This is what American families look like.
People across the interwebs are tweeting photos of their Asian-American families using the hashtags #MyAsianAmericanFamily and #MyAANHPIFamily. The photos serve as an important reminder of our Asian roots in the U.S.
“Asian-American family history is American history,” Jason Fong, who started the hashtag with Jenn Fang of Reappropriate, told HuffPost in an email. “You can see from the photos that our families have been immeasurably impacted by political, social, and economic factors and movements in American history.”
The photos show a diverse range of experiences from survivors of Japanese-American imprisonment to Southeast Asian refugees to proud multiracial families. Though the trend is a celebration of Mother’s Day and Asian-American Heritage Month, it’s also an ode to the struggles, challenges and sacrifices many families have experienced.
And since people don’t typically see Asians as the quintessential American unit, Fong told HuffPost he felt it was important to highlight their stories. Especially since the minority group is so affected by important hot button issues in U.S. policy ― whether it’s immigration or wage inequality.
“Understanding and humanizing Asian American families are both essential to helping us understand how we can work for justice,” he said.
Because Asian families are often stereotyped as strict and void of emotion, Fang told HuffPost that they also aimed to show the softer side of these families that are rarely depicted in the media. And according to the submissions, the campaign seems to be a success.
“Through the hashtag, we saw many different examples of what AAPI families look like now and throughout history, and yet all were united by the common thread of love, caring and support,” Fang said. “That so many AAPIs took to Twitter to share their intimate stories honoring their birth and/or chosen families speaks to how central familial bonds are for the AAPI community.”
Check out more awesome photos of Asian-American families below.
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