The dark history of the Chinese Exclusion Act
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Robert Chang |
TED-Ed
• July 2021
In 1882, the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first federal law that restricted immigration based explicitly on nationality. In practice, the Act banned entry to all ethnically Chinese immigrants besides diplomats, and prohibited existing immigrants from obtaining citizenship. Robert Chang details the lasting impact the Act had on immigrant rights and freedoms. [Directed by Mohammad Babakoohi & Yijia Cao, narrated by Jack Cutmore-Scott, music by Jian Nanyin].