On May 6th, 2017, United Chinese Americans (UCA) arranged a special preview of “Chinese Exclusion Act”, directed by Rick Burns and Lin-Shin Yu, an epic documentary, to be aired in the coming months as part of the PBS American Experience series.
On May 6, 135 years ago, “The Chinese Exclusion Act” became the law of the land. As the only law in U.S. history excluding an entire race, it also denied Chinese-Americans their civil and democratic rights, resulting in the lives of second class citizen from the year 1882 to 1942. At its core, this seminal event, in addition to the labor of the Chinese Labor of Transcontinental Railroad, defines who we are as Chinese- Americans today.
Today, we are reminded of this day. “The Chinese-American Day of Remembrance.” On this special day from this year forward, our community should pay our respects with a family gathering, or special prayer, to retain this collective memory and to turn this saddened history into a more inclusive democracy and perfect Union.
The collective experience of watching this film together with tens of thousands of our fellow Chinese-Americans from coast to coast, will help define who we are, treasure and exercise our citizenship, and bring us closer together as one big community. You are more than welcome to leave comments about this event or any suggestions you may have to info@ucausa.org. We hope you can join the UCA family. Together, we can build a better world around us.
Behind the scenes: Interview with Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu
(Video courtesy of CAAMCHANNEL)