How 'The Chinese Exclusion Act' documentary reunited a family with lost home movie footage

The story of how the footage made its way to CAAM, into 'The Chinese Exclusion Act' and back to its family.



In November 2014, the Center for Asian American Media published a blog post asking for help identifying a "mystery film" that had come to CAAM's Memories to Light: Asian American Home Movies initiative.

The footage shows a birthday party for a family elder in either the 1940s or 1950s. It is entirely in black and whtie and shows many family members in attendance. The family is made up of people of all ages, with the women wearing cheongsames (qipaos) and the men wearing Western suits. The family elder wears a dark suit and is frequently shown holding a framed golden peach, a symbol of longevity.

The blog post was shared by this blog and other outlets, but nobody stepped forward to claim the footage. It seemed to remain an eternal mystery, just another unclaimed home movie languishing in an archive. Now, in the PBS and CAAM co-produced documentary The Chinese Exclusion Act, that footage has been used and incorporated into a larger history -- and as a result of it, the footage has been reunited with its family.

New York lawmakers ask Obama for official U.S. apology for Chinese Exclusion Act

"To Chinese Americans, their descendants, and all whose lives were affected by the Chinese Exclusion Act."


A soap advertisement from the 1880s, sub-titled 'The Chinese Must Go'
In New York, a group of state lawmakers have sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to issue a government apology for the passage and enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which specifically targeted and barred Chinese immigrants from entering or becoming citizens of the United States.

Signed into federal law by President Chester A. Arthur in 1882, and fueled by widespread anti-Chinese sentiment, the Chinese Exclusion Act was one of the most significant restrictions on free immigration in U.S. history, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. It was the first law implemented to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States, and lasted for over sixty years.

The letter, written by state Assemblyman Ron Kim and signed by twenty other state legislators, calls for the President to issue an official apology on behalf of the United States Government "to Chinese Americans, their descendants, and all whose lives were affected by the Chinese Exclusion Act."

California resolution apologizes for anti-Chinese legislation

State Senate calls on U.S. Congress to formally apologize for Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882



Well, isn't it about time? Last week, the California State Senate unanimously passed resolutions calling upon U.S. Congress to formally apologize for the enactment of the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and formally apologizing for past California anti-Chinese legislation.

California Resolution for Apology to Chinese Americans Passes Unanimously

Senate Joint Resolution 23, as amended, is a request by the California Legislature to the Congress for the adoption of resolutions of apology to the Chinese American community for enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and other similar Chinese Exclusion Laws.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 122 is a formal apology of the California State Legislature for the enactment of past discriminatory laws and anti-Chinese constitutional provisions that resulted increased restrictions and hardships on the Chinese living in California.

Both resolutions were unanimously by the State Senate on Thursday.

Law students seek posthumous admission of Chinese lawyer to California State Bar

Hong Yen Chang was denied a license to practice law in California in 1890



A group of law students at UC Davis are fighting for the rights of an Asian American attorney who was denied the opportunity to practice law in California due to discrimination more than a century ago.

Law students seek to right historic wrong with posthumous California Bar admission of Chinese lawyer

Students with the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) at UC Davis are pushing for the posthumous admission of Hong Yen Chang to the California State Bar. Chang was denied a license to practice law in California in 1890. Because, in case you didn't know, California laws were f*cking racist in 1890.

Chang, who earned his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1886, was admitted to the New York state bar in 1886 -- the first Chinese immigrant admitted to any bar in the United States. But when he moved to California to practice in San Francisco, exclusionary laws barred him from earning his law license in the state.

Chinese Exclusion-era laws still on the books in Florida

It seems that the Sunshine State actively wants to stay in the last century. Surprise.

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, one of our nation's "greatest hits" in its history of anti-Asian racism. The act barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States and prohibited Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens.

Good thing we're now living in the 21st century, where super-racist citizenship laws are totally a thing of the past. Right? Righ... oh yeah, but then there's Florida.

70 Years After U.S. Repeals Chinese Exclusion Act, Fla.'s Still Stands.

Upon passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, more than thirty states followed the federal government's lead, passing laws and amendments that excluded Asian Americans from the full rights of citizenship. Those unconstitutional provisions have since been repealed in every state -- except Florida, where the "Alien Land Law" is still on the books. The statute, approved by voters in 1923, bars Asian citizens from owning property.