During this time of intense public debate on immigration, SPICE has partnered with PBS and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) to encourage teachers to share the American Experience film, The Chinese Exclusion Act, with students. Check it out to learn about the following questions and more:
What factors led to increased immigration from China to the United States?
How did the Chinese adapt to life in the United States that sometimes included hostility directed at them?
How did Chinese immigration to the United States intensify ethnic and cultural conflict and complicate the forging of a national identity?
What role did new laws and the federal judiciary play in instituting racial inequality and in disfranchising various racial groups such as the Chinese?
What factors led to immigration restrictions of the Chinese and ultimately exclusion?
What arguments and methods did Chinese in the United States use to acquire equal rights and opportunities guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution?
How have ideals and institutions of freedom, equality, justice, and citizenship in the United States changed over time and from one community to another?
To watch the trailer, go to: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/chinese-exclusion-act/