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15 mai 2018 2 15 /05 /mai /2018 17:30
US film explores legacy of anti-Chinese immigration law
CULTURE
CGTN

2018-05-15 14:23 GMT+8

 
CULTURE
CGTN

2018-05-15 14:23 GMT+8

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More than a century before President Donald Trump began blocking arrivals from the Middle East and Africa, the American immigration debate was already being forged in the crucible of Chinese exclusion.

On May 6, 1882 – the eve of the greatest wave of immigration in US history – US President Chester A. Arthur signed a history-making yet little-known piece of legislation called the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The law, not repealed until 1943, banned workers from the Middle Kingdom and ended naturalization for Chinese nationals – the first time the US had singled out a particular nationality.

Cantoon of the Chinese Exclusion Act /Photo via the Internet

The new regime severely complicated life for more than 100,000 ethnic Chinese already in the US, many recruited to build the transcontinental railroad but facing racism from white workers.

This obscure yet resonant aspect of US history is explored in "The Chinese Exclusion Act," a timely new PBS documentary debuting on May 29 from Emmy-winning filmmakers Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu.

"This is not simply an immigration story, it is the American immigration story," Burns told the Television Critics Association (TCA) in southern California in January.

The White House's biggest disagreements with Beijing these days center on trade rather than immigration, although liberals worry that Trump is ushering in a new era of isolationism with his "America First" rhetoric against migrants.

A fog bell on California's Angel Island, where America's anti-Chinese immigration policy was implemented with cold-blooded efficiency. /AFP/Getty Images

Burns and Yu examine the economic, social, legal, racial and political dimensions of the exclusion act, the events that gave rise to it and the effect it continues to have on American culture and identity.

Chinese Americans didn't have the vote, but the community filed some 10,000 lawsuits, establishing bedrock principles on birthright citizenship, access to education and equal protection under the law.

"In the process of resisting the discriminatory laws, the Chinese community helped define, in the most positive ways, what American citizenship is," said executive producer Stephen Gong.

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