Joanne Freeman interviews Mary Lui for BackStory podcast: “To Be a Citizen? The History of Becoming American”

Imagine living in a country without the ability to become a citizen. Meanwhile, you endure discrimination and outright hostility on a daily basis because of your ethnicity. This was the struggle of Chinese people living in the U.S. for decades. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act barred immigration for Chinese laborers and declared the Chinese ineligible for citizenship.

Joanne Freeman talks with historian Mary Lui about the ripples of the Chinese Exclusion Act and how some court cases challenged the limitations of citizenship.

Listen to the episode at BackStoryRadio.org.