“ … from and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United States.”
– “Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,” as passed by the United States Congress
Asian Americans have long had more influence than their modest numbers would seem to suggest. At the time that I write this, they are about six or seven percent of the American population (depending on whether or not you include those identifying as “White and Asian” in this category). Nonetheless, this documentary notes that they are the “fastest-growing” racial group in the United States. Because of the United States’ proximity to Mexico, there are actually larger numbers of Hispanic immigrants being added to the population at any given time; but as a percentage of those already here, Asian Americans are indeed the “fastest-growing,” as PBS says. Asians may be a small percentage of the American population, but they are a much larger percentage of the world population. This may account (at least in part) for their being well-represented among those who are trying to enter this country, and get away from the “Old World.”
Chinese Americans in San Francisco, circa 1900
Episode 1: “Breaking Ground”
You might expect that this program would spend some time on their countries of origin. But this is focused entirely on their experiences in the United States. It begins around the time that Asians first entered this country, in the first half of the nineteenth century. The first wave of Asian immigrants came from China, and landed mostly on the West Coast, in the “Wild West.” Immigration to the East Coast would follow later, but most of the early Asian immigration was in places like California. This contributed to events like the California Gold Rush, in which Chinese immigrants joined many others in search of gold. This immigration was also notable in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, where a majority of the railroad workers were Chinese immigrants. Some would later get American citizenship, but there were barriers to prevent Asians from getting citizenship at this time. Thus, few of them actually succeeded in getting it – a sad commentary on the era’s discrimination. Later, Congress passed the “Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882” (quoted above), which created additional barriers to their even coming here in the first place. The first episode covers these things, as well as the effects of the Spanish-American War of 1898. In this war, the United States conquered the Philippines, which would have an effect on later Filipino emigration.
Chinese American family in Chinatown, San Francisco 1913
Episode 2: “A Question of Loyalty”
The second episode is entitled “A Question of Loyalty.” This episode focuses mainly on World War II. Among other things, they follow the Uno family, a family of Japanese Americans. Unfortunately for this family, World War II turned out to be a “brother against brother” war for them. On the one side, Buddy Uno was dissatisfied with American discrimination against him, and thus returned to Imperial Japan shortly before the war began. When the war broke out, he used his fluency in the English language to make propaganda broadcasts on behalf of Japan. These were designed to lower the morale of American servicemen, by taunting and dispiriting them. On the other side of the war, most of the Uno family remained loyal to the United States, as did most Japanese Americans. Like other Japanese Americans, they were unfortunately interned when the war began. As you might expect, Japanese American internment is a major focus of this episode. But a number of them were allowed to fight for the United States later on in this war. One of them even served as Douglas MacArthur’s personal interpreter for the Japanese language. Most Japanese Americans were prevented from fighting in the Pacific, but this was a notable exception. Most of them instead fought in Europe, and served with great distinction there.
Japanese American children pledging allegiance to the American flag (1942), shortly before the internment started
So what was happening to other Asian Americans at this time? During World War II, the United States was allied with India, China, Korea, and the Philippines. Thus, other Asian Americans were sometimes associated with our allies, although some whites had a tendency to forget this at times. These groups tried to distance themselves from the Japanese, who were ravaging the countries that their ancestors had come from. Many were thrilled to play unsympathetic Japanese roles in Hollywood propaganda films. On the one hand, Japanese Americans were treated somewhat differently from other Asian Americans. On the other hand, they were also treated differently from German Americans and Italian Americans, making clear the racial component of these policies. This episode covers the experiences of all Asian Americans, and not just Japanese Americans. Nonetheless, all of them were affected by the way that white Americans saw the Japanese, with whom these various groups were often confused.
Dust storm at an internment camp in California
Episode 3: “Good Americans”
When World War II ended, the Cold War soon began. This is where the third episode begins its story. This episode makes the case that during the Red Scare, there was some suspicion against Chinese Americans, because mainland China was going communist around this time. Anti-Chinese feeling didn’t quite rise to the level of internment camps, but there was enough hysteria to go around at this time. One of the things that this episode does not mention was how many Chinese Americans were disapproving of communism (and rightfully so). Indeed, the desire to escape Mao’s policies was a strong driver of the era’s Chinese American immigration. Perhaps PBS didn’t want to criticize communism, or paint Chinese Americans as having reason to be patriotic to America. But for whatever reason, they don’t mention this opposition.
Mao Zedong, the dictator of communist China, and the reason that many Chinese came to America
Miscellaneous comments
I don’t remember which episode mentions Hawaiian statehood. But one of them certainly does. Specifically, Hawaii became a state in 1959, as requested by Asian Americans. Asians were the majority in Hawaii, so many of them wanted Hawaii to become a state. Some whites didn’t like the idea of having two Senators from a mostly Asian state, which might then elect Asians to these positions. But many Hawaiian natives didn’t like the idea, either. America had long encroached on native Hawaiian lands, and was sure to continue doing so if Hawaii were to become a state. But Asian Americans won the day in this struggle, so Hawaii became a state. The documentary almost makes it seem like Asians should feel “guilty” for making Hawaii a state, at the expense of Hawaiian natives. Similarly, they make it seem like Asians should feel “guilty” about encroaching on Native American lands, during the California Gold Rush and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Chinese workers in the snow constructing the first Transcontinental Railroad
I love it when leftists are forced to choose between two minority groups, because the choices that they make are often very revealing of their priorities. For example, they note how Korean Americans were targeted by black rioters, during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. They don’t criticize African Americans for killing Korean Americans, but they do criticize the white police for “turning a blind eye” to this (or words to that effect). Had the white police supported the Koreans by defending them against black rioters, they would surely have been condemned as “anti-black racists.” Moreover, it seems that leftists fear being labeled “anti-black” more than being labeled “anti-Asian.” Thus, I presume that PBS is so desperate to come up with an anti-Asian incident that they’ll use this one, even if they cannot condemn the perpetrators of the violence without being condemned as “racists” themselves. Thus, they refrain from criticizing those who actually commit the violence, instead reserving their ire for the white police who “overlooked” it. Later, President George H. W. Bush sent the National Guard into Los Angeles to restore law and order there. He was able to do what the Los Angeles Police Department had not been able to do, because they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of the rioters.
Vietnamese boat people awaiting rescue
Episode 4: “Generation Rising” and Episode 5: “Breaking Through”
The last two episodes are both quite bad. Both of them have the taint of academia on them. There’s the usual radicalism when covering the sixties – particularly the Vietnam War, which they claim to be driven by “imperialism” and “racism.” Apparently, Ken Burns is allowed to paint South Vietnam in a negative light in his series “The Vietnam War,” without being condemned as an anti-Vietnamese “racist.” But any opposition to communist North Vietnam must somehow be “racist” against the Vietnamese – a curious double standard. They also mention the creation of Asian American Studies departments in colleges and universities, which were driven by the demands of Asian American students at this time. This is a legitimate topic, but is covered in a somewhat biased way here. All opposition to illegal immigration from Asia is predictably painted as “racist.” They also use a number of unfortunate incidents to paint a “pattern” of continuing racism. For example, they mention the 2001 killing of a Sikh in Arizona, around the time of 9/11 – since the Sikh was mistaken for a Muslim, and targeted on that basis. Whether these incidents are really part of a “pattern,” or whether they are just isolated incidents, is another debate surrounding this topic. PBS certainly takes the position that it is part of a “pattern.” In this and other ways, the fourth and fifth episodes are quite bad, and compromised by bias.
Conclusion: This is a good introduction to Asian American history
Nonetheless, this may be the first television history of Asian Americans ever to be made. Thus, it deserves some credit for being groundbreaking in this regard. This series may be somewhat weaker on covering Pacific Islander Americans, since it focuses entirely on those classified as “Asian” Americans. The only islands that they really throw into this category are Japan and the Philippines, since they cover Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans in this series. But they don’t cover Samoan Americans, Tongan Americans, or any other Pacific Islander groups. As far as I know, these groups have not yet been covered by any major documentary. But this series is notable for what it does accomplish, since it helps to bring Asian American history to a popular audience. This series deserves credit for what it does in this regard, and belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in ethnic history despite its weaknesses.
“ ‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she
With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’ ”
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