Read, Watch, Follow
For many of us who are immigrants from Asia, or whose families immigrated at some earlier time, Chinatowns often represent a unique opportunity to see culture flourishing and provides in many ways a sense of home away from home.
The development of Chinatowns in the United States is inextricably linked to immigration over time, which has both positive, vibrant, and welcoming dimensions and also negative, xenophobic, and challenging aspects.
The cultural importance of Chinatowns, historically, currently, and in our collective imagination can be a touchstone for how we understand ourselves.
As part of our effort to better engage with and understand Chinatown in Manhattan, we gathered some videos (shorter and longer), books, and podcasts that can help bring some depth of understanding to why Chinatowns exist and the challenges they currently face.
These quick videos can help understand how and why Chinatowns came to be in major American cities, how US immigration policy and xenophobia helped create Chinatowns in the late 1800 and early 1900s, and some of the realities and challenges facing Chinatowns today.
Watch: The Asian American Experience
This PBS documentary is an excellent, longer overview of the Asian American experience in the United States and offers a lot of great information on the history, challenges, and contributions of Asian Americans and the Asian American experience.
- Asian Americans | PBS
- Your Day Is My Night by Lynne Sachs
Read:
Asian American authors have created some powerful fiction and non-fiction works which explore the experiences faced by Asian Americans in the US, with Chinatown as a centering force in the work. A few recent books that Amp Club folks have enjoyed include:
- Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
- Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
- Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
Follow:
A few social media accounts that we like: