Introduction: Teaching Americans the Chinese Exclusion Act

Abstract

An overview of what better remembering the Chinese Exclusion Act can teach us about American history, culture, community, and identity: about legal and illegal immigration; about diversity and multiculturalism; and about inspiring American lives and stories, including those of the Angel Island poets, Yung Wing, and the Chinese Educational Mission students. And an argument for why such public American Studies scholarship, lessons, and arguments form a crucial part of our ongoing national narratives and conversations.