In a win for the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, President Joe Biden signed a law Monday that could help establish a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. Biden noted that he was honored to sign the law that was “long overdue.”
"It's about time for a national museum to capture the courage, the character, and the imagination ... the dreams and the heart and the soul of the generations of our fellow Americans who came before you," Biden said moments before signing the Commission To Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act into law.
"The diversity of the culture is significant, and the breadth of achievement is equal in significance," he added, noting that "museums of this magnitude and consequence are going to inspire and educate. More than anything else it's going to help people see themselves in the story of America."
According to NBC News, the act will result in a panel that will research a plan that would ultimately establish a museum dedicated to the community in Washington, D.C.
Biden said that the process to establish the museum would be similar to the one that led to the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
He also noted that the bill comes at a "critical time," referring to the Atlanta spa shootings and the 80th anniversary of the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
"I look forward, one day, to visiting the National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture with all of you," he said.
During the White House press conference, Biden was introduced by Vice President Kamala Harris, who spoke of her background as a member of the AAPI community. She shared that her mother ensured that she and her sister "learned of the important, glorious history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in America because that, of course, is part of this history of America."
“This is a story about heroes who shaped our nation for the better,” Harris said during the press conference. “From the South Asian Americans who transformed farming up and down the Pacific coast, to the Japanese Americans who defended our freedom during World War II, to the Chinese American garment workers who marched through the streets of New York City 40 years ago to win better pay and benefits for all workers."
Harris noted that the museum would not only celebrate the AAPI community and their contributions but include some of the darkest moments in American history, including the Chinese Exclusion Act; the internment of Japanese Americans; the murder of Vincent Chin; discrimination against South Asian Americans after 9/11; and the increased violence against Asian Americans during the pandemic.
According to the 2020 U.S. census, about 24 million people in the country identify as Asian. Research has found that the population of AAPI individuals in the country is expected to reach 46 million by 2060, making them the nation's fastest-growing racial or ethnic group.
The legislation was co-sponsored by 120 Democrats and Republicans and was passed by the House unanimously in April.
Democratic Rep. Grace Meng of New York, the House legislation’s sponsor, thanked the president for signing the bill.
While the bill has been signed and the process will begin, the museum is expected to take several years to be built. At this time the Smithsonian is in early planning stages for two other new museums: the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, USA Today reported.