Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker signed the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act on Friday, the first law of its kind. The TEAACH Act would require Illinois public schools to include a unit of Asian American history starting in the 2022-2023 school year.
The unit should include, “the history of Asian Americans in Illinois and the Midwest, as well as the contributions of Asian Americans toward advancing civil rights from the 19th century onward.” The lessons will require more than glossing over to landmark events in Asian American history; they will dive deeper into events like the Japanese incarceration camps and Chinese Exclusion Act.
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