Category Archives: History

Exploitasian: The Story of Chinese Workers in Gold-Rush America

China’s rise to economic dominance in the late 1900s largely came from its massive population and the cheap labor that it provided to foreign corporations, with “companies like Nike, Apple and Walmart relying on Chinese workers to manufacture their products”. … Continue reading

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US Memorial Day: Remembering John Tomney, a Chinese American Soldier killed at Gettysburg

During an era when Asian Americans continue to be questioned for their loyalty and are still considered perpetual foreigners, it is worthwhile on US Memorial Day to note Asian Americans who fought and died for their country.  One such Asian … Continue reading

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The Molded Minority

In the discussions of racism and its impact in the United States, people often commonly refer to the racial relationships between White and Black Americans. In history textbooks, we study in depth the discriminatory practices and laws perpetrated by Whites … Continue reading

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Kanaye Nagasawa and the other Asian Americans who built California Wine Country

Asian Americans are generally not associated with California Wine Country, but they were key players in getting it established.  Chinese laborers built and worked in Sonoma’s oldest winery, Buena Vista Winery, as well as planting millions of grapevines between 1856 … Continue reading

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Island in Between: Review and Q&A with Oscar-Nominated Director S. Leo Chiang

I live in Silicon Valley, and one of the benefits is that I live about five miles from Stanford University, where are often quite a few events of interest to me that are open to the public. Recently, there was … Continue reading

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Heinlenville Park in San Jose commemorates a Historic San Jose Chinatown

Heilenville Park opened in October of last year in San Jose’s Japantown, but I only recently got around to seeing it for myself this past weekend.  The park is named after the Heilenville Chinatown that was located at the site. … Continue reading

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An Astronaut, an Asian Parent’s Expectations, and a Space Ship Hatch Lock

“If you guys don’t give me a chance to repair my instrument, I’m not going back.” Asian Americans sometimes joke about Asian parents’ high expectations, but the expectations of an Asian father had lasting effects on space travel. In this … Continue reading

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Traveling Japan: Fort Goryokaku at Hakodate, Hokkaido

Although relatively less known in the States, Hokkaido is a common travel destination for people in Asia, so I’ve known quite a few family and friends who have visited this most northern part of Japan, and I’ve commonly seen pictures … Continue reading

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Publishing Your Way as a Change Maker: The First Chinese Festivals

I came across this Cornell webinar from an alumni email about a “Leadership Lunch and Learning” webinar series.  The topic was the following: “L Sam Zhang, author and illustrator of The First Chinese Festivals series of picture books, speaks on … Continue reading

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Pinoytown Rising: San Jose Public Library Exhibit through November 30

When Number Two Son and I were getting coffee in a cafe in San Jose Japantown, we noticed a small flyer on their community bulletin board that talked about Pinoytown Rising, an exhibit in San Jose’s Martin Luther King Library … Continue reading

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Asian Americans in Pop Music History: Norma Tanega

Most people have probably only encountered the work of Norma Tanega through her song “You’re Dead” which is used as the theme song for both the movie of “What we Do in the Shadows” and the ongoing TV series of … Continue reading

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Most Asian Americans say they don’t know Asian American History

I have run a number of Asian American history talks and events for an Employee Resource Group (ERG) in my company, and a common responses from my fellow employees is that they had no idea about much of the history … Continue reading

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