Asian Americans (film series)
[6] First aired on May 11, 2020, Episode One focused on the early immigration of Asian people from China, India, Japan, and the Philippines starting in the 19th and 20th century.
Fair managers instructed the various Igorot people to perform dances and dog-eating for the crowds, even though the consumption of dog was not common and was for ceremonial purposes.
[10][11] The Chinese Exclusion Act, the documentary states, set the stage for the use and enforcement of immigration documents and the laws used to arrest and deport people found in the country unlawfully.
The experiences of Anna May Wong and Sessue Hayakawa are described in the documentary as examples of Asian individuals finding great success in the United States yet still hitting the bamboo ceiling, due to the fact they were often hired to only portray villains or other negative stereotypes.
Episode 2 begins with film director Satsuki Ina describing finding her mother's identification number given to her in the Japanese internment camps and the narrator asking the audience "What does it mean to be a loyal American?"
Niya describes how Nisei generations "because they had been treated so badly in the United States and I think there was a greater openness to overlook some of the atrocities that the Japanese were committing."
[14][15] The episode talks about how Earl Warren's became a driving force behind the internment of over one hundred thousand Japanese Americans without any charges or due process.
[16][17] In an effort to avoid the anti-Japanese hate and discrimination, Chinese and Korean Americans wore buttons or other identifiers to communicate to the public they were not Japanese.
[18][19] The episode also describes how some Chinese and Korean Americans fully supported America's war effort since it would mean Japanese Imperialism in China, Korea, and the Philippines may be put to an end.
Philip Ahn, Susan's brother, also honors Korea and his parents by taking pride in playing villainous Japanese roles in Hollywood films as a way to create more anti-Japanese sentiment.
On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 which authorized the incarceration of around 110,000 Japanese people, two-thirds of them were born in the United States and were citizens.
Edison went on to be an activist for previously incarcerated Japanese and his work, along with others such as Yuji Ichioka, would culminate in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 signed by President Reagan.
Historian Alex Fabros, Jr. speaks about his Filipino father's hopes of rising to the middle class and how some Asian veterans were even able to become American citizens because they served in the war.
One such example of Asians being heralded as the model minority is Toy Len Goon, who won the title of American Mother of the Year in 1952.
[22] However, the episode makes it known that being seen as the model minority did not free Asian Americans from discrimination or racial politics of the U.S. Helen Zia speaks on how her parents were barred from buying houses in certain communities and were the only Asian-American family in Levittown when it was first built.
Historian Erika Lee describes how the use of the model minority was used in an attempt to delegitimize the critique from African-Americans, communists, labor activists and other marginalized groups.
Screenwriter David Henry Hwang said that the accusations made against the Chinese revealed no large plot of subversive activities and that these programs and tactics were government terrorism in order to intimidate a community.
Journalist Jeff Chang describes how large strikes on the island from various ethnic groups in the 1940 led to a shift in political power in favor of the working class majority.
The United Farm Workers' strike brought attention to the harsh conditions and nationwide support from college students, civil right leaders, and politicians.
Alex Fabros, Jr. was drafted in the Vietnam War and, like Scott Shimabukuro and Mike Nakayama, describes the overt racism in the ranks and the internal reckoning he had with being an Asian-American fighting against the Vietnamese.
Laureen Chew and Penny Nakatsu describe their experience as San Francisco State students and members of the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF).
The Third World Liberation Front Strike of 1968 aimed to disrupt campus life in order to hasten the creation of a School for ethnic studies.
Nobuko Miyamoto was a member of the band Yellow Pearl alongside Chris Kando Iijima and Charlie Chin, who sung about the Asian-American experience.
Leland Wong's graphic design work featured in this episode alongside poet Lawson Inada and filmmaker Robert Nakamura.
The murder of Vincent Chin, and the fact his assailants received no jail time, galvanized Mee Moua, Helen Zia, and other Asian-Americans to take the streets in protest.
Civil rights organizations and individuals such as Jesse Jackson rallied behind the Asian-American community and Lily Chin, Vincent's mother.
Writer and historian Brenda Stevenson speaks on how African-Americans continue to face discrimination in L.A. and how the beating of Rodney King in 1991 galvanized many in South L.A. to get back into the street.
Journalist K. Oanh Ha spoke on the disparities between Asian-Americans in technology sector, some being startups CEOs and others and others doing low paying piece work.
The episode concludes with a firm assertion that Asian-Americans, their history, and their experiences will always have a place in the United States and deserve to be heard and retold.
People featured in this episode: Hari Kondabolu, Margaret Cho, Mee Moua, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jeff Chang, Angela Oh, Alex Ko, Jerry Yang, Randall Park, K. Oanh Ha (journalist), Annalee Saxenian (historian), Tereza Lee (pianist),[32] Norman Mineta The series was made free to the public after the May 16, 2021 Atlanta spa shootings.
