Which stories get told?

AAPI voices on identity, achievement, and belonging  
  
## Which stories get told?

#### AAPI voices on identity, achievement, and belonging

By The Medium Blog ∙ May 22, 2026 ∙ 5 min read ∙ View on MediumSo often, as the cliche goes, history is only told by the victor. What does that mean in practice though, especially when there aren’t necessarily clear winners and losers, but many sides of a story to be told?For many groups in the U.S., being part of the story remains a struggle. The labor movement in the U.S., for example, is rooted in part in the work of Asian Americans, even if their role isn’t widely known. In Hollywood, too, the visibility of Asian Americans remains muted, despite recent advances. And the enduring “Asian American success frame” is complex, raising the question of why and whose framing it actually is.For AAPI Heritage Month, we’re highlighting a few of the many essays from this community on Medium so that we can better understand why certain stories get told, and what happens when others don’t.···

### Labor history and immigrant rights

Miles Kim of Hidden History: Beyond the Books traces the essential role Asian Americans played in the U.S. labor movement. In 1867, Chinese railroad workers staged one of the earliest labor actions in the American West, striking for fair wages and an 8-hour workday. The 1903 Japanese-Mexican Labor Association became the first successful multi-racial agricultural union. In 1965, Filipino labor leader Larry Itliong organized the Delano Grape Strike, which merged with Dolores Huerta’s movement to form the United Farm Workers. And in 1982, 20,000 Chinese garment workers in Manhattan struck for fair wages — an action that led to the creation of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, which continues to fight for workers’ rights today.This also extends to immigrant rights. Advocacy organization Advancing Justice – AAJC recently shared a story about how, in 1898, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Wong Kim Ark, a cook who had been detained in San Francisco three years earlier upon returning from a trip to China, blocked from re-entering his own country under the Chinese Exclusion Act — affirming birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. “of whatever race or color.”Today, that right is under threat: an estimated 1.8 million U.S.-born children could be impacted by current attacks on birthright citizenship. The AAJC also highlights how language access in schools is being targeted — while Title VI protections for English Learners remain law, federal funding has been slashed to zero and the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) faces shutdown.···

### Whose stories get told?

Another trend of stories that caught our eye is about representation in U.S. media. In The Value of Hollywood Portraying Asian Men as Attractive, Jessica Lim writes about how Asian men are historically cast as nerdy sidekicks, yet rarely as romantic leads. There are signs of progress: the TV show _Heated Rivalry_ marks a shift, with half-Korean Canadian actor Hudson Williams being marketed as a heartthrob rather than a sidekick. “I hope that little Asian kids are like, ‘Ooh, I want to become an actor,’” Williams said. But setbacks persist — the film _21_ , based on the true story of Asian-American MIT students who beat Vegas casinos, was recast with white actors, erasing the real people’s identities entirely.Even when representation appears to improve, questions remain about whose stories get told. While many in the AAPI community celebrated Crazy Rich Asians as groundbreaking, others raised concerns. Academic Sheng-mei Ma argues that 99% of Asian Americans are “neither crazy, nor rich, nor Asian” in the way the film portrays. This debate reflects ongoing conversations within the community about what authentic representation looks like. Meanwhile, Asian artists are often encouraged to lean heavily on ethnicity rather than craft. As one Medium writer put it: “We cannot afford to promote works based solely on who made them, rather than what they say and how well they say it.”···

### Disrupting the “Asian American success frame”

Stephen Chen, Associate Professor of Psychology at Wellesley College, critiques what he calls the “Asian American success frame” for The Conversation U.S. Based on his work with Asian American families for over two decades, he describes how it narrowly defines success by attaining elite credentials, Ivy League degrees, and select occupations like medicine, law, or finance. These expectations are often rooted in immigrant parents’ own experiences of discrimination and scarcity, then internalized and reinforced by U.S. society’s obsession with prestige and credentialism.Drawing on the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi and the _Daodejing_ , Chen offers an invitation to look at that endless pursuit of status through another lens: “The more you desire, the more it costs. / The more you hoard, the more you’ll waste.” Chen also shares research that backs this up: the perception of “low” relative status takes a real toll on both the parents (reports of more depressive symptoms), and their children (reports of more loneliness).Although Laozi suggests our truest desires can only be uncovered when freed from those imposed by society, systemic escape is hard to attain. But Chen offers a powerfully subtle disruption for families facing these expectations: permission to question the success frame, ancient wisdom that validates that questioning, and research showing that many families are already rewriting the script.···

### A final thought

Megan Zapanta, Richmond Organizer Director for Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), shared this roundup of children’s books on AAPI themes. One example is the Caldecott Medal-winning _A Different Pond_ by Bao Phi, a refugee from Vietnam, which shares lessons from his father’s life through the act of fishing. Zapanta shares her direct experience with each book based on her work with APEN, and teaches us how taking a moment to reflect on your kid’s bookshelf can lead to change:“Reading these books, cuddled in bed with my kids, helps our family not just make sense of the moment, but to think about what action we can all take.”···

### What have you seen?

**_We urge you not to stop with these stories_** __ — this issue features just a sampling of the variety of perspectives and unique personal stories that relate to AAPI Heritage Month. Search for related identities and topics on Medium to find stories that highlight other communities and themes. Be sure to follow/subscribe to the writers and publications you find, so you can continue to support them all year long.When it comes to this and other heritage months, we’d love to know what stories you’d like for us to highlight. Use this form to submit stories you’re seeing that are connected to this and other heritage holidays, and we may include them in Medium newsletters or lists in the future!······ _Deepen your understanding every week with the Medium Newsletter.__Sign up here_ _.__Edited and produced by_ _brandon echter_ _,__Scott Lamb_ _, & __Carly Rose Gillis_ _Like what you see in this newsletter but not already a Medium member? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and_ _join a community that believes in human storytelling_ _._

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