澳门开奖结果2023开奖记录

William Wei will be honored on May 21 for his contributions to the Asian American community

When the Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network (CACEN) named him one of this year鈥檚 Asian American Heroes of Colorado, 澳门开奖结果2023开奖记录 history professor William Wei couldn鈥檛 believe it.

鈥淚t was totally unexpected,鈥� he says.

Unexpected to him, maybe, but not to anyone else.听

鈥淪ince so many Asian Americans feel so invisible, Dr. Wei has provided many platforms through his articles, research and even a book about Asian Americans in Colorado (Asians in Colorado: A History of Persecution and Perseverance in the Centennial State),鈥� said Mary Schultz, CACEN鈥檚 communications manager and the person who nominated Wei. 鈥淒r. Wei has uplifted Asian Americans so people in general don鈥檛 forget this community.鈥�

Wei is no stranger to helping others. He鈥檚 been doing it for as long as he can remember, in part because of his late father, a sergeant in the U.S. Army.

鈥淥ne of the things he used to tell me was (that) we should always do the right thing鈥攖he right thing by our family, friends and community鈥攁nd do it for itself,鈥� not 鈥渇or any award,鈥� Wei says.

Wei never expected an award, for example, when he was a boy in New York City and a family friend, his 鈥渁unt,鈥� who didn鈥檛 speak much English, faced the terrifying possibility of losing her survivor鈥檚 benefits after her husband died.

Wei advocated for her at the Social Security office, convincing the employees there that, though her husband had passed, she was in fact alive and therefore needed support. 鈥�(I was) a little kid going over and speaking to these adults about the fact that my aunt was alive,鈥� Wei recounts. 鈥淥ne day I had to physically take her there. 鈥楽ee! She鈥檚 alive!鈥欌�澨�

Nor did Wei expect an award when, as an undergraduate at Marquette in May 1968, he participated in a sit-in for Black athletes. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 think they were treated fairly,鈥� Wei recalls, 鈥渟o I joined this group that decided to hold a student protest.鈥�

Wei didn鈥檛 even expect an award while serving on the board of directors for Colorado Asian Pacific United, a group that was instrumental in getting the city of Denver to apologize for failing to protect the Chinese community during the anti-Chinese race riot of Oct. 31, 1880, which destroyed Denver鈥檚 Chinatown.

Throughout his life and career, Wei has sought to improve the lives of those around him鈥攚hether they be family, friends and/or community. One thing he鈥檚 learned from these experiences is that right may be right, but that does not make it inevitable.

A position which has only been reaffirmed by his experiences as a historian.

鈥淚 firmly believe that we are a product of the past,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you want to know who you are today, you really need to go back and look at the past and at the forces that helped to shape the society in which we live.鈥�

But the future, the history yet to be made, Wei says, is up for grabs, a prospect that should urge all of us to consider what kind of society we want to live in.

鈥淚f you want a society to become better, individuals and groups of individuals have to make that happen,鈥� Wei argues. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 expect it to come about naturally.鈥� Progress, in other words, requires work.

And, unfortunately, Wei says, we have our work cut out for us. 鈥淲e are living in precarious times,鈥� he says, citing the war in Ukraine, threats to democracy within the United States, the 鈥渋nexorable march of climate change鈥� and the recent rise in anti-Asian and anti-Asian American hate crimes. We must take these issues seriously if we are to resolve them, Wei adds.

Yet Wei, who has been teaching history at 澳门开奖结果2023开奖记录 since 1980 and served as the 2019-20 Colorado State Historian, has not abandoned all hope. His expertise won鈥檛 allow him to. 鈥淎s a historian, I can look forward to change, because that鈥檚 the only constant. Being a historian, or having a sense of history, is reason to give you optimism.鈥�

Wei studies modern Chinese history and Asian American history, subjects on which he has published numerous books and articles, many of them for non-academic audiences.

鈥淚鈥檓 a great believer,鈥� he says, 鈥渋n making sure the scholarship we engage in at the university is accessible to the public.鈥�

There was a time, Wei explains, when his research could have gone a different route. 鈥淚 was interested in Africa, Asia and Latin America,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 actually thought about becoming a professor of African history, but circumstances channeled me into Asian history.鈥� Looking back, he鈥檚 happy with the decision. 鈥淣o regrets. It鈥檚 been a great life.鈥�

But specialties aside, with a mind that moves deftly among many subjects, including law, literature and political science, Wei remembers people telling him he could have chosen to follow a smorgasbord of career paths. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e smart!鈥� they would tell him. 鈥淵ou should be a lawyer鈥濃�攐r a public-school teacher, or a this, or a that.

Nothing would deter the scholar-to-be. 鈥淚 want to be a (history) professor!鈥� Wei would insist, which was a path re-affirmed by his own professors.

鈥淭he history professors I studied with were good, good people鈥� who 鈥渕ade the study of history a fascinating subject鈥� and could 鈥渋nstill (students) with a sense of the moral dimensions of history,鈥� Wei says. 鈥淨uite frankly, I wanted to be just like them.鈥�

They were, you might say, his heroes.

Well, now Wei is officially a hero too, and will be honored as such on May 21 at the Happy Living and Wellness Center in Aurora at 10 a.m.

Celebrating him, some would maintain, is the right thing to do.

Image at the top of the page:听History professor William Wei is the 2022 Asian American Hero of Colorado.