Resources - Exclusion: The Shared Asian American Experience

A 17 minute video by the 1990 Institute about the exclusionary experience faced by Asian American immigrants.

Original Post Date: March 23, 2023

Questions: contact@1990institute.org

What is on this page:

• Video overview & recording

• Resources

  • Lesson Materials for 9-12 Teachers

  • Materials for further learning

  • Recommended books

Video Overview & Recording with Time Codes

America has been represented as an open society that welcomes immigrants to a land of opportunities. Many immigrants from Asia came to find a better life for their family, escaping from poverty, prosecution, colonialism, and other political atrocities. But America did not receive them with open arms. Throughout history, people from Asia have been excluded, discriminated against, subjected to violence, and prevented from becoming American citizens. Laws were passed that kept them from voting, owning land, marrying the person they loved, and seeing their relatives again. Though coming from different countries and cultures, the pioneering Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Filipinos, and more Asians who arrived here each faced similar conditions of exclusion, which forged the beginnings of a common, shared Asian experience in America. This educational video takes you through exclusion experiences that Asians endured then and what they continue to face as Americans now. Understand the past to shape the future. Please see the additional resources below including a downloadable lesson guide.

https://youtu.be/eJnIwru-Tjw?si=koUotSABS6QkQgza

0:00 Introduction

0:50 19th Century and Prior

6:36 20th Century

13:03 1965 Immigration Act

Resources

Lesson Materials for 9-12 Teachers

• Downloadable 1990 Institute Lesson Guide in MS Word doc and pdf file

• Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion Curriculum Guide, Chinese Historical Society of America

• Snapshots of School Segregation, by Noreen Naseem Rodriguez

• “The Chinese Question from a Chinese Standpoint”, 1873, by Sylvia Chong, The National Humanities Center

• The Chinese Expulsion Act of 1882, by Gwen Whiting, Washington State History Museum 

• Southeast Asian Refugees, Asian Americans Advancing Justice 

• Education Resources: for learners of all ages that make learning about the Japanese American experience engaging and exciting, Japanese American National Museum

• Lesson Plans | Duty to Country: explores the history of US imperialism in the Philippines, WWII, immigration and civil rights movement, the filipino veterans recognition and education project, Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP.org)

• MOCA Heroes Digital Magazines, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)

• Lesson Plan: Asian Immigration, Immigration History

• Chinese Exclusion Act and the Exclusion of Asians, Pacific Islanders and Chinese Women, The Asian American Education Project.

• Teaching Chinese Immigration in the 19th Century: Lesson Plans and Resources (grades 5-12), The Immigrant Learning Center

Read

• Chinese Immigrants Were Forced Out of Eureka in 1885 — Here’s How Locals Are Making That History Known, by Héctor Alejandro Arzate, October 15, 2021, KQED 

• Timeline of Systemic Racism Against AAPI, Stanford Libraries

• ‘I’ve walked between two worlds’: What belonging means for Asian Americans, by Elaine Teng, May 24, 2021, National Geographic

• Asian American Then and Now, Linking Past to Present, Asia Society 

• Chinese Exclusion Act, updated August 9, 2022, History

• Roldan v. Los Angeles County: The Case That Criminalized Filipinos Marrying Outside Their Race, by Rona Alondra, December 30, 2021, Esquire

• When Hilario Met Sally: The Fight Against Anti-Miscegenation Laws, by Alex S. Fabros, Jr, October 02, 2013, Positively Filipino

• What are the Benefits and responsibilities of Citizenship, US Citizenship and Immigration Services

• America’s love-hate relationship with immigrants, by Angelica Quintero, updated January 13, 2018, Los Angeles Times

• History of Korean Immigration to America, from 1903 to Present, by Soojin Chung, Boston University

• In Observance of Centennial of Korean Immigration to the U.S., 2003, National Association of Korean Americans

• Asian Americans: Growth and Change in the 1970s, by Peter S. Xenos, Robert W. Gardner, Herbert R. Barringer, and Michael J. Levin, May 1987, Center for Migration Studies

• Asianomics in America Contributions and Challenges, by Daan Struyven, Daniel Milo, and Hui Shan, May 2, 2022, The Goldman Sachs Group

• When Saying ”I do” Meant Giving Up Your U.S. Citizenship, by Meg Hacker, National Archives

• When Saying ”I do” Meant Giving Up Your U.S. Citizenship Handout, by Meg Hacker, National Archives 

Watch

• Japanese Codebreakers Secretly Helped Win World War II | Full Documentary, May 17, 2021, Twin Cities PBS

• Numbers Don’t Lie? Model Minority explained in 3 minutes, May 11, 2021, 1990 Institute

• Waves of Immigrants: The Asian American Journey, February, 2023, 1990 Institute

• Understanding America: Asian American History, Contributions, and Current Challenges, by Dr. Madeline Hsu, May 7, 2021, US Department of State

• What was the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act? | The Chinese Exclusion Act, May 29, 2018, American Experience | PBS

• Chinese American: Inclusion/Exclusion | United States vs. Wong Kim Ark [Exhibition Video], December 1, 2020,  New-York Historical Society

• Being Asians in America, 2022, Pew Research

• Ugly History: Japanese American incarceration camps – Densho, October 1, 2019, Ted-Ed

Sources of Information in the Video

• STAATUS Index 2022 Report, LAAUNCH and The Asian American Foundation (TAAF)

• 20.6 Million People in the U.S. Identify as Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, by Lindsay M. Monte and Hyon B. Shin, May 25, 2022, United States Census Bureau

• 4 U.S. Supreme Court Cases Where Asian Americans Fought For Civil Rights, by Suzanne Nuyen, May 27, 2021, NPR

• Key Facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population, by Abby Budiman and Neil G. Ruiz, April 29, 2021, Pew Research 

• Asian Americans, various articles, Pew Research

Refugees:

• Admissions & Arrivals, 2023, Refugee Processing Center

• How Does the U.S. Refugee System Work?, by Claire Klobucista, James McBride, and Diana Roy, updated April 13, 2022, Council on Foreign Relations

• Refugees and Asylees in the United States, by Kira Monin, Jeanne Batalova, and Tianjian Lai,  May 13, 2021, Migration Policy Institute

• Southeast Asian Refugee Migration to the US, Linda W. Gordon, May 1987, Center for Migration Studies

• Southeast Asian American Journeys, 2020, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Recommendations

Books:

• Driven Out: The Forgotten War against Chinese Americans, by Jean Pfaelzer, 2007 

• The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics, by Mae Ngai, 2021

  
  

Research Guide and Resources:

• Japanese American Incarceration Camp Research Guide, updated Aug 9, 2021, San Diego State University University Library

• Chinese Americans in California, California State Library, California History Section

• Japanese Americans in California, California State Library, California History Section

• Teacher’s Guides and Analysis Tool, Library of Congress 

• Asian Pacific American Heritage Resource Guide For Washington State K-12 Schools, May 2001, State of Washington Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs 

• Asian Pacific American Center, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC)

• Hmong in Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society

• Exclusion or inclusion? The Japanese Struggle To Own Land In California, by Robbie See, National History Day