Sociology 4949: Worksheet--"Becoming American: the Chinese Experience--No Turning Back"

1. Summarize the story of the following people"

Charlie Chin

Helen Zia

Shawn Wong

2. What was Angel Island?

3. Who was Vincent Chin, what happened to him, and how did it affect Helen Zia?

4. How did it happen that such a large percentage of students at many top colleges and universities in the United States are Asian American?

Sociology 4949: Groups--"Becoming American: the Chinese Experience"

1. What were the consequences of the Chinese Exclusion Act for the type of Chinese communities created in the United States prior to 1965?

2. How did the Immigration Act of 1965 change the Chinese experience in the United States? How did it change Chinatowns?

3. How was the "Asian American" identity created? (see Espiritu reading)

4. What about the "model minority" image? In what ways is it a distortion or an oversimplification? Why do you think many Asian Americans resent that image?