguistic, economic, educational and immigration barriers that often hinder them from achieving their full potential. The “model minority myth” – the belief that AANHPI “success” makes them different and better than other communities of color – masks the real barriers to success that some communities face and has prevented AANHPIs from fully benefitting from federal programs and resources available to vulnerable and underserved communities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric has put AANHPI individuals, families, communities and businesses at risk. On Jan. 26, 2021, President Biden signed a Presidential Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. to advance inclusion and belonging for people of all races, national origins and ethnicities.

This action is critical to guaranteeing the safety and security of the American people. The VA Office of Resolution Management, Diversity and Inclusion (ORMDI) has been coordinating the Department’s response to the Presidential Memorandum.

ORMDI proudly leads the effort to build a diverse workforce and cultivate an inclusive work environment. It develops and implements policies and programs that promote diversity and inclusion in our workplace to ensure that VA’s workforce is drawn from the broadest segments of society so it is poised to meet the present and future needs of our nation's Veterans, their families and beneficiaries. These efforts involve inclusion for AANHPIs at VA.

VA’s Special Emphasis Program is designed to develop and implement strategies to identify potential employment barriers in the areas of recruitment, hiring, promotion, career development and retention affecting the full participation of all race, ethnicity and gender groups in VA’s workforce, including AANHPIs. When barriers are identified, viable solutions can be developed to help eliminate those barriers to employment and full participation at all levels of VA.

 

Adapted from ORMDI materials available at https://www.va.gov/ORMDI/docs/v20i08.pdf and

https://www.va.gov/ORMDI/DiversityInclusion/AANHPI.asp.