A)I still remember my fourth-grade social studies project. Our class was studying the Gold Rush, something all California fourth-graders learned. I was excited because I had asked to research Chinese immigrants during that era. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had always known that “San Francisco” translated to “Gold Mountain” in Chinese. The name had stuck ever since Chinese immigrants arrived on the shores of Northern California in the 1850s, eager to try their luck in the gold mines. Now l*d have the chance to learn about them.

B)My excitement was short-lived. I remember heading to the library with my class and asking for help. I remember the librarian's hesitation. She finally led me past row after row of books, to a comer of the library where she pulled an oversized book off the shelf. She checked the index and turned over to a page about early Chinese immigrants in California. That was all there was in my entire school library in San Francisco, home of the nation's first Chinatown. That was it.

C)I finally had the opportunity to learn about Asian Americans like myself, and how we became part of the fabric of the United States when I took an introductory class on Asian-American history in college. The class was a revelation. I realized how much had been missing in my textbooks as I grew up. My identity had been shaped by years of never reading, seeing, hearing, or learning about People who had a similar background as me. Why, I wondered, weren't the stories, histories, and contributions of Asian Americans taught in K-12 schools, especially in the elementary schools? Why are they still not taught?

D)Our students—Asian, Latino, African American, Native American and white—stand to gain from a multicultural curriculum. Students of color are more engaged and earn better grades when they see themselves in their studies. Research has also found that white students benefit by being challenged and exposed to new perspectives.

E)For decades, activists have called for schools to offer anti-racism or multicultural curricula. Yet a traditional American K-12 curriculum continues to be taught from a Eurocentric point of view. Being multicultural often fall back on weaving children of color into photographs, or creating a few supporting characters that happen to be ethnic—an improvement, but superficial nonetheless. Elementary school classrooms celebrate cultural holidays—Lunar New Year! Red envelopes! Lion dancers! — but they’re quick to gloss over(掩饰)the challenges and injustices that Asian Americans have faced. Most students don't, for example, learn about the laws that for years excluded Asians from immigrating to the U. S. They don't hear the narratives of how and why Southeast Asian refugees(难民)had to rebuild their lives here.

F)Research into what students learn in school has found just how much is missing in their studies. In an analysis, Christine Sleeter, a professor in the College of Professional Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay, reviewed California's history and social studies framework, the curriculum determined by state educators that influences what is taught in K-12 classrooms. Of the nearly 100 Americans recommended to be studied, 77% were white, 18% African American, 4% Native American, and 1% Latino. None were Asian American.