This book describes the historical and legal experiences of Americans of Asian ancestry who began to come to the United States in the mid-19th century. Like all immigrants in America, they arrived with hopes of making a better life and home in a free country. Instead, Asian-Americans have been mistreated and discriminated against by their fellow Americans--even by Congress and the Supreme Court, which should have made and judged laws without prejudice. This study examines the way immigration and naturalization laws were unfairly administered against Asian immigrants and throws light on a...

This exhaustive bibliography is the result of Kim's research of the Asian American experience for almost two decades. It contains some 3,396 entries in the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities, arranged in chapters that address dozens of pertinent subjects and experiential areas. The main body of the work, the annotated bibliography, is divided into two major sections: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Perspectives. Entries there are organized by topic rather than by ethnic group; the major literature of each topic receives a lengthier and more thorough annotation....

This documentary history critiques major Supreme Court decisions on litigations that Asian Americans brought before the Court over the past 150 years. In eight sections, contributing scholars all consider cases within three conceptual frameworks; (1) the commonly held belief that Asian Americans could not become members of the American community because of their race, (2) the once widely held belief that Orientals are mysterious and inferior, and (3) the assumption that all Asians in America are foreigners.

The book begins with an overview by editor Kim. In section 2, Braeman treats...

With California's passage of the Save Our State Initiative in 1994, fear of aliens has once again appeared in U.S. legislative history. Since 1790, congressional legislation on federal immigration and naturalization policy has been harsh on Asian immigrants, although less so since 1965. This documentary history covers all major immigration laws passed by Congress since 1790. The volume opens with an overview of the basis on which Congress has restricted Asian immigration. It then includes discussions of particular immigration legislation, showing the significance to Asian Americans and the...