Nov. 28, 7:30 pm
Peter Kwong
Chinese America: A History in the Making
Book Party/Forum
The Brecht Forum
451 West St. (Bt Bank & Bethune)
(212) 242- 4201
(1,2,3 A,C,E to 14th st; 14A,11,20 buses to Abingdon Square/12th St; 8 bus to Christopher St; L to 8th Ave @14th st; F,V to 14th St. B,D to W. 4th St.)
Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15
Since their first arrival in the 1840s to supply the workforce needed to develop the West, the Chinese have participated in America’s evolution from an expansionist continental power to the modern-day global empire. Even though many Chinese Americans today have integrated into mainstream American society as other “old immigrants” such as the Germans and the Irish have done, most Americans still see them, collectively, as “foreigners.”
In Chinese America, Peter Kwong and co-author Dusanka Miscevic trace the genealogy of animosity toward Chinese Americans, from the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and their profiling as disloyal aliens during the McCarthy era. However, they also cover the Chinese American success story, including their contribution to building the infrastructure of the nation and their vital role in linking American corporations to China’s market in today’s globalized economy. Beyond a strictly American context, the book traces political changes in China, showing how these changes influence shifting attitudes in U.S. society toward Chinese Americans.
Peter Kwong is the author of several books, including Chinatown, N.Y. and Forbidden Workers. He teaches at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New Yorkand is a regular contributor to The Nation and The Village Voice.
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