Wait! I just looked up the Census Bureau website and it turns out that May is also "Older Americans" Month. What's up with that? We have to share our month? What if you're both older AND Asian? that's like having your birthday on Christmas -you're kind of dissed.
Is that saying something about Asians, that we're the same month as "Older Americans"? (Older than whom, anyway? Older than me? the president? their children? I guess that's supposed to be a nice way of saying "old". Old Americans Month. Elderly? Senior? I don't know anyone above the age of 16 who appreciates being called "older" or who ran around saying, "this is my month! I'm older!)
I also didn't notice any public celebration of Older Americans Month. It was subsumed by APA Month. So are we unwittingly oppressing Older Americans? Or is every month Older American Month --I mean, look at Congress, the president, the heads of corporations, most rich people. They're older. So they don't need to have special Older Americans Festivals, Street faires, and little public service announcements on TV.
I didn't actually set out to write a big gripe about APA heritage month --i meant to share that if you have a kid in your life, you can get them to write an essay for "Growing Up Asian in America" essay contest. Click the link to read past winners.
Anyway, the month is almost over, so everyone can go back to living their regular, non Asian Heritage Month lives. You can ignore us again, starting tomorrow.
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