Exclusion, resilience and the Chinese American experience on ‘Mott Street’

Author Ava Chin delves into her Chinese American heritage in her book “Mott Street,” exploring her family’s involvement in building the transcontinental railroad and their experiences under the Chinese Exclusion laws.

Driving the narrative: The main stories revolve around her family’s significant contribution to the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 1800s.
* Chin was motivated to become a writer after realizing the lack of Chinese representation in American history.

Journey to discovery: Chin’s book “Mott Street” is the product of intensive research that brings to light her ancestors’ resilience under the Chinese Exclusion laws in the U.S.
* Chin, a fifth-generation New Yorker, presents how these historical events still affect her family today.

Why this matters: The book gives a voice to overlooked aspects of American history, specifically the contribution of Chinese workers to the railroad’s construction and their experiences under exclusion laws.
* It also emphasizes the importance of personal narratives in painting a more accurate picture of a nation’s past.
View original article on NPR
This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *