LibGuides: Asian Pacific American History: Media

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The American Dream of the Chinese (71:00) The American Dream has drawn millions of people to the New World with the promise that all can reach their full potential if they work hard enough, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. In this program six Chinese citizens arriving in the U.S. over a 30-year period share their stories of how that dream has played out for them. A geophysicist who came in 1978 speaks movingly of finally being able to pursue his academic studies, forbidden during the Cultural Revolution, while a 21-year-old defends China at a Free Tibet rally.
Angel Island: A Story of Chinese Immigration (12:00) On Angel Island, the history is written on the walls. From 1910 until 1943, Chinese immigrants to America passed through Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, the Ellis Island of the West. Unlike other groups, the Chinese were legally discriminated against under an 1882 law called the Chinese Exclusion Act. This program looks at how two women—one an artist, the other a documentary filmmaker—are raising funds and awareness to have the old immigration station restored. Slated for destruction, the station was spared in 1970 when a park ranger discovered, beneath layers of paint, poems written by anxious detainees about their fears of deportation.
Korean Americans (50:00) This program examines a major piece of the new American mosaic—a group that is seeking to retain its traditional cultural values while adjusting to life in the U.S. Korean Americans have come into frequent and violent conflict with inner-city African Americans, and have sought, through their own ethnic civic organizations, to overcome the rejection of the community around them.
Newsreel - America's First All-Filipino Army
Norman Mineta Discusses His Family's Internment in a Japanese-American Concentration Camp ca. 1984 (1:43) In 1971, Norman Mineta became the first Asian-American mayor in the United States. Four years later, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Mineta later went on to become secretary of commerce and secretary of transportation under President George W. Bush. In this interview, he discussed his family's relocation to a Japanese-American internment camp in 1942. Copyright The WPA Film Library.
Series: Vietnamese-Americans One of the effects of war has long been the displacement of peoples. But what happens when the refugees come to live in the country of one of the combatants and neither speak the language nor know its culture? This balanced two-part series puts a human face on the issues surrounding the Vietnamese-American experience. 2-part series, 33-37 minutes each.

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