Boston Chinatown Banquet - The Chinese Exclusion Act

Passed in 1882 and in effect until 1943, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first U.S. law to ban immigration by race or nationality. Using images from actual Chinese Exclusion Act case files, this poignant piece discusses its ramifications and how U.S. Chinatown developed in response to racial prejudice and socio-economic necessities. Storytellers: Angelo Ancheta, Stephanie Fan, Peter Kiang, Arthur Wong Video footage: Mike Blockstein, David Hartman, Eun-Joung Lee, Jeremy Liu Interviews: Mike Blockstein, Eun-Joung Lee Images courtesy of: Asian American Resource Workshop, Boston University Beebe Communications Library, Chinese Historical Society of New England, National Archives and Records Administration, Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files Producer: Mike Blockstein Editor: David Lawrence A Chinatown Banquet is a series of short educational films about Boston Chinatown, sparking learning and dialogue across generations, disciplines and geography. The Banquet offers an unprecedented glimpse into the history, culture, and character of the neighborhood. This multimedia project highlights the Asian American experience and Chinese culture in Boston and was created as an educational tool by youth in the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC or AsianCDC) Young Leaders Network (YLN) which has grown to become A-VOYCE (Asian Voices of Organized Youth for Community Empowerment). These "courses," offering a rich view of the forces that shaped and continue to influence Chinatown, consist of audio and video interviews with community members and others who offer insight into specific issues, interspersed with contemporary and historic footage, images and information, music and ambient sounds. As a part of the Chinatown Heritage Project, the Banquet is a compendium of Chinatown's history, political struggles, culture and physical environment and living conditions. http://www.chinatownbanquet.org/index2.html http://www.asiancdc.org/heritage/home.html http://www.asiancdc.org/