1 00:00:09,100 --> 00:00:10,470 DAVID: When the Chinese revolution comes, 2 00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:11,900 there is this fear. 3 00:00:11,933 --> 00:00:13,603 SENATOR: Are you a member of the Communist Party? 4 00:00:13,633 --> 00:00:15,933 HELEN: Being Chinese made you an automatic suspect. 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:18,570 ALEX: I'm a Filipino, so it doesn't matter. 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,000 "You're not one of us." 7 00:00:20,033 --> 00:00:21,603 RANDALL: You grow up and you think of yourself 8 00:00:21,633 --> 00:00:22,873 as a "Cartwright" 9 00:00:22,900 --> 00:00:25,130 and then you realize that everyone around you sees you 10 00:00:25,166 --> 00:00:26,696 as a "Hop Sing". 11 00:00:27,066 --> 00:00:29,896 ERIKA: These groups have overcome great adversity. 12 00:00:30,366 --> 00:00:32,926 They were now good Americans. 13 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,170 HELEN: You're the model minority. 14 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,030 You keep your mouth shut. 15 00:00:37,066 --> 00:00:40,496 WU: Patsy Mink wanted to be the first Asian American woman 16 00:00:40,533 --> 00:00:42,433 to go into the House of Representatives. 17 00:00:43,133 --> 00:00:45,103 TAMMY: What she did for women'srights and equal rights, 18 00:00:45,133 --> 00:00:47,273 not just for Asian Americans, not just for women, 19 00:00:47,500 --> 00:00:49,230 but for all Americans. 20 00:00:49,433 --> 00:00:52,533 HELEN: There really are these amazing Asian American women 21 00:00:52,566 --> 00:00:54,566 who were bad-ass women. 22 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,130 ALEX: It's not who you are, butit's what you can accomplish 23 00:00:57,166 --> 00:00:59,866 that gives you the opportunities to move forward. 24 00:01:01,033 --> 00:01:08,033 ♪ 25 00:01:12,133 --> 00:01:14,173 HELEN: Growing up after World War II, 26 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,600 there were so few Asians on screen that whenever 27 00:01:17,633 --> 00:01:21,503 one would appear, we would have this 28 00:01:22,466 --> 00:01:24,426 moment that I called an Asian sighting. 29 00:01:25,166 --> 00:01:26,296 Somebody would yell, 30 00:01:26,333 --> 00:01:29,073 "Hey, there's somebody on TV." 31 00:01:29,100 --> 00:01:31,470 And we would make a mad dash to the TV. 32 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:32,730 MAN: Murder, murder. 33 00:01:32,766 --> 00:01:33,926 MAN 2: Murder? 34 00:01:33,966 --> 00:01:35,096 Well here I come. 35 00:01:35,133 --> 00:01:36,573 MAN 3: The princess? 36 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,400 Murdered? 37 00:01:38,433 --> 00:01:41,073 HELEN: I would watch Bonanza, for example, 38 00:01:41,100 --> 00:01:43,630 and they had Hop Sing, who was the house boy, 39 00:01:44,233 --> 00:01:45,673 the step and fetch it. 40 00:01:45,700 --> 00:01:47,330 HOP: Good morning, Mr. Cartwright. 41 00:01:47,366 --> 00:01:48,966 You take enough food along? 42 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,170 CARTWRIGHT: Yes, everything was fine, Hop Sing. 43 00:01:51,433 --> 00:01:53,233 RANDALL: You grow up and you think of yourself as a 44 00:01:53,266 --> 00:01:57,696 Cartwright, and you realize that everyone around you sees 45 00:01:57,733 --> 00:02:00,173 you as a Hop Sing. 46 00:02:02,066 --> 00:02:04,796 JEFF: There were just no Asian American heroes. 47 00:02:04,833 --> 00:02:06,833 Most of the roles were reiterating 48 00:02:06,866 --> 00:02:08,726 long-held stereotypes. 49 00:02:08,766 --> 00:02:11,166 SAYONARA: Just a little lower, little lower Katsumi. 50 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:12,930 You always seem to be a little above it. 51 00:02:12,966 --> 00:02:14,196 Yeah, yeah that's it. 52 00:02:14,233 --> 00:02:17,433 HELEN: Asian women, just the compliant, passive, 53 00:02:17,466 --> 00:02:21,796 beautiful woman whose only purpose in life was 54 00:02:21,833 --> 00:02:24,203 to please a man. 55 00:02:24,233 --> 00:02:27,673 And this was something, as an Asian girl, I rejected. 56 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,070 That's not me and I can't be that. 57 00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:37,200 But it also added to that feeling like, 58 00:02:37,233 --> 00:02:39,303 "Then where am I, who am I?" 59 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:42,003 Because if this is what people expect 60 00:02:42,033 --> 00:02:44,403 me to be, I'm not. 61 00:02:44,700 --> 00:02:46,900 So where do I really belong? 62 00:02:53,700 --> 00:02:56,400 NARRATOR: The 1950s in America. 63 00:02:56,433 --> 00:02:59,533 A decade of conformity and contradiction. 64 00:03:00,533 --> 00:03:02,703 Underneath a growing prosperity, 65 00:03:02,733 --> 00:03:04,773 a simmering unease. 66 00:03:06,966 --> 00:03:08,826 Enemies outside. 67 00:03:08,866 --> 00:03:10,326 REPORTER: Duck and cover. 68 00:03:08,866 --> 00:03:10,326 REPORTER: Duck and cover. 69 00:03:10,366 --> 00:03:12,896 NARRATOR: And enemies within. 70 00:03:13,733 --> 00:03:16,533 In an era when being different comes at a high price, 71 00:03:16,566 --> 00:03:18,466 Asians wonder if it would be better 72 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:20,130 to keep their heads down, 73 00:03:20,166 --> 00:03:23,096 work hard, and never complain. 74 00:03:24,266 --> 00:03:26,596 But even if they do, will they continue to be 75 00:03:26,633 --> 00:03:28,833 seen as outsiders? 76 00:03:32,333 --> 00:03:35,103 In this time of promise and peril, 77 00:03:35,133 --> 00:03:37,703 Asian Americans navigate the Cold War, 78 00:03:37,733 --> 00:03:41,603 and take their first steps into American politics. 79 00:03:55,900 --> 00:03:58,130 REPORTER: Back to New York from overseas comes one of the 80 00:03:58,166 --> 00:04:01,296 most amazing fighting outfits of the war. 81 00:04:01,333 --> 00:04:04,473 It's the famous 442nd combat team, 82 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:07,370 mainly Nisei Americans of Japanese descent. 83 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,430 Americanism is not, and never was, 84 00:04:09,466 --> 00:04:11,696 a matter of race and ancestry. 85 00:04:11,733 --> 00:04:15,003 Americanism is a matter of the mind and heart. 86 00:04:20,566 --> 00:04:22,566 NARRATOR: Returning soldiers of color look at 87 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,930 their country in a whole new light. 88 00:04:26,133 --> 00:04:28,373 They fought for freedom abroad, 89 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,800 and now expect equality at home. 90 00:04:35,033 --> 00:04:38,573 Military families take advantage of the GI bill. 91 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,330 This way, Alex Fabros Senior hopes 92 00:04:41,366 --> 00:04:43,966 to lift his family into the middle class. 93 00:04:46,266 --> 00:04:49,526 ALEX: My father told me that World War II for 94 00:04:49,566 --> 00:04:51,666 many of the Filipinos living in America, 95 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,170 was an opportunity to fulfill many of the dreams 96 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,730 that they had when they first came to America. 97 00:04:57,966 --> 00:04:59,696 REPORTER: A particular group of soldiers in the 98 00:04:59,733 --> 00:05:01,933 United States Army has worked towards the day when their 99 00:05:01,966 --> 00:05:05,166 relatives in the Philippineswill be delivered from the Japs. 100 00:05:09,333 --> 00:05:11,273 ALEX: My father joined the first and second Filipino 101 00:05:11,300 --> 00:05:13,970 infantry regiments here in the United States in 1942. 102 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,470 Along with a lot of Filipinos here in America. 103 00:05:20,833 --> 00:05:23,103 Some of them were fortunate, 104 00:05:23,133 --> 00:05:26,873 they became American citizens because they served. 105 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:31,230 After the war, 106 00:05:31,266 --> 00:05:34,396 we formed these new bonds and relationships. 107 00:05:34,766 --> 00:05:37,996 We felt within thiscommunity a sense of protection 108 00:05:38,033 --> 00:05:41,073 of being able to succeed. 109 00:05:47,833 --> 00:05:49,403 These Filipino women, 110 00:05:49,433 --> 00:05:52,573 the war brides generation of 1940s. 111 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,330 Those women had a different attitude about who 112 00:05:54,366 --> 00:05:56,766 we should be in America. 113 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,200 They used to tell us that there's all 114 00:05:58,233 --> 00:06:01,633 kinds of opportunity. 115 00:06:02,066 --> 00:06:06,496 It's not who are but it's what you can accomplish and 116 00:06:06,766 --> 00:06:08,566 what you're able to do that gives you the 117 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,270 opportunities to move forward. 118 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,270 opportunities to move forward. 119 00:06:13,233 --> 00:06:14,703 I remember one time, 120 00:06:14,733 --> 00:06:16,403 I was at a doctor's office and all of 121 00:06:16,433 --> 00:06:18,933 the doctors were white. 122 00:06:18,966 --> 00:06:20,726 And I asked my mother, I said, 123 00:06:20,766 --> 00:06:24,226 "Why aren't there any Filipino doctors?" 124 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,230 And she said, 125 00:06:26,266 --> 00:06:27,966 "They're waiting for you or your sister 126 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,400 to become a doctor." 127 00:06:36,500 --> 00:06:40,270 ERIKA: Americans start to see Asian Americans 128 00:06:40,300 --> 00:06:43,170 as being part of the American family. 129 00:06:49,533 --> 00:06:52,403 We see some early press reports that are 130 00:06:52,433 --> 00:06:54,073 touting the success, 131 00:06:54,100 --> 00:06:56,900 the economic success, of Chinese and Japanese 132 00:06:56,933 --> 00:06:59,003 Americans in particular. 133 00:06:59,033 --> 00:07:01,973 And the message is that these groups have 134 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,300 overcome great adversity. 135 00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:07,770 Some of the worst racial discrimination in 136 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,570 the United States but had somehow risen up. 137 00:07:12,100 --> 00:07:15,370 Had pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to 138 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,700 a place of economic security, 139 00:07:18,300 --> 00:07:22,770 to a place where they couldgive back to the United States. 140 00:07:23,300 --> 00:07:27,470 They were now good Americans, they were the model minority. 141 00:07:33,266 --> 00:07:35,466 REPORTER: A Chinese laundry in Portland, Maine 142 00:07:35,500 --> 00:07:38,130 and that magical, universal word, mother. 143 00:07:38,566 --> 00:07:41,126 Mrs. Toy Len Goon, a widow, Chinese-born, 144 00:07:41,166 --> 00:07:43,126 carrying on in her husband's place. 145 00:07:43,166 --> 00:07:45,996 Bringing up 8 children to be fine American citizens. 146 00:07:48,700 --> 00:07:51,600 ANDREA: In 1952, my maternal grandmother, 147 00:07:51,633 --> 00:07:52,933 Toy Len Goon, 148 00:07:52,966 --> 00:07:55,566 was selected as US Mother of the Year. 149 00:07:55,833 --> 00:07:58,003 I didn't even know what Mother of the Year was. 150 00:07:58,033 --> 00:08:00,403 It's just something I remember hearing about from a 151 00:08:00,433 --> 00:08:01,833 very young age. 152 00:08:01,866 --> 00:08:03,296 I knew it was important, 153 00:08:03,333 --> 00:08:04,573 I knew that she was proud of it, 154 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:06,370 I knew that her children were proud of it. 155 00:08:06,866 --> 00:08:09,126 NARRATOR: Mrs. Goon is the first Asian ever to be 156 00:08:09,166 --> 00:08:11,266 selected in the nationwide contest. 157 00:08:11,933 --> 00:08:15,803 She is upheld as the symbol of motherhood and family, 158 00:08:16,133 --> 00:08:18,373 a pillar of American identity that even an 159 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,030 Asian immigrant can represent. 160 00:08:23,700 --> 00:08:25,430 ANDREA: My grandmother was nominated for 161 00:08:25,466 --> 00:08:26,826 Maine Mother of the Year 162 00:08:26,866 --> 00:08:29,696 by Clara Soule, who was an Americanization teacher. 163 00:08:29,733 --> 00:08:33,073 She had visited the laundry many times in an attempt to 164 00:08:33,100 --> 00:08:35,730 get my grandmother to enroll in English language classes. 165 00:08:37,300 --> 00:08:38,900 REPORTER: One son is in the Navy, 166 00:08:38,933 --> 00:08:42,573 another is an MIT graduate, still another is studying law. 167 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:44,830 All were encouraged to go to college. 168 00:08:45,366 --> 00:08:48,466 Today she's honored by theNational Golden Rule Foundation 169 00:08:48,500 --> 00:08:51,130 as American Mother for 1952. 170 00:08:52,666 --> 00:08:54,326 With daughters Doris and Janet, 171 00:08:54,366 --> 00:08:56,996 she modestly takes her places in the limelight. 172 00:08:57,033 --> 00:09:00,133 Giving her eight children all the credit for her success. 173 00:09:02,900 --> 00:09:05,770 DORIS: The freedom to live in America, 174 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,170 the word was that you could improve yourself. 175 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,170 the word was that you could improve yourself. 176 00:09:10,366 --> 00:09:13,466 For her children, she knew that being in America, 177 00:09:13,500 --> 00:09:16,230 they could aspire to something better if they 178 00:09:16,266 --> 00:09:18,866 worked at it, if they studied. 179 00:09:19,066 --> 00:09:22,066 So education, that was the American dream. 180 00:09:22,300 --> 00:09:25,530 If you're going to come to America, be an American. 181 00:09:35,033 --> 00:09:40,633 ♪ 182 00:09:52,133 --> 00:09:54,803 We had never even left home, you know. 183 00:09:54,833 --> 00:09:57,573 We're on this whirlwind tour. 184 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,770 The gloves, the hats, the royal wave. 185 00:10:15,333 --> 00:10:17,803 Okay, here we go. 186 00:10:18,333 --> 00:10:21,973 This is the award that blew everybody away. 187 00:10:23,366 --> 00:10:26,226 This has never left the family, you know. 188 00:10:26,266 --> 00:10:29,166 It was the highlight of your grandma's life. 189 00:10:32,366 --> 00:10:34,696 ANDREA: It was a momentous event. 190 00:10:34,733 --> 00:10:37,603 But it was also, I think, stressful for my grandmother 191 00:10:37,633 --> 00:10:39,273 to be in that spotlight. 192 00:10:39,300 --> 00:10:41,300 Even though she'd been in the United States for 193 00:10:41,333 --> 00:10:44,173 quite a few years by then, her English was not fluent. 194 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:46,700 And actually never became fluent. 195 00:10:47,366 --> 00:10:49,326 JANET: She was very compliant, 196 00:10:49,366 --> 00:10:50,696 but she was a little overwhelmed. 197 00:10:50,733 --> 00:10:52,003 DORIS: She was. 198 00:10:52,033 --> 00:10:53,873 JANET: In fact, she was never the same after all of this. 199 00:10:53,900 --> 00:10:55,300 ANDREA: What do you mean? 200 00:10:55,333 --> 00:10:58,103 JANET: Well she always felt she had to live up to the name 201 00:10:58,133 --> 00:10:59,573 of being American Mother. 202 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:00,670 DORIS: Yes. 203 00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:03,130 JANET: And I think as her kids, didn't we also 204 00:11:03,166 --> 00:11:04,496 feel pressure that way? 205 00:11:04,533 --> 00:11:06,733 DORIS: Yes, right. 206 00:11:11,300 --> 00:11:13,830 ANDREA: If you look at some of the newsreels, 207 00:11:13,866 --> 00:11:16,796 they also focus on the fact that her husband was in 208 00:11:16,833 --> 00:11:18,973 the US Army in World War I. 209 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,730 The fact that one of her sons was in the Navy. 210 00:11:24,766 --> 00:11:29,766 And then her children are in these stereotypical model 211 00:11:30,133 --> 00:11:33,073 minority careers, doctor, lawyer, engineer. 212 00:11:33,366 --> 00:11:35,366 It fits this narrative of 213 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,400 Americanization and assimilation, where 214 00:11:38,433 --> 00:11:41,673 Chinese Americans become this "model minority." 215 00:11:41,933 --> 00:11:44,873 These good immigrants living the American dream. 216 00:11:47,433 --> 00:11:49,903 NARRATOR: The stereotype of exaggerated Asian American 217 00:11:49,933 --> 00:11:52,133 success makes it to the silver screen. 218 00:11:53,366 --> 00:11:55,096 But behind the facade, 219 00:11:55,133 --> 00:11:57,603 things aren't always what they seem to be. 220 00:12:06,266 --> 00:12:07,866 HELEN: I'm a child of the 1950s, 221 00:12:08,633 --> 00:12:11,733 one in a bazillion growing up in the suburbs of America. 222 00:12:08,633 --> 00:12:11,733 one in a bazillion growing up in the suburbs of America. 223 00:12:13,866 --> 00:12:17,526 There were lots of communities that had covenants that said 224 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,430 Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Native Americans could not 225 00:12:22,733 --> 00:12:25,073 live there. 226 00:12:25,833 --> 00:12:28,903 My parents had been looking for a place to raise their 227 00:12:28,933 --> 00:12:31,503 family and they were told, 228 00:12:31,533 --> 00:12:34,233 "We can't sell to you Orientals." 229 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,870 So they ended up in this mass-produced housing 230 00:12:38,900 --> 00:12:41,200 tract of Levittown. 231 00:12:44,133 --> 00:12:46,733 Our Levittown was the third Levittown. 232 00:12:46,766 --> 00:12:49,096 The first two were all white. 233 00:12:49,466 --> 00:12:53,296 And somehow ours allowed my parents to move in. 234 00:12:57,333 --> 00:13:01,533 We were the only Asian family in our New Jersey town. 235 00:13:02,333 --> 00:13:04,473 We were the first and then a number of African American 236 00:13:04,500 --> 00:13:06,800 families moved in, too. 237 00:13:08,466 --> 00:13:11,326 This was the integration of America. 238 00:13:14,300 --> 00:13:18,130 But growing up in the suburbs at a time that was not long 239 00:13:18,166 --> 00:13:21,366 after the incarceration of Japanese Americans, 240 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,530 World War II. 241 00:13:23,566 --> 00:13:25,826 As kids, knowing that we're American, 242 00:13:25,866 --> 00:13:28,326 that we grew up eating hot dogs and apple pie. 243 00:13:28,766 --> 00:13:32,466 We always knew that there was a difference. 244 00:13:32,700 --> 00:13:34,900 If somebody said, "Go back where you came from." 245 00:13:34,933 --> 00:13:37,503 That meant to go back to China, not to Levittown. 246 00:13:39,633 --> 00:13:42,433 ALEX: People just did not want us in that neighborhood. 247 00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:46,430 So one day I was coming home and this kid grabbed me and 248 00:13:46,466 --> 00:13:48,626 said "“We don't like Japs."” 249 00:13:48,666 --> 00:13:50,896 I say, "“I'm not a Jap, I'm a Filipino."” 250 00:13:50,933 --> 00:13:53,833 He said "“Doesn't matter. You're not one of us."” 251 00:13:54,500 --> 00:13:57,370 There's always that term, you're not one of us. 252 00:13:57,633 --> 00:13:59,033 HELEN: If you're the model minority, 253 00:13:59,066 --> 00:14:00,466 you keep your mouth shut. 254 00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:02,370 You never complain. 255 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,000 You just march along, be a good soldier, 256 00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:09,370 be that good Asian. 257 00:14:13,633 --> 00:14:18,273 ERIKA: A good Asian American in the 1950s is someone who 258 00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:24,130 identifies first as American and maybe the Asian part is 259 00:14:24,166 --> 00:14:28,996 something that you celebrate through occasional cooking, 260 00:14:30,133 --> 00:14:34,373 nice exotic clothes that you bring out on festive occasions 261 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,430 but that is not at all the primary way 262 00:14:37,466 --> 00:14:40,166 that you identify yourself. 263 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,170 You're probably Christian. 264 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,630 You work hard, you believe in America, 265 00:14:47,666 --> 00:14:49,666 you are not asking for any handouts, 266 00:14:49,700 --> 00:14:52,030 you are not protesting. 267 00:14:52,066 --> 00:14:55,596 In fact, you are very, very grateful for everything that 268 00:14:55,633 --> 00:14:57,833 the United States has given you. 269 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:03,230 This idea that Asian Americans could become so successful 270 00:15:03,266 --> 00:15:05,566 without any government intervention or 271 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,830 government help is used not only to delegitimatize 272 00:15:08,866 --> 00:15:11,526 the real claims of discrimination 273 00:15:08,866 --> 00:15:11,526 the real claims of discrimination 274 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:13,870 by African Americans 275 00:15:13,900 --> 00:15:17,200 but also to create a wedge between these two groups. 276 00:15:20,266 --> 00:15:22,466 NARRATOR: When Asian Americans overcome adversity, 277 00:15:22,500 --> 00:15:24,800 they are celebrated. 278 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,200 But when African Americans demand equality, 279 00:15:28,233 --> 00:15:30,333 they are vilified. 280 00:15:30,933 --> 00:15:34,033 And for those who don't fitthe mold of the good American, 281 00:15:34,466 --> 00:15:36,626 there is a price to pay. 282 00:15:37,433 --> 00:15:40,503 ERIKA: The bad Asian American would be the critic, 283 00:15:40,533 --> 00:15:44,003 who is allying themselves with the African Americans and 284 00:15:44,433 --> 00:15:48,033 labor organizers, and activists, and communists, 285 00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:51,530 socialists, radicals and anarchists who threaten 286 00:15:51,566 --> 00:15:52,866 the United States, 287 00:15:52,900 --> 00:15:55,470 and everything the United States stands for. 288 00:16:03,933 --> 00:16:06,803 NARRATOR: In 1949, the Chinese communist party, 289 00:16:06,833 --> 00:16:09,803 led by Mao Zedong, seizes control of China. 290 00:16:26,733 --> 00:16:29,833 NARRATOR: A country that was America's ally in World War II 291 00:16:29,866 --> 00:16:31,896 is now the enemy. 292 00:16:34,533 --> 00:16:37,373 A year later tensions erupt into war in Korea. 293 00:16:42,766 --> 00:16:45,096 The Communist North Korea is backed by China and 294 00:16:45,133 --> 00:16:46,903 the Soviet Union. 295 00:16:46,933 --> 00:16:50,273 While the US and the United Nations back the south. 296 00:16:50,666 --> 00:16:52,126 REPORTER: What we are defending are 297 00:16:52,166 --> 00:16:53,896 not geographic borders, 298 00:16:53,933 --> 00:16:55,933 but a way of life. 299 00:17:00,966 --> 00:17:03,396 DAVID: When the Chinese Revolution comes, 300 00:17:03,433 --> 00:17:08,533 there is this huge scare in America that the 301 00:17:08,566 --> 00:17:10,326 dominoes are falling. 302 00:17:11,733 --> 00:17:13,603 REPORTER: Red China's battle plan. 303 00:17:13,633 --> 00:17:16,133 Divide and encircle. 304 00:17:16,366 --> 00:17:18,626 Conquer and enslave. 305 00:17:19,300 --> 00:17:21,200 DAVID: And for Chinese Americans, 306 00:17:21,233 --> 00:17:25,703 it leads to the fear that Chinatown is a hotbed for 307 00:17:25,733 --> 00:17:27,603 communist subversion. 308 00:17:28,066 --> 00:17:30,926 And this idea that Asian Americans are never fully 309 00:17:30,966 --> 00:17:33,766 loyal to America. 310 00:17:41,333 --> 00:17:43,133 WINIFRED: In the US, 311 00:17:43,166 --> 00:17:45,966 Asians are always perpetual foreigners. 312 00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:51,000 In the 1950s, it was not easy growing up Chinese. 313 00:17:53,966 --> 00:17:56,626 My parents are first generation, from China. 314 00:17:58,766 --> 00:18:01,266 Immigrant life was always a struggle. 315 00:18:01,300 --> 00:18:03,870 My mother had to work. 316 00:18:04,833 --> 00:18:06,903 We bought our first couch after my mother 317 00:18:06,933 --> 00:18:09,003 got her first paycheck. 318 00:18:09,033 --> 00:18:11,373 Otherwise, we sat on these wooden crates. 319 00:18:09,033 --> 00:18:11,373 Otherwise, we sat on these wooden crates. 320 00:18:12,833 --> 00:18:15,403 Once we got a couch, we sat there and we took pictures. 321 00:18:18,533 --> 00:18:21,403 My father did laundry work, as most Chinese people did. 322 00:18:24,133 --> 00:18:28,803 My father studied Chinese classical poetry in China. 323 00:18:29,133 --> 00:18:32,303 When you read his poem about his village, 324 00:18:32,333 --> 00:18:35,203 you can smell the scent of the flowers. 325 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,630 You can see that he missed his hometown. 326 00:18:44,300 --> 00:18:47,930 When he wrote about working in the laundry and about 327 00:18:47,966 --> 00:18:51,666 immigrants coming to America, really very happy and then 328 00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:54,670 finding out that this is what life is really like. 329 00:18:55,333 --> 00:18:57,473 You really feel it. 330 00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:01,330 It all came out in the writing. 331 00:19:01,366 --> 00:19:04,166 And this is how he expressed himself. 332 00:19:06,933 --> 00:19:09,003 NARRATOR: Chinese hand laundries become as common as 333 00:19:09,033 --> 00:19:11,303 hot dog stands and Checker Cabs. 334 00:19:13,033 --> 00:19:15,933 Chinese men are shut out of other jobs, 335 00:19:15,966 --> 00:19:19,926 but washing and ironing areno threat to white male labor. 336 00:19:21,833 --> 00:19:25,273 There are over 3,500 Chinese hand laundries 337 00:19:25,300 --> 00:19:27,730 in New York alone. 338 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,430 The workers form their own support organization to 339 00:19:30,466 --> 00:19:33,166 advocate for the whole community. 340 00:19:35,700 --> 00:19:38,300 WINIFRED: The Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance started a 341 00:19:38,333 --> 00:19:40,933 newspaper called the "China Daily News". 342 00:19:41,533 --> 00:19:45,103 And that paper reported news from China. 343 00:19:48,766 --> 00:19:51,966 And when the "China Daily News"continued to report 344 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,400 even after the communist revolution, 345 00:19:54,433 --> 00:19:58,433 it became branded as a communist paper. 346 00:20:00,233 --> 00:20:03,703 When Mao Zedong stood at Tiananmen Square and declared 347 00:20:03,733 --> 00:20:06,273 the Chinese people have stood up, 348 00:20:06,300 --> 00:20:11,170 we were proud that he kicked out all the Westerners. 349 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,030 We got our land back. 350 00:20:13,066 --> 00:20:16,466 And so a lot of us were for Mao Zedong, 351 00:20:16,500 --> 00:20:19,630 for what he did because he gave an image 352 00:20:19,666 --> 00:20:22,126 of a stronger China. 353 00:20:23,966 --> 00:20:27,196 It did not make us communist. 354 00:20:29,233 --> 00:20:34,373 MAN: What is the exact number of communists or subversives 355 00:20:35,133 --> 00:20:37,233 that are loose today? 356 00:20:37,533 --> 00:20:39,573 MAN 2: Are you a member of the communist party? 357 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,170 MAN 3: We can expect it to spread. 358 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,330 MAN 2: Have you ever been a member of the communist party? 359 00:20:43,366 --> 00:20:46,496 MAN: Nothing could be more alarming. 360 00:20:46,766 --> 00:20:48,896 HELEN: In the 1950s, everybody was trying to fit in 361 00:20:48,933 --> 00:20:50,833 because of the McCarthy period. 362 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:53,300 If you were different in any way, 363 00:20:53,333 --> 00:20:56,673 you could lose your job and yourcareer and your livelihood. 364 00:21:00,933 --> 00:21:03,573 WOMAN: They are enemies, they are not Americans. 365 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:05,400 WOMAN 2: Yes, they're traitors to America. 366 00:21:05,766 --> 00:21:07,166 MAN: They're homosexuals! 367 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,630 MAN 2: They're communist, they're communist! 368 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,630 MAN 2: They're communist, they're communist! 369 00:21:12,133 --> 00:21:14,403 HELEN: The House ofUnamerican Activities Committee 370 00:21:14,433 --> 00:21:16,973 targeted suspected homosexuals. 371 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:18,400 They said if you were gay, 372 00:21:18,433 --> 00:21:20,903 you were a potential security threat to America. 373 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,500 For me as an Asian American girl, who later, 374 00:21:29,533 --> 00:21:31,603 would come out as a lesbian; 375 00:21:31,633 --> 00:21:35,103 I can't even imagine what it felt like. 376 00:21:36,066 --> 00:21:38,196 MAN: Calling the House of Unamerican Activities 377 00:21:38,233 --> 00:21:39,773 Committee to order, 378 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,200 Chairman Jay Parnell Thomas of New Jersey opens an inquiry 379 00:21:42,233 --> 00:21:44,273 into possible Communist penetration of the 380 00:21:44,300 --> 00:21:46,000 Hollywood film industry. 381 00:21:46,666 --> 00:21:50,426 DAVID: In Hollywood, it leads to the Hollywood black list 382 00:21:50,966 --> 00:21:53,426 and the whole period of naming names of suspected 383 00:21:53,466 --> 00:21:55,666 Communists in Hollywood. 384 00:21:56,300 --> 00:21:58,570 DISNEY: I believe at that time that Mr. Sorel was a 385 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,200 communist because of all the things that I had heard. 386 00:22:01,900 --> 00:22:03,470 ROBERT: If I had my way about it, 387 00:22:03,500 --> 00:22:05,400 they'd all be sent back to Russia or some 388 00:22:05,433 --> 00:22:07,333 other unpleasant place. 389 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:09,900 (applause) 390 00:22:09,933 --> 00:22:13,903 HELEN: With the pervasiveness of this fear of communism, 391 00:22:13,933 --> 00:22:16,403 being Chinese made you an automatic suspect. 392 00:22:17,666 --> 00:22:20,396 My father was very fluent in English and a 393 00:22:20,433 --> 00:22:22,003 very opinionated man. 394 00:22:22,033 --> 00:22:26,203 Really disagreed with the way US-China relations were going. 395 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,230 And he would write letters to the editor. 396 00:22:29,266 --> 00:22:31,966 And I think that's what attracted the FBI. 397 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,200 There we were living in our New Jersey development and 398 00:22:39,233 --> 00:22:42,433 the FBI visited all of our neighbors, 399 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,000 probably my school, 400 00:22:45,033 --> 00:22:47,503 asked people, you know, "What does he do? 401 00:22:47,533 --> 00:22:50,033 Have you noticed anything suspicious?" 402 00:22:50,066 --> 00:22:52,526 And so I knew this because our neighbor kids, 403 00:22:52,566 --> 00:22:54,466 who we played with, would say, 404 00:22:54,500 --> 00:22:56,430 "And what does your father do? 405 00:22:56,466 --> 00:22:59,166 The FBI was here." 406 00:23:01,100 --> 00:23:04,770 We were pretty much perceived as the enemy. 407 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:09,800 NARRATOR: The editor of the "China Daily News", 408 00:23:09,833 --> 00:23:12,733 Eugene Moy, is convicted of accepting ad revenue 409 00:23:12,766 --> 00:23:14,796 from a Chinese bank. 410 00:23:15,566 --> 00:23:17,826 He denounces the verdict, calling it an attack on 411 00:23:17,866 --> 00:23:20,566 freedom of the press. 412 00:23:21,966 --> 00:23:24,696 Moy is sentenced to one year in prison and 413 00:23:24,733 --> 00:23:28,133 dies shortly after his release. 414 00:23:31,466 --> 00:23:33,766 WINIFRED: Pretty much anyone who subscribed to the 415 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,030 "China Daily News", anyone who wrote for it or had anything 416 00:23:37,066 --> 00:23:39,026 to do with it was suspected. 417 00:23:42,233 --> 00:23:46,173 My father wrote poetry for the "China Daily News" and 418 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,830 he wrote about his homeland, 419 00:23:48,866 --> 00:23:51,396 he wrote about life in America. 420 00:23:52,700 --> 00:23:55,700 This was all seen as communist thinking, 421 00:23:55,733 --> 00:23:58,803 and so that got us in trouble because my father 422 00:23:58,833 --> 00:24:00,873 was also a paper son. 423 00:24:05,266 --> 00:24:08,196 NAYAN: The paper son phenomena was this whole system of 424 00:24:08,233 --> 00:24:11,533 people taking new identities in order to be able to 425 00:24:08,233 --> 00:24:11,533 people taking new identities in order to be able to 426 00:24:11,566 --> 00:24:13,996 immigrate into the United States successfully. 427 00:24:16,966 --> 00:24:19,166 NARRATOR: It started in 1882, 428 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,130 when the Exclusion Act banned working class 429 00:24:21,166 --> 00:24:23,026 Chinese men and women from legally 430 00:24:23,066 --> 00:24:25,526 immigrating to the US. 431 00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:30,173 A person buys a fake birth certificate claiming 432 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,070 to be the child of a Chinese American citizen. 433 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,000 This makes them a "“paper son or daughter"” 434 00:24:38,233 --> 00:24:41,403 with a new name, and a chance in America. 435 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:44,730 For over 80 years 436 00:24:44,766 --> 00:24:46,596 the majority of Chinese immigrants, 437 00:24:46,633 --> 00:24:48,473 including Winifred's father, 438 00:24:48,500 --> 00:24:50,630 enter the country this way. 439 00:24:52,133 --> 00:24:56,173 WINIFRED: My father paid 1,900 for the paper. 440 00:24:57,100 --> 00:24:59,600 And he came to the East Coast rather than the 441 00:24:59,633 --> 00:25:03,573 West Coast simply because his paper father was also 442 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:05,900 on the East Coast. 443 00:25:06,100 --> 00:25:07,670 NARRATOR: Winifred's father, 444 00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:09,970 whose real name is Lai Bing Chan, 445 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,700 must now live as Tung Pok Chin. 446 00:25:13,100 --> 00:25:17,230 In order to stay in the US, he must live a lie. 447 00:25:18,666 --> 00:25:23,196 NAYAN: The paper son phenomena really blew up in the 1950s. 448 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,630 ERIKA: The US State Department and the FBI begin an 449 00:25:30,666 --> 00:25:33,926 investigation intoChinese American communities and 450 00:25:34,300 --> 00:25:36,470 it's inextricably connected to the 451 00:25:36,500 --> 00:25:38,700 record of paper migration, 452 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,870 of using fraudulent identities. 453 00:25:41,900 --> 00:25:45,700 "How do we know that thosepeople are not communist spies?" 454 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,770 And they offer a rotten deal toChinese American communities, 455 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,670 essentially they say, 456 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:58,000 "If you come clean with us and give us the history 457 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,970 of your illegal immigration activities, 458 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,600 we will regularize your immigration status." 459 00:26:10,066 --> 00:26:12,596 The program came to becalled the "Confession Program". 460 00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:17,670 NAYAN: People felt anxiety, shame, irrespective of 461 00:26:17,700 --> 00:26:20,370 whatever they had done and endeavored or 462 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,230 created in the United States, for decades and decades. 463 00:26:24,900 --> 00:26:27,900 People ratting on their friends. 464 00:26:28,300 --> 00:26:32,870 That uncertainty was really part of their lives. 465 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,600 WINIFRED: I was about six or seven. 466 00:26:42,633 --> 00:26:44,603 It was after school, we finished our homework. 467 00:26:44,633 --> 00:26:49,973 And we sat down with our ChineseConfucius poetry, calligraphy. 468 00:26:52,466 --> 00:26:55,326 I remember two men walking up and they did 469 00:26:55,366 --> 00:26:56,766 not look like customers, 470 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,900 they were very well dressed. 471 00:26:59,100 --> 00:27:01,900 I didn't know they were FBI men. 472 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,430 They spoke very nicely to me, 473 00:27:05,466 --> 00:27:07,996 asking me what my name was and what my 474 00:27:08,033 --> 00:27:09,973 father's name was. 475 00:27:08,033 --> 00:27:09,973 father's name was. 476 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,130 And of course, his name was Tung Pok Chin. 477 00:27:12,166 --> 00:27:14,626 That's the name on the paper. 478 00:27:14,666 --> 00:27:17,466 But they always try to get him to say his real name, 479 00:27:17,866 --> 00:27:21,166 Lai Ping Chen, who wrote for a certain newspaper. 480 00:27:27,500 --> 00:27:31,400 Once we had those FBI visits, my father hung up a picture of 481 00:27:31,433 --> 00:27:34,203 him being sworn in to the Navy. 482 00:27:35,166 --> 00:27:38,096 We subscribed to "Life" magazine. 483 00:27:38,666 --> 00:27:42,696 We tried very much to make our family look 484 00:27:42,733 --> 00:27:45,573 like all American families. 485 00:27:52,866 --> 00:27:56,066 There were arguments about confession that I remember. 486 00:27:56,666 --> 00:27:59,526 My mother wanted to confess so that she could 487 00:27:59,566 --> 00:28:02,096 bring her family over. 488 00:28:03,133 --> 00:28:06,603 But people mistrusted the Confessions Program. 489 00:28:07,433 --> 00:28:10,103 And my own father did not confess. 490 00:28:13,233 --> 00:28:17,473 There was one night when I woke up and I saw 491 00:28:17,500 --> 00:28:20,170 my parents burning paper. 492 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,000 And I asked what was going on. 493 00:28:22,033 --> 00:28:25,633 And my father simply said, "It's chilly, 494 00:28:25,666 --> 00:28:26,926 there's no heat coming up. 495 00:28:26,966 --> 00:28:30,066 We're just making a little fire to warm our hands." 496 00:28:30,100 --> 00:28:31,670 And he told me, 497 00:28:31,700 --> 00:28:34,370 "Just go to the bathroom, go back to sleep." 498 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,730 He was burning his own poetry. 499 00:29:18,033 --> 00:29:20,833 DAVID: All these accusationsagainst Chinese Americans didn't 500 00:29:20,866 --> 00:29:26,396 actually lead to any discovery of real subversive activity. 501 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,170 It was terrorism. 502 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:30,930 It was government terrorism in order to 503 00:29:30,966 --> 00:29:33,566 intimidate a community. 504 00:29:33,766 --> 00:29:35,796 NARRATOR: The relentless persecution traumatizes the 505 00:29:35,833 --> 00:29:38,573 Chinese community. 506 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,370 Tens of thousands are ensnared, until the 507 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:43,900 Chinese Confessions Program is terminated in 1966. 508 00:29:46,866 --> 00:29:48,326 For years after, 509 00:29:48,366 --> 00:29:50,426 a generation of Chinese Americans 510 00:29:50,466 --> 00:29:52,596 steers clear of politics, 511 00:29:52,633 --> 00:29:56,133 their fear of the government keeps them silent. 512 00:30:01,500 --> 00:30:05,100 Yet even as these paper sons anddaughters remain in the shadows, 513 00:30:05,133 --> 00:30:07,233 they continue to strengthen their communities 514 00:30:07,266 --> 00:30:10,296 and build a future forthemselves and their families. 515 00:30:07,266 --> 00:30:10,296 and build a future forthemselves and their families. 516 00:30:20,533 --> 00:30:24,033 ♪ 517 00:30:24,066 --> 00:30:26,426 MAN: Far out across the blue Pacific, 518 00:30:26,466 --> 00:30:28,926 lie Hawaii's enchanted isles. 519 00:30:30,733 --> 00:30:34,773 A land of green valleys, sheltered by friendly hills. 520 00:30:35,700 --> 00:30:39,100 But it is also America's most important outpost, 521 00:30:39,133 --> 00:30:41,673 the crossroads of the pacific. 522 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,970 NARRATOR: Beyond its image asa popular tourist destination, 523 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,630 Hawaii is a place where Asian America's past 524 00:30:47,666 --> 00:30:49,396 meets its future. 525 00:30:51,333 --> 00:30:52,973 By the 1950s, 526 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,530 Asians are the territory's majority population. 527 00:30:57,933 --> 00:30:59,833 Unlike the mainland, 528 00:30:59,866 --> 00:31:01,766 the sheer number of Asians in Hawaii 529 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,770 gives them a powerful voice. 530 00:31:08,166 --> 00:31:11,596 ELLEN: Hawaii was formerly an independent kingdom. 531 00:31:13,066 --> 00:31:16,396 In the nineteenth century, Europeans as well as Americans 532 00:31:16,433 --> 00:31:19,973 took interest in Hawaii as a potential 533 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,470 for profit, essentially. 534 00:31:23,066 --> 00:31:25,496 They ended up running thesebig sugar plantations and 535 00:31:25,533 --> 00:31:28,033 recruiting workers from all over Asia and other 536 00:31:28,066 --> 00:31:29,526 parts of the world. 537 00:31:29,566 --> 00:31:31,396 And so by the early part of the twentieth century, 538 00:31:31,433 --> 00:31:33,973 Hawaiian society was minority white, 539 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,500 or haole as they called it, the people in power, 540 00:31:36,533 --> 00:31:40,373 and majority Asian, and certainly native Hawaiians. 541 00:31:44,966 --> 00:31:47,526 JEFF: There's a huge gap between the reality of the 542 00:31:47,566 --> 00:31:52,696 haole aristocracy who are extracting the profits and the 543 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,100 working class that's trying to figure out how to survive on a 544 00:31:57,133 --> 00:31:59,003 day-to-day type of basis. 545 00:32:03,100 --> 00:32:05,270 NARRATOR: The Hawaiian kingdom had been made a 546 00:32:05,300 --> 00:32:07,000 colony of the US. 547 00:32:07,033 --> 00:32:10,533 Asians in Hawaii benefit from that colonial economy, 548 00:32:11,133 --> 00:32:14,073 yet they're frustrated bytheir lack of political power. 549 00:32:15,500 --> 00:32:18,670 JEFF: My family is of Chinese and native Hawaiian ancestry. 550 00:32:20,033 --> 00:32:23,473 So you have Chinese and Hawaiians and Portuguese, 551 00:32:25,066 --> 00:32:28,826 Japanese, Filipinos, other Pacific Islanders, Samoans, 552 00:32:29,533 --> 00:32:32,173 folks building these bonds, working with each other, 553 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,570 trading with each other, sharing with each other, 554 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,170 living together. 555 00:32:39,366 --> 00:32:43,766 After the war, these massive island-wide strikes of tens of 556 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:45,730 thousands of workers happen. 557 00:32:45,766 --> 00:32:49,626 And they're able to occur because folks have now, 558 00:32:49,666 --> 00:32:51,666 for two generations, 559 00:32:51,700 --> 00:32:54,200 have been working with each other, intermarrying. 560 00:32:54,433 --> 00:32:57,273 And so the majority, through these strikes, 561 00:32:57,300 --> 00:33:00,400 begin to find ballot box success in the late 1940s. 562 00:33:01,733 --> 00:33:05,873 And finally in 1954, the state legislature is completely 563 00:33:05,900 --> 00:33:11,170 turned over from being haoles and Republicans to being 564 00:33:05,900 --> 00:33:11,170 turned over from being haoles and Republicans to being 565 00:33:11,833 --> 00:33:14,333 Democrats representing the working class majority. 566 00:33:16,233 --> 00:33:18,633 NARRATOR: What started as a labor movement culminates 567 00:33:18,666 --> 00:33:21,496 in a political revolution in 1954. 568 00:33:23,033 --> 00:33:25,773 It's the first timeAsians have a decisive voice in 569 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,570 American politics. 570 00:33:29,166 --> 00:33:31,366 ELLEN: We start to see the shift in Hawaii, right? 571 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,170 And the kind of political power to a younger, 572 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,130 largely Asian American cohort in the territorial government 573 00:33:38,166 --> 00:33:40,596 and then the state government. 574 00:33:42,866 --> 00:33:47,096 PATSY: Women have a tremendous responsibility to 575 00:33:47,133 --> 00:33:50,133 help shape the future of America, 576 00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:54,200 to help decide policies that will affect 577 00:33:54,233 --> 00:33:56,903 the course of our history. 578 00:33:57,233 --> 00:34:00,203 And women need to be represented. 579 00:34:01,433 --> 00:34:04,233 NARRATOR: Patsy Mink emerges in the 1950s as 580 00:34:04,266 --> 00:34:06,326 a key political figure. 581 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,500 She was born on Maui, the granddaughter 582 00:34:09,533 --> 00:34:11,803 of Japanese immigrants. 583 00:34:12,066 --> 00:34:13,696 She wanted to be a doctor, 584 00:34:13,733 --> 00:34:16,333 but few medical schools would accept women. 585 00:34:17,666 --> 00:34:20,226 GWENDOLYN: My mother went on to University of Chicago 586 00:34:20,666 --> 00:34:22,126 for law school. 587 00:34:22,166 --> 00:34:26,066 She was accepted as a foreign student. 588 00:34:27,100 --> 00:34:29,430 I'm sure, I mean some combination of being 589 00:34:29,466 --> 00:34:31,966 Asian American and being from Hawaii, two categories 590 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,630 that people didn't really know what to do with. 591 00:34:38,566 --> 00:34:41,496 WU: After she graduated from law school in the early 1950s, 592 00:34:41,533 --> 00:34:43,003 she couldn't find a job. 593 00:34:43,033 --> 00:34:46,203 She was a woman, she was Asian American, 594 00:34:46,233 --> 00:34:48,903 she was also the mother of a young child. 595 00:34:49,166 --> 00:34:51,366 And so she worked in the library and she worked 596 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,000 in the department store. 597 00:34:53,033 --> 00:34:54,573 She eventually came back to Hawaii, 598 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,000 hoping to find more economic opportunities. 599 00:34:57,033 --> 00:34:59,633 But again, no one would hire her. 600 00:35:01,100 --> 00:35:04,470 So she ended up just hanging out a sign at her parent's 601 00:35:04,500 --> 00:35:08,330 storefront and just providing legal services to people who 602 00:35:08,366 --> 00:35:10,326 were willing to work with her. 603 00:35:10,900 --> 00:35:13,800 Her first client paid her with a fish. 604 00:35:13,833 --> 00:35:15,803 So it gives you a sense of the type of clients that 605 00:35:15,833 --> 00:35:18,733 she, she worked for. 606 00:35:21,500 --> 00:35:26,070 GWENDOLYN: She was a supporter of candidates in 1954 as the 607 00:35:26,100 --> 00:35:28,930 Democrats tried to break through. 608 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:34,330 And after being afantastic helper of candidates, 609 00:35:34,366 --> 00:35:37,996 she thought, "I can do this. I can run." 610 00:35:38,266 --> 00:35:41,366 That was the beginning of her public life, 611 00:35:41,900 --> 00:35:43,430 her political life. 612 00:35:43,466 --> 00:35:45,126 PATSY: Here out in the Pacific, 613 00:35:45,166 --> 00:35:47,966 there are half a million American citizens who are 614 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,170 waiting for the action of Congress. 615 00:35:50,933 --> 00:35:53,403 It's no longer a question of pleading for statehood, 616 00:35:53,433 --> 00:35:54,673 to my mind, 617 00:35:54,700 --> 00:35:57,230 it's a question of rising in indignation at the 618 00:35:57,266 --> 00:35:59,996 silence of the Congress of the United States has repeatedly 619 00:36:00,033 --> 00:36:02,203 met our request for statehood. 620 00:36:03,300 --> 00:36:06,200 O. VINCENT: America needs friends in this grim and tight 621 00:36:06,233 --> 00:36:08,333 and ugly world. 622 00:36:08,366 --> 00:36:12,266 America needs friends in the Orient in order to fortify and 623 00:36:08,366 --> 00:36:12,266 America needs friends in the Orient in order to fortify and 624 00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:14,530 strengthen its foreign policy. 625 00:36:14,933 --> 00:36:19,833 Make us a state and America will find a door to the Orient 626 00:36:19,866 --> 00:36:22,666 open that it's never been able to open before. 627 00:36:24,033 --> 00:36:26,303 ELLEN: And certainly discussions about Hawaii and 628 00:36:26,333 --> 00:36:30,203 how all of these examples of good Asians doing well would 629 00:36:30,233 --> 00:36:32,973 really help the United States win the Cold War. 630 00:36:34,966 --> 00:36:38,826 And that idea then also became one of the main arguments for 631 00:36:38,866 --> 00:36:42,266 admitting the territory of Hawaii to statehood. 632 00:36:45,300 --> 00:36:48,000 REPORTER: Hawaii bids farewell to 40 years of frustration and 633 00:36:48,033 --> 00:36:50,973 failure in attempts to win statehood and joyously greets 634 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,800 its new status as a full-fledgedmember of the union, 635 00:36:54,066 --> 00:36:55,666 it's 50th state. 636 00:36:55,700 --> 00:36:57,370 Perhaps most important of all, 637 00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,130 Hawaiian statehood gives the lie to 638 00:36:59,166 --> 00:37:01,566 communist charges of American colonialism. 639 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:03,830 A big day, with a long time coming, 640 00:37:03,866 --> 00:37:06,396 which means that much more to celebrate. 641 00:37:09,566 --> 00:37:11,396 NARRATOR: But in the drive for statehood, 642 00:37:11,433 --> 00:37:14,133 Asian Americans overlook the fact that Hawaii was 643 00:37:14,166 --> 00:37:16,726 once a sovereign nation. 644 00:37:16,966 --> 00:37:19,996 Native Hawaiian claims for self-rule are dismissed or 645 00:37:20,033 --> 00:37:21,833 completely ignored. 646 00:37:23,366 --> 00:37:27,496 JEFF: 1959 in some ways is seen as a great victory, 647 00:37:28,433 --> 00:37:30,773 maybe if you look at it from anAsian American point of view. 648 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,730 But from a native Hawaiian point of view, 649 00:37:32,766 --> 00:37:35,996 it's the beginning of a series of questions. 650 00:37:36,033 --> 00:37:38,503 The Philippines became independent, 651 00:37:38,533 --> 00:37:41,503 Puerto Rico remained a territory. 652 00:37:42,666 --> 00:37:45,496 So my father's ballot really only had one question, 653 00:37:45,533 --> 00:37:48,073 which was, "Should Hawaii become a state of the 654 00:37:48,100 --> 00:37:49,900 United States of America?" 655 00:37:49,933 --> 00:37:54,073 They were never an option to consider whether Hawaii should 656 00:37:54,100 --> 00:37:58,270 be able to return to a state of independence as an 657 00:37:58,766 --> 00:38:02,366 independent nation, which it had been before it was 658 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,870 forcibly colonized by the US. 659 00:38:08,866 --> 00:38:11,626 ELLEN: One of the arguments against Hawaii statehood was 660 00:38:11,666 --> 00:38:14,396 often the threat that we would end up with a 661 00:38:14,433 --> 00:38:18,373 Senator Watanabe in, you know, in Congress, 662 00:38:18,766 --> 00:38:19,966 how would you like that? 663 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,030 This was unfathomable to many Americans. 664 00:38:25,366 --> 00:38:29,166 REPORTER: Judge Saund, you are the only Indo and the only 665 00:38:29,566 --> 00:38:34,366 Asian ever to have sat in the Congress of the United States. 666 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,670 NARRATOR: Until the election of Dalip Singh Saund in 667 00:38:38,700 --> 00:38:42,530 California in 1956, no Asian American has ever 668 00:38:42,566 --> 00:38:44,226 served in the US Congress. 669 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:47,900 DALIP: When I became a citizen of the United States 670 00:38:47,933 --> 00:38:52,173 on December 16th, 1949, it was my ambition to 671 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:54,870 run for public office. 672 00:38:54,900 --> 00:38:58,400 Everyone thought that I had no chance. 673 00:38:58,433 --> 00:39:01,503 But I had faith in the American sense of 674 00:39:01,533 --> 00:39:03,573 justice and fair play. 675 00:39:04,666 --> 00:39:07,926 NARRATOR: Building on Congressman Saund's success, 676 00:39:07,966 --> 00:39:10,466 Asian Americans in Hawaii are poised to elect 677 00:39:07,966 --> 00:39:10,466 Asian Americans in Hawaii are poised to elect 678 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:13,200 a new generation of political leaders. 679 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:15,500 REPORTER: From Honolulu to Hilo, 680 00:39:15,533 --> 00:39:17,773 Hawaii is swept by campaign fever. 681 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,470 It's the former territory's first election as a state. 682 00:39:20,500 --> 00:39:23,000 With 81 offices open and hotly contested, 683 00:39:23,433 --> 00:39:25,473 from the legislature up to the governorship, 684 00:39:25,500 --> 00:39:27,570 two seats in the Senate and one in Congress. 685 00:39:28,100 --> 00:39:30,670 For Senate seat A, Hiram Fong and Frank Fasi. 686 00:39:30,700 --> 00:39:33,600 Seat B, Daniel Inouye and Dr. Charles Silva. 687 00:39:34,700 --> 00:39:36,700 ELLEN: There are a lot of younger, 688 00:39:36,733 --> 00:39:39,103 especially Japanese Americans, 689 00:39:39,133 --> 00:39:41,603 who had come of age and fought in World War II. 690 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,300 The most prominent individual would be Danial Inouye. 691 00:39:46,533 --> 00:39:48,103 DANIEL: Many of us, 692 00:39:48,133 --> 00:39:51,173 Americans of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, 693 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,000 Portuguese, Puerto Rican ancestry and many of us 694 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,370 did our share in fighting for democracy. 695 00:39:58,066 --> 00:40:00,896 ELLEN: He grew up in what he called the slums of Honolulu 696 00:40:00,933 --> 00:40:03,733 and he famously lost his right arm fighting 697 00:40:03,766 --> 00:40:06,666 for the United States. 698 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,970 JANE: In the case of Hiram Fong, 699 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:11,400 it's a rags to riches story. 700 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,530 Hiram Fong is the seventh child of plantation workers 701 00:40:15,566 --> 00:40:17,666 who immigrated from China. 702 00:40:17,700 --> 00:40:19,330 They are poor. 703 00:40:19,366 --> 00:40:22,296 He grows up and somehow makes his way to Harvard Law School, 704 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:24,900 where he graduates, returns to the islands. 705 00:40:24,933 --> 00:40:27,073 And in the course of the next few years, 706 00:40:27,100 --> 00:40:29,330 becomes a self-made millionaire. 707 00:40:31,300 --> 00:40:34,470 ELLEN: Both Fong and Inouye really fashion themselves as, 708 00:40:34,500 --> 00:40:36,300 as good Americans. 709 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:41,930 WU: When Hawaii became a state, 710 00:40:41,966 --> 00:40:44,826 Patsy Mink wanted to run for federal office. 711 00:40:45,233 --> 00:40:48,433 She wanted to become the first Asian American woman 712 00:40:48,466 --> 00:40:51,096 to go into the House of Representatives. 713 00:40:51,133 --> 00:40:55,273 But the Democratic political bosses wanted Daniel Inouye to 714 00:40:55,300 --> 00:40:57,130 fill that role. 715 00:40:57,166 --> 00:40:59,826 And Inouye, at the time, was running for the Senate. 716 00:40:59,866 --> 00:41:03,026 But he agreed that he would move his ambitions further 717 00:41:03,066 --> 00:41:05,526 down the line and run for the house. 718 00:41:07,133 --> 00:41:09,273 And the same bosses told Patsy Mink, 719 00:41:09,300 --> 00:41:10,870 "“You should not be running. 720 00:41:10,900 --> 00:41:13,230 You would not get support from us."” And she said, 721 00:41:13,266 --> 00:41:14,726 "I'm going to do it anyway. 722 00:41:14,766 --> 00:41:16,796 I believe this is my political right, 723 00:41:16,833 --> 00:41:19,103 I've been working to build the Democratic party and 724 00:41:19,133 --> 00:41:21,003 I have the right to run." 725 00:41:21,333 --> 00:41:23,173 REPORTER: Results generally reflect Hawaii's 726 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:25,530 melting pot of varied races and religions. 727 00:41:25,566 --> 00:41:28,366 Elected to Congress the first Japanese American ever, 728 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:31,470 Daniel Inouye, an outstanding war hero. 729 00:41:32,433 --> 00:41:34,833 And the first Asian ever elected to the Senate, 730 00:41:34,866 --> 00:41:36,996 Hiram Fong, Chinese. 731 00:41:43,266 --> 00:41:45,626 NARRATOR: With the election of Republican Hiram Fong and 732 00:41:45,666 --> 00:41:47,696 Democrat Daniel Inouye, 733 00:41:47,733 --> 00:41:50,403 Hawaii becomes the first and only state to 734 00:41:50,433 --> 00:41:53,603 ever send a majority Asiandelegation to the US Congress. 735 00:41:56,766 --> 00:41:58,796 WU: She lost very badly. 736 00:41:58,833 --> 00:42:01,673 And it's very clear that sexism played a key role. 737 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:05,500 People who voted for Inouyewrote to Mink to say, 738 00:42:05,533 --> 00:42:07,603 "I didn't vote for you because you're not a man. 739 00:42:07,633 --> 00:42:09,973 I know that he's going to be able to go to Congress and 740 00:42:07,633 --> 00:42:09,973 I know that he's going to be able to go to Congress and 741 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:13,000 he's going to be able to engage these backroom deals 742 00:42:13,033 --> 00:42:15,773 because he's a man." 743 00:42:16,266 --> 00:42:18,866 For her to be basically stabbed in the back by 744 00:42:18,900 --> 00:42:20,170 the Democratic party, 745 00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:22,370 the party that she helped to build, 746 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,030 was really emotionally devastating for her. 747 00:42:25,900 --> 00:42:28,530 But she regrouped. 748 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:32,000 CONKITE: And down there on the floor, 749 00:42:32,033 --> 00:42:34,173 addressing the convention in support of the platform 750 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:36,230 committee recommendation on civil rights is 751 00:42:36,266 --> 00:42:38,696 Mrs. Patsy Takemoto Mink. 752 00:42:38,933 --> 00:42:40,133 Let's listen to her. 753 00:42:40,166 --> 00:42:43,396 PATSY: Depends upon your conscious and conviction. 754 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:46,470 NARRATOR: In the back rooms of the convention, 755 00:42:46,500 --> 00:42:48,330 Southern senators push to water down the 756 00:42:48,366 --> 00:42:50,426 civil rights platform. 757 00:42:50,466 --> 00:42:53,796 Patsy Mink takes the room by storm in a speech that urges 758 00:42:53,833 --> 00:42:55,833 delegates not to compromise. 759 00:42:56,433 --> 00:42:59,033 Her presence sends a bold message, 760 00:42:59,066 --> 00:43:01,366 that civil rights matters to all Americans, 761 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:03,370 including Asian Americans. 762 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:07,930 PATSY: I urge you to support the platform as written by 763 00:43:07,966 --> 00:43:09,996 your platform committee. 764 00:43:10,033 --> 00:43:13,803 And to give this nation one of the greatest weapons of peace, 765 00:43:14,533 --> 00:43:17,233 the winning of the respect and admiration 766 00:43:17,266 --> 00:43:19,166 of the entire world. 767 00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:20,730 Thank you very much. 768 00:43:21,266 --> 00:43:23,326 NARRATOR: The delegates vote overwhelmingly to 769 00:43:23,366 --> 00:43:25,426 stand their ground on civil rights. 770 00:43:28,333 --> 00:43:31,573 In 1964, Patsy Mink takes another long shot 771 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:33,500 run for Congress, 772 00:43:33,533 --> 00:43:35,173 once again without the blessing 773 00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:38,330 of the party leadership. 774 00:43:38,866 --> 00:43:41,966 With an all-volunteer staff and her husband John 775 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,900 as her campaign manager, this time... 776 00:43:45,366 --> 00:43:47,366 she wins. 777 00:43:54,700 --> 00:43:57,870 GWENDOLYN: When my mother was elected in 1964, 778 00:43:57,900 --> 00:44:00,470 there were only 11 women in the House of Representatives. 779 00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:05,270 And she was the first and only woman of color ever 780 00:44:05,300 --> 00:44:09,030 elected at that point to the US Congress. 781 00:44:10,533 --> 00:44:12,603 TAMMY: When I was a student in Hawaii, 782 00:44:12,633 --> 00:44:15,503 I was on food stamps and I was a kid who had to work 783 00:44:15,533 --> 00:44:19,103 two jobs just to be able to get through college. 784 00:44:19,500 --> 00:44:21,170 And she looked out for those folks, 785 00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:24,630 she looked out for minorities and she looked out for women. 786 00:44:25,766 --> 00:44:27,326 You know, you walk around these halls, 787 00:44:27,366 --> 00:44:30,226 she was short, she was easy to dismiss. 788 00:44:30,266 --> 00:44:32,966 But she just wouldn't let them dismiss her. 789 00:44:33,833 --> 00:44:35,603 What she did for women's rights, 790 00:44:35,633 --> 00:44:37,533 and equal rights with Title IX, 791 00:44:37,566 --> 00:44:39,496 a half century ago is a remarkable achievement. 792 00:44:39,533 --> 00:44:41,503 Not just for Asian Americans, not just for women, 793 00:44:41,533 --> 00:44:45,073 not just for people from Hawaii, but for all Americans. 794 00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:52,330 MAN: Freedom now a movement, hear me. 795 00:44:52,366 --> 00:44:55,496 We are requesting all citizens to move into Washington. 796 00:44:56,566 --> 00:45:00,666 We are pushing for jobs, housing, desegregated schools. 797 00:45:02,066 --> 00:45:04,626 Please join, go to Washington. 798 00:45:06,133 --> 00:45:10,673 KING: Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate 799 00:45:06,133 --> 00:45:10,673 KING: Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate 800 00:45:11,033 --> 00:45:14,903 valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. 801 00:45:16,700 --> 00:45:18,870 NARRATOR: The Civil Rights movement is breaking down 802 00:45:18,900 --> 00:45:21,330 barriers to equality for all people of color. 803 00:45:22,033 --> 00:45:24,233 A small but growing number of Asian Americans 804 00:45:24,266 --> 00:45:26,166 join the fight. 805 00:45:28,666 --> 00:45:31,196 The drive for equality improves the lives of Asians 806 00:45:31,233 --> 00:45:33,033 in unexpected ways. 807 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:41,100 REPORTER: They filed quietly, somewhat hesitatingly from the 808 00:45:41,133 --> 00:45:43,473 belly of a chartered airliner at San Francisco 809 00:45:43,500 --> 00:45:45,500 airport one recent morning. 810 00:45:45,933 --> 00:45:49,933 It began in 1965 when Congress abolished the policy excluding 811 00:45:49,966 --> 00:45:51,996 Oriental immigration. 812 00:45:53,666 --> 00:45:56,366 JANE: Asian exclusion in the United States dominates a lot 813 00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:57,900 of Asian American history. 814 00:45:57,933 --> 00:46:01,003 US Congress passes a series of laws that begin with the 815 00:46:01,033 --> 00:46:04,903 Chinese but gradually expand to include and bar all Asians 816 00:46:04,933 --> 00:46:08,033 from immigration and naturalization in 1924. 817 00:46:11,033 --> 00:46:15,173 The period of exclusion repeal starts with the '43 repeal of 818 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:18,300 the Chinese Exclusion laws and it ends in the 1965 819 00:46:18,333 --> 00:46:20,833 Hart-Cellar Act. 820 00:46:20,866 --> 00:46:23,296 It was monumental because it replaced the 821 00:46:23,333 --> 00:46:25,503 national origins quota system, 822 00:46:25,533 --> 00:46:28,333 which had been in effect since 1924. 823 00:46:28,833 --> 00:46:32,303 And it replaces it with a system of preferences. 824 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:36,800 First is the family reunification clause. 825 00:46:37,033 --> 00:46:41,203 And the second are preferences given to skilled immigrants 826 00:46:41,233 --> 00:46:44,503 who have certain kinds of degrees or who work in fields 827 00:46:44,533 --> 00:46:46,733 that the United States Department of Labor deems 828 00:46:46,766 --> 00:46:48,896 understaffed in the United States. 829 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,230 ERIKA: The argument is well, 830 00:46:58,266 --> 00:47:00,326 the United States is still mostly 831 00:47:00,366 --> 00:47:02,966 of European American descent, 832 00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:06,230 and so the people who will be able to come in are 833 00:47:06,266 --> 00:47:08,826 going to be from Europe. 834 00:47:09,033 --> 00:47:11,173 Hiram Fong, senator from Hawaii, 835 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:15,930 says before Congress not to worry that Asians will not be 836 00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:18,770 coming in large numbers. 837 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:23,130 It's the right thing to do to pass this immigration law, 838 00:47:23,166 --> 00:47:26,366 to ban discrimination in immigration, 839 00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:29,630 but don't worry just because we do that doesn't mean that 840 00:47:29,666 --> 00:47:32,596 floods and floods and hordes of Asians are 841 00:47:32,633 --> 00:47:35,033 going to come over. 842 00:47:35,066 --> 00:47:37,996 What we know is that the opposite happened. 843 00:47:38,033 --> 00:47:40,273 That because of various reasons, 844 00:47:40,300 --> 00:47:42,670 Europeans didn't feel the need to come 845 00:47:42,700 --> 00:47:44,230 to the United States. 846 00:47:44,266 --> 00:47:50,026 And the exact opposite of what lawmakers wanted happened. 847 00:47:50,833 --> 00:47:53,503 By the early 21st century, 848 00:47:53,533 --> 00:47:56,973 80% of immigrants coming to the United States 849 00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:00,100 were either from Latin America or from Asia. 850 00:48:03,333 --> 00:48:07,403 JOHNSON: And this measure that we sign today will really make 851 00:48:07,433 --> 00:48:11,803 us truer to ourselves both as a country and as a people. 852 00:48:07,433 --> 00:48:11,803 us truer to ourselves both as a country and as a people. 853 00:48:12,766 --> 00:48:16,826 This bill says simply that from this day forward, 854 00:48:16,866 --> 00:48:19,026 those wishing to immigrate 855 00:48:19,066 --> 00:48:22,226 to America shall be admitted on the basis 856 00:48:22,266 --> 00:48:25,666 of their skills and their close relationships to 857 00:48:25,700 --> 00:48:27,830 those already here. 858 00:48:31,066 --> 00:48:33,326 NARRATOR: With the preference for skilled workers, 859 00:48:33,366 --> 00:48:35,726 the immigration act tips the scales in favor 860 00:48:35,766 --> 00:48:38,396 of highly educated Asians and their families. 861 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:42,170 JANE: So in my family's case, 862 00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:44,830 my mother was a nurse trained in South Korea. 863 00:48:44,866 --> 00:48:48,926 My mother was actually the one who got a visa under 864 00:48:48,966 --> 00:48:50,726 the '65 immigration act. 865 00:48:50,766 --> 00:48:53,326 And it's only because of her that my father and 866 00:48:53,366 --> 00:48:56,226 then my grandparents and then my aunts 867 00:48:56,566 --> 00:48:58,326 and my uncles were able to 868 00:48:58,366 --> 00:49:00,826 enter the United States over the next few decades. 869 00:49:02,966 --> 00:49:04,666 For most of American history, 870 00:49:04,700 --> 00:49:07,670 Asians were not able to even claim US citizenship. 871 00:49:08,033 --> 00:49:10,073 So that's why whenfolks talk about Asian American 872 00:49:10,100 --> 00:49:12,800 civil rights, they're often talking about immigration and 873 00:49:12,833 --> 00:49:14,833 naturalization rights. 874 00:49:18,333 --> 00:49:20,933 The majority of Asian Americanstoday are foreign born. 875 00:49:20,966 --> 00:49:23,466 And so that has changed kind of the way that 876 00:49:23,500 --> 00:49:26,100 people think of Asian America. 877 00:49:26,133 --> 00:49:28,433 And the '65 immigration act does, in fact, 878 00:49:28,466 --> 00:49:31,326 change the demographics of Asian America. 879 00:49:44,666 --> 00:49:48,426 NARRATOR: The immigrationact also transforms the nation. 880 00:49:48,633 --> 00:49:50,803 The population of Asian Americans doubles 881 00:49:50,833 --> 00:49:53,033 in just ten years. 882 00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:56,370 A new generation is ready to break the mold. 883 00:50:01,633 --> 00:50:04,573 JEFF: The culture is waiting for this moment 884 00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:07,200 to shift on its axis. 885 00:50:07,433 --> 00:50:10,233 We needed to have at that particular moment somebody who 886 00:50:10,266 --> 00:50:13,766 epitomizes a search for truth for justice. 887 00:50:14,466 --> 00:50:18,696 We needed somebody who was going to stand up for us. 888 00:50:19,666 --> 00:50:21,696 LEE: My last name is Lee, Bruce Lee. 889 00:50:22,100 --> 00:50:24,570 I was born in San Francisco, 1940. 890 00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:26,300 I am 24 right now. 891 00:50:26,566 --> 00:50:29,366 INTERVIEWER: And you work in motion pictures in Hong Kong? 892 00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:31,770 LEE: Yes, since I was around six years old. 893 00:50:32,566 --> 00:50:35,426 There is the finger jab, there is the punch, 894 00:50:36,166 --> 00:50:38,626 there the back fist and then low. 895 00:50:39,466 --> 00:50:41,066 He's kind of worried. 896 00:50:44,700 --> 00:50:47,270 RANDALL: I first saw a Bruce Lee movie when 897 00:50:47,300 --> 00:50:49,070 I was a kid, super young. 898 00:50:49,766 --> 00:50:54,666 And I remember just being mesmerized by this guy and 899 00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:58,300 I don't think it was '‘cause he was Asian because 900 00:50:58,333 --> 00:50:59,673 he had an Asian face. 901 00:50:59,700 --> 00:51:03,500 It was just because he just hadso much charisma and confidence. 902 00:51:04,166 --> 00:51:05,966 I was obsessed with him. 903 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,170 I'd watch his movies over and over again. 904 00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:10,370 And afterwards I'd want to fight my brother, you know, 905 00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:10,370 And afterwards I'd want to fight my brother, you know, 906 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:12,730 because I wanted to be him. 907 00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:14,930 JEFF: Before Bruce Lee, 908 00:51:14,966 --> 00:51:17,026 there were just no Asian American heroes. 909 00:51:19,666 --> 00:51:22,166 LEE: Boards don't hit back. 910 00:51:22,666 --> 00:51:26,596 JEFF: For Asian Americans, there was a sense of finally. 911 00:51:31,666 --> 00:51:34,926 Finally, there's somebody up on the screen who is 912 00:51:34,966 --> 00:51:37,626 as strong as we are. 913 00:51:38,900 --> 00:51:42,330 Somebody that embodies the kind of power we know that 914 00:51:42,366 --> 00:51:44,196 we're capable of. 915 00:51:52,466 --> 00:51:55,726 HELEN: When I went to college in the 1970s, 916 00:51:55,766 --> 00:51:58,196 I began to hear about people like Patsy Mink. 917 00:51:58,933 --> 00:52:01,073 And to see that, gosh, 918 00:52:01,100 --> 00:52:04,600 there really are these amazing Asian American 919 00:52:04,633 --> 00:52:08,833 women who were bad ass women really making a change. 920 00:52:09,933 --> 00:52:13,603 (chanting) 921 00:52:13,633 --> 00:52:15,203 PATSY: We're working on it. 922 00:52:15,233 --> 00:52:18,473 We're just at the very beginning stages, I think, 923 00:52:18,500 --> 00:52:22,230 of this whole movement to reawaken the sense of equality 924 00:52:22,266 --> 00:52:23,966 in this country. 925 00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:41,700 ♪ 926 00:52:42,300 --> 00:52:44,070 NARRATOR: Asians have been held up as the 927 00:52:44,100 --> 00:52:46,570 very best Americans. 928 00:52:46,766 --> 00:52:49,666 They've been condemned as the very worst. 929 00:52:50,600 --> 00:52:51,970 Now, Asian Americans 930 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:54,270 are ready to step out of the shadows, 931 00:52:54,300 --> 00:53:09,300 and celebrate who they truly are. 932 00:53:09,300 --> 00:53:13,030 and celebrate who they truly are. 933 00:53:14,866 --> 00:53:16,696 CROWD: Bring our brothers home. 934 00:53:16,733 --> 00:53:18,173 DAN: We had so many returning Vietnam veterans who were 935 00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:20,370 telling us the truth about what was going on. 936 00:53:20,833 --> 00:53:22,233 It was a stunning moment. 937 00:53:23,366 --> 00:53:25,366 BRENDA: This incredible ground-swell that was just 938 00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:27,000 enveloping the country. 939 00:53:27,233 --> 00:53:28,973 ALEX: They create the United Farm Workers and 940 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:31,230 they became the west coast civil rights movement. 941 00:53:31,266 --> 00:53:33,696 If a lot of people put their mind to it, they can win. 942 00:53:34,300 --> 00:53:36,270 NOBUKO: It was like a geniecoming out of the bottle, 943 00:53:36,300 --> 00:53:38,170 you couldn't put us back in. 944 00:53:38,633 --> 00:53:40,803 ♪ 945 00:53:44,100 --> 00:53:46,770 ♪♪ 946 00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:50,070 ♪♪ 947 00:53:50,100 --> 00:53:51,900 ♪♪ 948 00:53:51,933 --> 00:53:52,873 ♪♪ 949 00:53:52,900 --> 00:53:54,570 ♪♪ 950 00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,570 NARRATOR: To order Asian Americans on DVD, 951 00:54:01,600 --> 00:54:05,930 visit ShopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS 952 00:54:07,533 --> 00:54:09,473 This program is also available on Amazon Prime Video.