This presentation was prepared by Stephanie Tanny and Justin Valas of Asian Pacific Americans for Progress Colorado at CIRC's 2013 Assembly.

1. Asians in America
Massacres, Legislation, Resistance,
and Reality

2. Presented by Stephanie Tanny &
Justin Valas

3. #CIRC13 | #AsianAmerican | #undocuAPI
FEEL FREE TO TWEET THIS
PRESENTATION!

4. Defining and Reclaiming
“Up to that point, we had been called Orientals.
Oriental was a rug that everyone steps on, so we
ain’t no Orientals. We were Asian American.”
- Richard Aoki
API – Asian Pacific Islander
APIA – Asian Pacific Islander American
UndocuAPI – Undocumented Asian Pacific Islander
We will mostly address Asian American issues (since we are both Asian
Americans and don’t want to speak over our PI sisters & brothers)

5. Name that Asian
American Activist!

16. It’s all about context…

17. Asia is a big place… BIG

18. … and we speak A LOT of languages

19. 19 Million… and rising!
10 Largest Asian
American Communities
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Chinese
Filipino
Indian
Vietnamese
Korean
Japanese
Pakistani
Cambodian
Hmong
Thai
4,010,114
3,416,840
3,183,063
1,737,433
1,706,822
1,304,286
409,163
276,667
260,073
237,583

20. 19 Million… and rising!
10 Largest Asian
American Communities
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Chinese
Filipino
Indian
Vietnamese
Korean
Japanese
Pakistani
Cambodian
Hmong
Thai
4,010,114
3,416,840
3,183,063
1,737,433
1,706,822
1,304,286
409,163
276,667
260,073
237,583
10 Largest Undocumented
Communities
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Mexico
6,800,000
El Salvador 660,000
Guatemala
520,000
Honduras
380,000
China
280,000
Philippines 270,000
India
240,000
Korea
230,000
Ecuador
210,000
Vietnam
170,000

21. When and where was the first Asian community in North America?
KNOW OUR HISTORY

24. How did the US react to all these Asians?
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1856 - El Dorado and Mariposa Counties, CA. Chinese miners •
forced from homes.
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1869 - Unionville, CA. Anti-Chinese Riot and Eviction.
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1871 - Los Angeles, CA. Anti-Chinese Massacre. 18 murdered •
(different accounts place death toll as high as 84).
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1874 - Nederland, CO. 160 Chinese residents driven out of city. •
1875 - Truckee, CA. Chinatown burned down. 1 murdered.
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1870’s - Caribou, CO. Anti-Chinese Riot.
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1877 - San Francisco, CA. Anti-Chinese Riot.
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1877 - Chico, CA. Chinatown burned down. 6 murdered.
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1879 - Oro Grande, ID. Anti-Chinese Violence. 5 murdered.
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1880 - Denver, CO. Anti-Chinese Riot. 1 murdered.
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1885 - Rock Springs, WY. Anti-Chinese Massacre. 28 murdered. •
1885 - Issaquah, WA. Anti-Chinese Violence. 3 murdered.
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1885 - Newcastle, WA. Chinese miners barracks burned down. •
1885 - Pierce, ID. Anti-Chinese Violence. 5 murdered.
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1885 - Tacoma, WA. Anti-Chinese Riot and Expulsion.
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1886 - Seattle, WA. Anti-Chinese Riot and Expulsion.
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1886 - Olympia, WA. Anti-Chinese Riot.
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1886 - Los Angeles, CA. Anti-Chinese Violence and Arson.
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1886 - Portland, OR. Anti-Chinese Riot and Expulsion.
1886 - Truckee, CA. Chinatown burned down. 3 murdered.
1887 - Hell’s Canyon, OR. Anti-Chinese Massacre. 30 murdered.
1887 - San Jose, CA. Anti-Chinese Violence and Arson.
1891 - Los Angeles, CA. Anti-Chinese Riot.
1903 - Tonopah, NV. Anti-Chinese Violence. 1 murdered.
1907 - Bellingham, WA. Anti-South Asian Riot.
1907 - San Francisco, CA. Anti-Japanese Riot.
1921 - Turlock, CA. Anti-Japanese Expulsion.
1925 - Toledo, OR. Anti-Japanese Riot.
1927 - Yakima, WA. Anti-Filipino Riot.
1928 - Wenatchee, WA. Anti-Filipino Riot.
1929 - Exeter, CA. Anti-Filipino Riot and Arson.
1930 - Watsonville, CA. Anti-Filipino Riot and Violence.
1930 - Monterey, CA. Anti-Filipino Riot and Violence.
1930 - Palm Beach, CA. Anti-Filipino Violence. 1 murdered.
1930 - Stockton, CA. Anti-Filipino Violence.
1930 - Reedley, CA. Anti-Filipino Violence.
1930 - San Jose, CA. Anti-Filipino Riot.
1930 - San Francisco, CA. Anti-Filipino Riot.
1930 - Kent, WA. Anti-Filipino Riot.
1942 - West Coast, US. Executive Order 9066 removes Japanese
from homes on the West Coast (and other nations).

25. But it didn’t end there…
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1790 - The Naturalization Act. Only free white immigrants •
can become citizens of the US.
1850/1852 - California passes the Foreign Miners Tax. First
to keep Latino miners out of the mines, then to push
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Chinese miners out.
1853 - Washington Territory passes territorial law banning
Chinese from voting.
1854 - People v. Hall bars Chinese from giving court
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testimony.
1858 - California passes a law denying entry to Chinese and
Mongolians.
1862 - California imposes a “police tax” on Chinese
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residents.
1863 - Washington Territory passes a law to prohibit
Chinese from giving testimony when the case involves a
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white person.
1864 - Washington Territory imposes a poll tax on Chinese
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residents.
1870 - California passes a law to make it illegal to “import”
Chinese, Japanese, or Mongolian women for prostitution (a •
charge commonly used to bar entry of Asian women that
were not married)
1875 - The Page Law. Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian
prostitutes, contract laborers, and felons are barred from
entering the United States.
1879 - California’s second constitution prohibits the
employment of Chinese by municipalities and corporations.
It also passes a law (ruled unconstitutional) to require the
removal of all Chinese outside of the city limits of towns
and cities.
1880 - California passes a law forbidding interracial
marriages between whites and POC. The US also signs a
treaty allowing the limitation of Chinese immigrants.
(Repealed in 1948)
1882 - The Chinese Exclusion Act. Immigration of Chinese
to the US is specifically prohibited. (Prohibition renewed in
1888, 1892, 1902, 1904, and repealed in 1943)
1886 - Washington Territory passes the Alien Land Law
bars Asians from owning land.
1888 - The Scott Law. Re-entry of Chinese laborers who
left the United States is prohibited.
1895 - Lern Moon Sing v. US. Prevents review of habeas
corpus petitions of Chinese for landing in the US.

26. … or there.
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1906 - US Attorney General orders courts to no longer issue
naturalization papers to Japanese
1907 - President Theodore Roosevelt issues executive order to
prohibit immigration of Japanese and Koreans through Canada, •
Mexico, and Hawai’i.
1907-1908 - The Gentleman’s Agreement. President Roosevelt •
and the Emperor of Japan agree to limit Japanese immigration to
the parents, wives, and children of Japanese men already in the •
US.
1913 - California passes the Alien Land Law, prohibiting Asians
from owning land within the state.
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1915 - Washington State prohibits Asian immigrants from taking
salmon, food, or shellfish “for sale or profit.”
1917 - The Asiatic Barred Zone. Prohibits most Asian and Pacific •
Islander immigration to the US.
1921 - Washington State follows up it’s 1886 law by prohibiting •
the owning or leasing of land by non-citizens and people
ineligible for citizenship.
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1922 - The Cable Act. Previously, any woman who was a US
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Citizen and married a non-citizen would lose her US citizenship.
The Cable Act undid this- unless the woman married an Asian
immigrant. Marrying an Asian male would still cost a woman her •
US citizenship. Also in this year, Ozawa v. US decreed that even
with light-skinned complexion, Japanese were barred from
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becoming US citizens.
1923 - US v. Bhagat Singh Thind. In the face of an argument that
Indians are caucasian, Indians are declared non-white Asians and
subject to all anti-Asian laws.
1924 - The Immigration Act of 1924 (and The National Origins
Act). “Hindu, Chinese, and Japanese” wives of American citizens
are denied immigration. Prohibits most Asian immigration,
particularly laborers (Filipinos are exempted) and prohibits
reunification of Chinese wives with their husbands in the US.
1925 - Hidemitsu v. US. Upholds previous bar to naturalization
held under Ozawa v. US.
1933 - Filipinos are ruled ineligible for citizenship and barred
from immigrating to the US.
1934 - The Tydings-McDuffle Act. The Philippines is made a
commonwealth and Filipino immigration to the US is capped at
50 people per year.
1942 - Executive Order 9066. All persons of Japanese ancestry
are ordered removed from the Pacific coast and put into
internment camps.
1943 - Hirabayashi v US. The Supreme Court upholds the curfew
imposed on Japanese.
1944 - Korematsu v US. Exclusion, detention, and internment of
Japanese on the West Coast is upheld.
1945 - The War Brides Act. Yeah, it’s what you think it is.
1946 - The Luce-Cellar Act. 100 Indians and 100 Filipinos per
year are allowed to immigrate to the US. (Also restores right to
become citizens to both groups)
1952 - Immigration and Nationality Act. Repeals bar to
immigration/citizenship based on race.
1965 - The Immigration Act of 1965. National origin quotas are
repealed.

27. America’s First Detention Center

28. Mexico, China, and the US…

29. We need to talk about the “R” word

30. Model Minority? I think not…

31. Our culture is NOT a costume…

32. SO, WHAT DID WE DO?

33. ORGANIZE!!

34. STRIKE!

35. Asian American Radicals, the 60s, &
Multiracial Organizing

36. Educate | Organize | Mobilize
WHY #UNDOCUAPI?

37. Connect with others who share our
histories, our cultures, and our stories

38. Create our own spaces- it’s our struggle too!