"JOURNEY OF A PAPER SON" STUDY GUIDE
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 06:41PM As a companion to the award-winning short film, “Journey of a Paper Son,” we’ve created this helpful Study Guide:
What is a “paper son”?
What is the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
How long did the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 last?
Why was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 repealed?
What is Angel Island or the U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island?
How was Angel Island different from Ellis Island?
How were Chinese immigrants interrogated at Angel Island?
How did Chinese immigrants use “coaching books” to prepare for the interrogations at Angel Island?
Why did Chinese immigrants carve poems on the walls of their barracks at Angel Island?
How did the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 assist in illegal immigration?
What is the Confession Program?
What is the significance of the bill, ACR 42?
What is the Chinese Exclusion Resolution—S. Res. 201?
We’ve also created a Suggested Reading List:
http://astore.amazon.com/httpwwwhuma09-20
In “Journey of a Paper Son,” an elderly Chinese man (Jack Ong), who’s dying from cancer, shocks his family when he reveals that he’s a “paper son” (one who illegally immigrated to the U.S., using fake documents and claiming he’s the son of an American citizen) and asks them for a final wish to change back his name.
His request threatens to tear apart his family (Patty Toy Chung, Angelina Cheng, Teddy Chen Culver), testing the limits of their love. He forces them to question who he really is and even their own identities. Meanwhile, his doctor (Mario Cortez) desperately tries to save him.
We discover that the dying man is just one of countless “paper sons” who were born from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first federal law to restrict immigration to the U.S. based on race or nationality.
On July 17, 2009, the California legislature approved ACR 42, a landmark bill to apologize to the state’s Chinese American community for racist laws, including the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Recently, the Senate unanimously passed S. Res. 201, the Chinese Exclusion Resolution that acknowledges and expresses deep regret for the Chinese Exclusion Laws. Most importantly, it “reaffirms its commitment to preserving the same civil rights and constitutional protections for people of Chinese or other Asian descent in the United States accorded to all others, regardless of their race or ethnicity” (“Congressional Record—Senate” October 6, 2011).
Hopefully, this Study Guide and Suggested Reading List can help provoke thought, spark discussion, and create change.
To learn more about the Chinese Exclusion Resolution, visit:
http://www.1882project.org/newspress/senate-passes-chinese-exclusion-resolution/
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2011-10-06/pdf/CREC-2011-10-06-pt1-PgS6352-2.pdf