Ep. 22: Michael Luo on the Chinese-American Story

The Chinese-American experience is defined by a persistent tension between belonging and exclusion, rooted in a history of state-sanctioned discrimination. Michael Luo, executive editor of *The New Yorker*, traces this trajectory from the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act—the first U.S. law to restrict immigration based on race—to contemporary anti-Asian sentiment. Economic downturns and political opportunism historically fueled xenophobic policies, such as the "Driving Out" era and the 1871 Los Angeles massacre, which established patterns of violence that echo in modern hate crimes. While the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act eventually dismantled formal quotas, the "model minority" myth continues to mask deep socioeconomic disparities and persistent societal perceptions of Asian-Americans as perpetual foreigners. By examining these historical precedents, the narrative challenges the narrow black-and-white lens through which American identity is typically viewed, advocating for a more inclusive understanding of the nation's diverse democratic history.