Why the AAPI Hate? A History of Chinese in America

John Jung is an author, psychology professor, and historian. His works include: Southern Fried Rice: Life in A Chinese Laundry in the Deep South, which describes living in the South during the Jim Crow era; Chinese Laundries: Tickets to Survival on Gold Mountain, a social history of the important role that these businesses that once dotted the landscape held for the economic survival of Chinese immigrants; Chopsticks in the Land of Cotton: Lives of Mississippi Delta Chinese Grocers, which examines the similar role of this family occupation for Chinese in the delta; Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants; and A Chinese American Odyssey, a writing memoir about the process and experience of how he, as a psychology professor, reinvented himself in retirement to become a public historian of Chinese in America. In this episode, John talks about growing up Chinese American in the Deep South and covers the history of Chinese Americans from 1940s until today. He touches upon the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, paper identities, the model minority myth, hate crimes committed against Asian Americans, and the growth of Asian American activism.