Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Aurora de Peralta
Richmond, VA – A bill mandating that Virginia textbooks note that the Sea of Japan is also known as the East Sea was approved by the House of Delegates on Wednesday, March 5. The bill has been passed to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who has one month to consider signing the bill into law.
McAuliffe, who promised to support Northern Virginia’s large Korean American community during his campaign, said he would sign the bill.
Northern Virginia’s large Korean American community pushed for the bill’s approval. Koreans view the globally-recognized name, Sea of Japan, as a remnant of Japan’s imperialistic past, including the colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
But the bill appears to be in jeopardy as it faces opposition from other Virginia minority groups. Signing the bill would anger the government of Japan, a major trading partner for the commonwealth.
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus has allied with Republican delegate Steve Landes (R-Augusta) to derail the bill with a floor amendment requiring Virginia to ensure that it also addresses problems with respect to African American and Native American history. If the amendment is approved, the altered legislation would have to return to the Senate for approval of the changes.
Annandale resident Christina Bui, 22, agrees that African Americans and other minorities are being wrongly disregarded with the East Sea bill.
“I’m not quite sure why we’re focusing on the naming of things—which, in my mind, is irrelevant—when Virginia lawmakers should be more focused on how the histories of certain minority or ethnic groups are portrayed, or the inclusion of such histories,” Bui said.
Virginia Beach resident and father of two sons, Laine Cameron, 29, is disgruntled by the fact that state legislators have politicized student education.
“I do not support the politics behind the bill,” Cameron said. “Mandatory changes to the curriculum should be driven by an approved neutral process rather than a piecemeal legislative process driven by lobbies whether Korean, Japanese or Chinese.” “Most students will not even notice the difference,” he added.
