The story of Chinese Americans who call Texas home

PTVPhilippines

The story of Chinese Americans who call Texas home  For more news, visit:  ►https://www.ptvnews.ph/  Subscribe to our DailyMotion Channel: ►http://www.dailymotion.com/peoples-television-incorporated  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ►http://www.youtube.com/ptvphilippines  Like our Facebook pages: ►PTV: http://facebook.com/PTVph  ►Rise and Shine Pilipinas: https://www.facebook.com/riseandshinepilipinas  Follow us on Twitter:  ►http://twitter.com/PTVph  Follow us on Instagram: ►https://www.instagram.com/ptvph  Watch our livestream on:  ►http://ptvnews.ph/livestream/ ►https://www.dailymotion.com/PTVPhilippines  Watch our News Programs, every Mondays to Fridays  Rise and Shine Pilipinas - 6:00 - 7:00 am | 7:30 - 8:00 am Balitang Pambansa - 7:00 - 7:30 am | 12:00 - 12:30 pm | 6:00 - 6:30pm | 9:30 - 10:00 pm PTV Sports - 8:00 - 9:00 am Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon - 12:30 - 1:00 pm Sentro Balita - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Ulat Bayan - 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm PTV News Tonight -  10:00 pm - 10:30 pm  Saturday & Sunday: ►Sentro Balita Weekend - 1:30 - 2:00 pm ►Ulat Bayan Weekend - 6:15 pm - 7:00 pm

Transcript

00:00Next to the blue states of New York and California, Texas has the greatest presence for a number

00:05of Chinese Americans who call the Lone Star State home.

00:10And its roots stretch way, way back and are intertwined with America's history.

00:14VOA's Elizabeth Lee tells us the full story.

00:19In this library at Rice University in Houston, the stories of Asian Texans are waiting to

00:25be unboxed.

00:27The Houston Asian American Archive includes some 500 first-hand accounts of Asian immigrants

00:34and their descendants.

00:35My father came from China.

00:38Our history gives you a sense of immediacy.

00:40And like many of their counterparts, these Asian Americans ventured away from cities

00:45like San Francisco and even New York to settle much further south.

00:50Among the artifacts are pieces of Albert G.'s life.

00:53Albert G. CAC plaque.

00:56His daughter, Linda Wu, has kept some of her father's photos.

01:02My dad was born here in the United States.

01:06His father and mother had a laundry.

01:10When G.'s father died in 1927, he went to China with his mother and siblings.

01:15But he returned to the U.S. with his godfather a few years later.

01:19Albert found himself only around 11 years old coming back to the United States.

01:27G. eventually ended up in Houston with the help of friends and relatives.

01:31Here he opened restaurants, which attracted Hollywood celebrities who would stay at a

01:36nearby hotel.

01:39G. also helped other new Chinese immigrants settle.

01:42As established families helped newcomers from China, the number of G.'s grew in Houston.

01:49Not all who shared the G. name were related.

01:52Recorded in this book are some of their stories, including that of Rogene G. Calvert's father,

01:58David G. He came to the U.S. at age 17 in the late 1920s as a so-called paper son.

02:06At that time, we had the Chinese Exclusion Act.

02:09Which banned many Chinese from immigrating to the U.S.

02:13Paper sons and paper daughters are the name given to people who buy false papers.

02:19They were rightfully looking for people that were breaking the law and unfortunately my

02:23dad was one.

02:25After being detained for almost a year at the Angel Island Immigration Station in San

02:29Francisco, California, Calvert's father was granted permission to stay.

02:34He eventually married and settled in Houston, Texas.

02:38He worked in the grocery business with the help of other G.'s.

02:41Chow says the first large group of Chinese immigrants arrived in Houston in the 1940s

02:47and 50s.

02:49Racial segregation was legal in Texas and southern states through a series of codes

02:55known as Jim Crow laws.

02:57Even though Houston also was subject to Jim Crow law, the law wasn't applied the same

03:01way as the other southern states.

03:03And so there's a sense of more, I guess, more equity in Houston.

03:08That's where people come.

03:10A sense of business opportunity.

03:11Restauranteur Albert G. took part in desegregating Houston's eateries.

03:16His work in the community would eventually be immortalized years later in a web comic

03:23developed by Asia Society Texas.

03:25Kids all across the state of Texas are reading the comic.

03:28Our Asian American students in particular said they want to see themselves represented.

03:32Asia Society Texas also worked with the Houston Asian American Archive to develop lesson guides

03:38for teachers in the state so students can explore further the history of the Asian Americans

03:44who make up the fabric of the city.

03:47Elizabeth Lee, VOA News, Houston.

Category

Transcript

Recommended