Long Beach is home to nearly half a million Cambodian Americans – the largest Khmer population in the United States. However, when she studied at the Long Beach Unified School District, Savannah Thy said that she rarely saw her community support her daily studies.
“The only time I was taught anything about Cambodia was the Khmer Rouge,” said Thy, referring to the communist regime that ruled the country in the 1970s. According to his history teachers, Cambodians were victims of genocide and war under that regime. No mention was made of the refugees who have built a thriving community in Long Beach, which is located near Anaheim's downtown corridor called Cambodia City.
“I believe there is much more to our culture than that historical flower,” said Thy.
But now, students across California will have the opportunity to learn about Cambodian Americans and other Asian communities through the Southeast Asian Studies Model Curriculum, the first of its kind in the country.
Although not mandated, state teachers in grades K-12 can access a number of suggested lesson plans for Hmong American, Vietnamese American and Cambodian American history. online being included in their classes. The curriculum is available for teachers to use now, as a whole or in small sections.
“It's really important to focus on people who have experienced those histories and cultures,” said Mariko Manos, manager of history and social sciences at the Orange County Department of Education, who led the curriculum development for the California Department of Education. “To me, that's what's missing from our history books.”
The curriculum offers a number of lesson plans that feature Asian Americans living in foreign countries and the histories of how they came to the US – many as war refugees.
“The majority of Americans have little understanding about … how the refugee community was formed in the US,” said Khatharya Um, a professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley.
Um, who was a child refugee, said the US has not acknowledged its role in the downfall of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, and that has contributed to the trauma of the history of his community.
“'We are here because you were there,'” Um, quoting the late activist and author Ambalavaner Sivanandan about post-colonial migration. Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese and Hmong refugees are “the human legacy of the wars the US has been involved in.”
Chan Hobson, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide, speaks during the “Stories of Endurance and Genocide Survival” conference in Long Beach.
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
What is important to Um about this Southeast Asian curriculum is the focus on community voices. The Orange County Department of Education sought the feedback of Hmong, Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans in multiple iterative listening sessions as the basis for their research.
Last month, the Orange County Department of Education hosted a two-day conference at the Long Beach Hilton to launch the Cambodian American Model Curriculum. More than 500 people attended from as far away as Florida.
“The beauty of this project is that it was built by the community and for the community,” said Tori Phu, one of the curriculum specialists at the Orange County Department of Education.
Phu grew up in Santa Ana and visited Little Saigon every weekend with his family, but his parents often kept quiet about what happened during the Vietnam War. The curriculum, he hopes, fills the gap for refugee children like him, who have never heard the full story.
“As you continue with the study program, you hear stories that may be related to your uncle, your aunt, your mother, your father, your grandfather,” he said with tears of joy.
Cambodia City Chair Sithea San conducted a video interview during the Cambodia American Studies Conference last month at the Hilton Long Beach.
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
Teaching compassion
But Phu said the curriculum is also designed to involve students from all backgrounds who may relate to these issues.
“It's not just for Vietnamese students or students born to Vietnamese refugees, that there is a thread that can connect to other cultures.”
Tauheedah Graham, a fifth-grade teacher in the San Diego Unified School District, said the Long Beach conference broadened her perspective as a non-Cambodian American teacher.
“As an African American, I know that there is my story. Then I'm done [listened] the Killing Field stories…the year I was born [in] 1979,” Graham said. “I think it opens up the fact that we all have so much trauma.”
Graham plans to share what he learned at the conference with his younger students.
Sithary Ly holds a postcard showing a man in Cambodian clothing playing skor thom drums.
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
An opportunity to heal and show resilience
For many scholars and activists, it felt like the new curriculum was their long-awaited acknowledgment after erasure and neglect left Southeast Asian communities unheard and neglected. Income inequality is highest among Asian Americans, according to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center. About 1 in 10 Asian Americans live in poverty, but that rate is 17% for Hmong Americans and doubles to nearly 1 in 5 for Cambodian Americans.
“If you don't know about different communities and what they've been through, and we don't get federal dollars to be able to fund different community programs,” said Laura Ouk, Cambodian American curriculum writer.
Chia Vang, professor of history and vice chancellor for inclusion at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, sees this three-pronged curriculum as a testament to the resilience of Southeast Asian communities. His family resettled in St. Paul, Minn. – which is home to the largest Hmong population living in the US
“People never thought that we would live in this country because we come from an area that loves agriculture,” said Vang. “A curriculum like this is completely against these predictions. In fact, we've not only survived, but we're actually succeeding in telling our stories this way. “
While citizenship education is facing a national backlash, other states like Wisconsin may follow California's lead. Last year, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill authorizing Hmong American and Asian American studies in K through 12th grade school.
Thy was raised by her grandmother, listening to stories about the Cambodian people and performing traditional Cambodian dances with the Modern Apsara Company. But he said most Cambodian Americans did not have the same access to their culture and history.
“It's very sad to see other children my age not being able to talk to their grandparents because of the language,” said Thy.
But he is happy to see younger generations like his cousin have the opportunity to learn about their community through the curriculum.
“I have been waiting for this to happen for a long time, and I hope that future generations will know more about their culture,” said Thy.
Joy Okada, left, and Laura Ouk, right, pose for a photo after speaking during “Cambodian American Studies into English Course: and Authentic Strategies and Approaches for Teaching Cambodian American History.”
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
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