San Jose youth keep Chinese American heritage alive at History Park

Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school and college students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.

Anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. has a familiar ring to Connie Young Yu, a Chinese-American author and historian. Her family has roots in San Jose’s Market Street Chinatown, one of five Chinatowns in the city’s history and a community that was destroyed by arson fueled by anti-Asian fervor.

The Geary Act, passed in 1892, required Chinese laborers in the U.S. to carry photo passports. Until it was repealed in 1943, authorities could stop them at any time to ask to see their identification, and people without documentation could be detained, jailed, or even deported.

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