Abstract:

"In this program, the plight of Chinese immigrants -- unfairly treated and even hated for their 'otherness' -- is explored. Attracted to the U.S. by the need for farm and railroad laborers and by news of the California Gold Rush, Chinese came by the hundreds of thousands, only to experience extremely hard work, pitifully low wages, and racial discrimination. In the west, they became the victims of race riots and discriminatory laws, and in 1882 the federal government created the Chinese Exclusion Act to restrict further immigration. Finally, after World War II this racist law was repealed, and the nation has since been enriched by immigrants from China."