WEBVTT

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- [Renee] To tell you the truth,

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I never would have been born

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if it wasn\'t for a mob of Asian haters.

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You see, back in 1906 my
grandfather left his family

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in Japan to start a new life in America.

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But as soon as he stepped
on shore in San Francisco,

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he was chased down by
angry merchant marines.

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They were battering him
with rocks and yelling,

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\"Go home Chink!\"

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So what\'d grandpa do?

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Well, he ran for his life, and
headed south for Los Angeles.

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And that\'s how my grandfather

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just barely missed the Great
San Francisco Earthquake

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that very next day.

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(airplane roaring)

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Whenever I\'ve gotten the
same crap my grandfather got,

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go back to where you came from,

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I think to myself, what
do you mean, Chicago?

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(bright music)

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- I was born about two
blocks from Wrigley field.

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Mom and dad were the Japanese
version of Ozzie and Harriet.

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Every summer we piled
into the Ford Fairlane

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and took off for the open road.

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But I noticed something odd.

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We drive clear across five states

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and never catch a glimpse
of another Asian face.

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- [Man] Hi Bob.

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- [Radio Host] Hi guy,
you\'re on the air, my friend.

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- [Man] Yeah, these people
should be sent back.

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For every one you make as citizen

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they\'re gonna bring 50
other family members

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and we got enough people
like this on welfare.

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- [Woman] I went to school with Orientals

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and I know how they are really prejudice

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and arrogant people.

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And they show their true
colors with black people.

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(speaking foreign language)

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- [Renee] These days when you look around,

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we\'re all over the map.

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But from the sound of it,
you\'d think we were still

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some kind of alien nation.

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- [Man] What\'s wrong with
referring to the Japanese as Jap?

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- [Radio Host] It\'s offensive.

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- [Man] What gives you the
right to say it\'s offensive?

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Was it because you have
a Japanese girlfriend?

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(speaking foreign language)

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- [Renee] Will we ever
truly belong in America?

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I decided I had to find out for myself.

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Unlike grandpa, I don\'t have
to run, but I can drive.

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This is the story of my
search for Asian America.

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(upbeat rock music)

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The first thing I do is make a pilgrimage

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to San Francisco\'s Chinatown

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to meet the legendary Victor Wong,

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the star of the low-budget
classic, \"Chan is Missing.\"

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This movie had practically
changed my life.

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It\'s the story of a cab driver
who goes around Chinatown

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looking for a guy named Chan,
and winds up running into

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some of the most honest-to-life,
Asian American characters

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I\'ve ever seen on film.

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What\'s this, Victor?

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- This must be the first
street of the Chinatown.

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I\'m pretty sure of it.

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This is why they call it Tong yen gai.

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In the old days you say, what are you?

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You says, I am a Tong yen,

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meaning I\'m a man of the Tong dynasty.

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My name for instance, is Wong,

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meaning I\'m a person from
the Yellow River Valley.

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I\'m a very old dude.

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- [Renee] Victor was born right here,

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the heir to a new dynasty.

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His father was Sir King Wong,

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the man who once cornered the
MSG monopoly of all America.

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And he was the mayor of Chinatown.

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- And these were all the
politicians that ran Chinatown.

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In the middle of it,
there\'s my father. (laughs)

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♪ Chinatown, my Chinatown ♪

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♪ Where the lights are low ♪

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- [Renee] But Victor,
Chinatown\'s prodigal son,

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refused to be cut from the same mold.

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You can call him the Wong that went wrong.

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- Well, one of the odd ways I rebelled

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would be to rebel without telling myself.

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My right hand didn\'t know
what my left hand was doing.

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For instance, when I was
very troubled as a teenager,

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I became a Jesus freak.

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I would preach in the street.

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Repent ye and be saved for
the second coming of Christ,

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will happen right here in Chinatown.

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My father was so pissed off at me.

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I mean, he took my Scofield
Bible, which was all underlined

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and I had memorized thousands of verses.

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He tore the whole thing apart.

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He says, \"You little son of a bitch.\"

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My father, who was the
mayor of Chinatown, going,

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oh, just crazy kid of mine.

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You know, I really caused
him a lot of problems.

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- [Renee] And to top it off,
Victor became a beatnik.

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- Yep. I was a Beat all right.

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Because the Beat movement
in the 50s were of people

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who did a lot of work in the arts.

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And the, the other
reason why I got into it

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was because that movement took place

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right next to Chinatown.

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Of course the Chinese
didn\'t pay any attention.

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They\'d say, what weird
people and all that.

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And one day Kerouac
appeared, he just showed up.

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- [Jack] We\'ve just been back
and forth across the country

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several times in cars, and
now our adventures were over.

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We\'re still great
friends but we have to go

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into later phases of our lives.

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He asked me to, hey says, you
wanna go follow us around?

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So I got in this car with
a knapsack and off we went.

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And he wrote about me in
the book called \"Big Sur\".

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He was the son of a
famous Chinatown family,

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and Chinatown is right back there

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behind the fabled beatniks
streets of Frisco, you know?

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He was a tremendous little lover boy

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who had fabulous, beautiful
girls on the line.

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They were the first people that
I known who are not Chinese

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who treated me like I
was just one of the boys.

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What is an Asian American?

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Am I Asian or am I an American?

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From the time you\'re in grammar school,

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they all say the same thing to you.

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Forget about being Chinese.

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Learn Shakespeare, learn about the Romans

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in the times of King Arthur and all that.

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Chinese history, oh no, no, no, no.

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You\'re in America now,
this is America, boy.

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I always thought as I was growing up

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that as an Asian American,

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I really had to write my own manual

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as to how to live in this country.

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- [Renee] Here\'s a guy
as old as my father,

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but he\'s got the same questions I\'ve got.

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Finding Victor is like
finding Buddha, Obi-Wan Kenobi

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and Kerouac all rolled up in one.

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I know the strange old man

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will lead me in the right direction.

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I\'m just about to hit the road

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when Victor throws me my first curve.

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He\'s not the star of my favorite
movie, \"Chan is Missing.\"

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The real actor is actually Wood Moy.

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See, here\'s Victor and here\'s Wood Moy.

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Could it be we all do look alike?

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Anyway, as Victor would say,

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the glory of a road trip
is letting those accidents

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of fate propel you along your journey.

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(people chattering)

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In Chinatown I meet a Mr. Choi,

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the 1990s version of Victor Wong\'s father.

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Instead of MSG, Mr. Choi\'s dream

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is to corner the fortune
cookie market everywhere

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from Boston to the Carolinas.

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(speaking foreign language)

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Mr. Choi is a man who
doesn\'t waste any time.

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He keeps these calendars
pinned to the wall

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so there\'s no need to fiddle
with time-consuming rolodexes

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and phone books.

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- Sometimes I forget a
phone number I look at,

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oh, that phone number, I have to call.

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I don\'t look at picture,

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I look at phone number only. (laughs)

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- [Renee] Why do you keep so busy?

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- I want to make money in a couple years

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and retire, that\'s it.

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- [Renee] Where are you going?

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- I go to East Broadway.

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A lot of price very cheap.

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You see the price yet?

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Buy 10 get 2 free.

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- [Renee] Is that your lunch?

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- No, dinner.

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This is my dinner, not lunch.

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Good for dinner.

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- [Renee] Making money is
a round-the-clock business

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for Mr. Choi.

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He\'s got a fortune cookie
operation upstairs,

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and in the basement he\'s selling fish.

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So I\'m following him back and forth

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between the fortune
cookies and the fish tanks,

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when finally, he\'s taking a break.

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But before I know it,
we\'re off to somewhere.

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(woman screaming)

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In the Bronx?

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Because Choi has a third
job teaching martial arts.

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Then he gets on the phone
to schedule his fourth job

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teaching back in Chinatown,
but not before he tries

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to sell me the promotional
calendars he markets

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as a sideline.

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- Cost you?

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How much you want to pay?

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- [Renee] 50 cents?

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- Forget about it.

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Sell it to you for $5, good?

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How you doing guy?

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- [Renee] You can call Mr.
Choi immigrant role model.

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But for me it\'s more like competing

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with Horatio Alger on amphetamines.

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Even on Chinese New Years,
guess who\'s doing security?

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- Okay, back up here.

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Back up here.

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(drums beating)

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- [Renee] You know, some
scientists believe Asians

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have a kind of super gene,
that we\'re able to work harder

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and delay immediate gratification.

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It\'s the bigger brains,
smaller genitalia theory.

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(firecrackers popping)

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- [Scientist] Surveys of
the world literature show

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that Orientals are the most restrained.

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Whether measured by
intercourse frequencies,

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premarital, marital, or
extramarital, reproductive speed,

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age of first intercourse,
age of first pregnancy,

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or number of pregnancies per unit of time.

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Finding for cranial capacity:

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Orientals 1,448 cubic centimeters,

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whites 1,408 cubic centimeters,

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and blacks, 1,334 cubic centimeters.

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- [Renee] I don\'t buy those
theories about genetics.

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But there\'s gotta be something
that drives Mr. Choi.

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Whatever it is, it\'s driven
me to complete exhaustion.

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So I take a swing through
the South for some R and R.

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I spend the day sightseeing

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at the Weeki Wachee mermaid
show, then settle in for dinner

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when it dawns on me.

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Mr. Choi is very much like my grandfather

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and the old time sojourners who came here

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to work the railroads and canneries.

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They dreamed of making tons
of money on the gold mountain

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and returning home as wealthy men.

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But others came for freedom.

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That\'s the immigrant dilemma.

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To come here with visions
of liberty and equality

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or to take the money and run.

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- Because my father and
mother kept saying all

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through our growing up
years, you\'re gonna go back

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to China someday.

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I never been there, but
the other phrase was

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(speaking foreign language)

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and that phrase was over and over again.

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He says, this is no country for you.

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Nobody likes you here.

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They\'ll cheat you, they\'ll
kill you, they\'ll poison you.

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So get ready, we\'re gonna
leave as soon as we can.

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Of course we never could.

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So we all starting to
think about being American.

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But it wasn\'t until the civil
rights movement came along

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that I felt like I could
become part of America.

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(bright music)

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(saxophone blasting)

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- [Renee] Here in the French quarter

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I discovered New Orleans is the home

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of the oldest Asian pioneers,
and they came for freedom.

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I asked the president of the
Filipino Club to fill me in.

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- The Filipinos were here since 1765.

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They came here through
the Manila Galleon trade,

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that\'s the Spanish trade
between Acapulco and Manila.

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But the Filipinos did not know
that they were in Louisiana.

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- [Renee] She tells me the
sailors jumped ship on the Bayou

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to escape the brutality
of their Spanish masters.

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That means Filipinos
have actually been here

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as long as 230 years.

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And these babies are eighth

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generation Filipino Americans descended

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from a Filipino merchant
marine and his Irish bride.

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- Benita!

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- Yeah, I\'m coming.

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I pay a visit with the matriarchs

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of Louisiana\'s oldest Filipino clan.

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This has Benita and
Audrey and Mae and Joyce,

00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.999
and it\'s poker night
in St. Bernard parish.

00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:55.349
- Yes, all this for a few minutes.

00:17:55.350 --> 00:17:56.350
- Three aces.

00:17:57.430 --> 00:17:59.155
That\'s it, three aces.

00:17:59.156 --> 00:18:00.219
- [Renee] Do you consider
yourself Southerners first

00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:01.309
or Filipinos first?

00:18:01.310 --> 00:18:02.559
- Oh, we\'re Southerners first.

00:18:02.560 --> 00:18:05.349
We\'re Americans first, Southerners second.

00:18:05.350 --> 00:18:08.574
We\'re Southerners, we\'re
definitely Southern.

00:18:08.575 --> 00:18:10.863
- I wouldn\'t say that.

00:18:10.864 --> 00:18:14.799
- Now my grandmother used
to say, \"That\'s my flag.\"

00:18:14.800 --> 00:18:16.556
And my grandmother, \"That
is not your country,

00:18:16.557 --> 00:18:20.112
\"the Philippines, this is your country.\"

00:18:20.113 --> 00:18:22.603
- [Renee] The Philippines
is not your country?

00:18:23.630 --> 00:18:26.686
I suppose after 200 and
some odd years in America,

00:18:26.687 --> 00:18:28.693
you do start to feel at home.

00:18:37.540 --> 00:18:39.239
The sisters were considered the belles

00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:40.363
of the French Quarter.

00:18:42.360 --> 00:18:44.069
Here\'s Mae, a great beauty,

00:18:44.070 --> 00:18:46.320
who was once crowned
Queen of the Mardi Gras.

00:18:48.820 --> 00:18:52.499
From all I\'ve heard, Louisiana
Society is a complicated one

00:18:52.500 --> 00:18:55.609
with blacks, whites, Creoles, and Cajuns.

00:18:55.610 --> 00:18:57.829
Audrey and Mae tried to explain to me

00:18:57.830 --> 00:19:01.393
how the Filipinos have managed
to get along by going along.

00:19:02.250 --> 00:19:05.859
- Filipinos were not considered
a race other than white,

00:19:05.860 --> 00:19:08.609
because Spain owned the Philippines.

00:19:08.610 --> 00:19:09.919
So they were just considered white.

00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:13.889
They were citizens of
Spain when they came here.

00:19:13.890 --> 00:19:17.129
- [Renee] Well, what do all
Filipinos consider themselves?

00:19:17.130 --> 00:19:19.879
- Well, for instance when we were born,

00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:22.619
on our birth certificate, it\'s white.

00:19:22.620 --> 00:19:24.339
- Yes, they\'ve changed that now.

00:19:24.340 --> 00:19:26.749
But our children also has white
on their birth certificate.

00:19:26.750 --> 00:19:27.650
- Yep, white.

00:19:27.651 --> 00:19:29.549
- [Renee] Well tell me, what
do you consider yourself?

00:19:29.550 --> 00:19:31.049
- White!

00:19:31.050 --> 00:19:33.099
We always dated American boy.

00:19:33.100 --> 00:19:37.089
And our childhood, we
had segregated schools,

00:19:37.090 --> 00:19:38.433
segregated churches.

00:19:39.364 --> 00:19:40.598
- [Renee] So which ones would you go...

00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:42.302
- Of course we did not go to
color, we call them colored,

00:19:42.303 --> 00:19:45.719
we did not go to colored schools at all.

00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:48.419
We just walked in the white
schools and a white churches.

00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:49.969
Grandma would just ask the boys,

00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:52.199
what is your mother\'s maiden name?

00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:55.939
And she would tell us, don\'t go out

00:19:55.940 --> 00:19:57.569
with that boy, he\'s mixed.

00:19:57.570 --> 00:19:58.589
Grandma, what do you mean mixed?

00:19:58.590 --> 00:19:59.939
You know what I mean, mixed.

00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:01.913
His people have black blood in it.

00:20:05.218 --> 00:20:07.801
(somber music)

00:20:09.100 --> 00:20:11.079
- [Renee] There\'s no
better test for race mixing

00:20:11.080 --> 00:20:12.909
than a graveyard.

00:20:12.910 --> 00:20:15.479
Unlike blacks, the Filipinos
could be laid to rest

00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:19.423
next to, below, or on top of
the other white citizenry.

00:20:20.910 --> 00:20:23.969
Buried here is the
grave of great Aunt Nan.

00:20:23.970 --> 00:20:26.199
She was the Burtanog family enforcer

00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:28.053
when it came to mixed marriages.

00:20:34.340 --> 00:20:36.890
- Oh, we have so many spooky
stories in our family.

00:20:38.100 --> 00:20:40.589
That old lady Nan, we
called her the voodoo queen

00:20:40.590 --> 00:20:41.690
of the French quarter.

00:20:43.030 --> 00:20:46.253
She put a curse on
these two first cousins.

00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:52.166
She told these two sisters,
you know her two nieces,

00:20:52.167 --> 00:20:55.166
\"I put a curse on their
daughters and their daughters

00:20:55.167 --> 00:20:57.917
\"and their daughters
for generations down.\"

00:20:58.930 --> 00:21:00.883
- That they\'ll all have bad marriages.

00:21:01.730 --> 00:21:04.009
- Because they married a part Americans,

00:21:04.010 --> 00:21:06.649
they weren\'t full blooded Asians.

00:21:06.650 --> 00:21:08.469
- [Mae] But the curse didn\'t
work on my mom and dad

00:21:08.470 --> 00:21:11.262
because they were married until
they died almost 60 years.

00:21:11.263 --> 00:21:12.989
- I know, but she cursed daddy,

00:21:12.990 --> 00:21:14.899
she said your legs are gonna cross on you.

00:21:14.900 --> 00:21:16.829
And daddy doesn\'t believe in that malarkey

00:21:16.830 --> 00:21:18.169
because he was born in Alabama.

00:21:18.170 --> 00:21:22.149
But I was the first born
and so when I got polio,

00:21:22.150 --> 00:21:23.529
They said, you see?

00:21:23.530 --> 00:21:25.553
You see, the curse came out on her!

00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:29.959
- [Renee] It looks like
Aunt Nan\'s curse came out

00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:31.629
on all the Burtanogs.

00:21:31.630 --> 00:21:34.379
The sisters have 10 marriages between them

00:21:34.380 --> 00:21:36.699
and Audrey alone accounts for four.

00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:37.879
- [Niece] Are you still married?

00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:39.263
- [Mae] Yes, she never did get a divorce.

00:21:39.264 --> 00:21:40.220
- I never did get it.

00:21:40.221 --> 00:21:42.059
I\'ll make sure I never get married again.

00:21:42.060 --> 00:21:44.009
This last one was so
bad, I said, dear God,

00:21:44.010 --> 00:21:45.843
get me out of this mess, I\'ll promise you

00:21:45.844 --> 00:21:47.111
I\'ll never get married again.

00:21:47.112 --> 00:21:48.965
- [Niece] Are you waiting
him to die or something?

00:21:48.966 --> 00:21:49.799
Or is he dead?

00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:50.632
- [Joyce] She doesn\'t know.

00:21:50.633 --> 00:21:51.803
- She don\'t know.

00:21:51.804 --> 00:21:53.257
- He might be dead, I could
be getting more money.

00:21:53.258 --> 00:21:54.726
- You could be a millionaire or something,

00:21:54.727 --> 00:21:55.917
you wouldn\'t know it.

00:21:55.918 --> 00:21:59.117
♪ I love you ♪

00:21:59.118 --> 00:22:01.535
♪ I love you ♪

00:22:02.730 --> 00:22:05.924
- [Renee] I could never quite
figure out where we Asians

00:22:05.925 --> 00:22:07.879
come up with these
formulas for intermarriage.

00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:11.539
Take Asian parent A, they\'ll
say it\'s okay to marry Korean

00:22:11.540 --> 00:22:12.789
but no Filipino.

00:22:12.790 --> 00:22:15.319
Then comes white, then
Puerto Rican, no black.

00:22:15.320 --> 00:22:17.639
And for parent B, Chinese for my son,

00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:20.049
don\'t care about the daughter
as long as he\'s not white.

00:22:20.050 --> 00:22:22.689
As for parents C, Pilipino,
yes, Japanese, no,

00:22:22.690 --> 00:22:25.513
no Mexican and as usual, no black.

00:22:27.424 --> 00:22:32.424
♪ I\'m waiting to hear the
words that I love you ♪

00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:36.929
- My wives were never Chinese

00:22:36.930 --> 00:22:40.929
because I got the impression,
whether it was right or wrong,

00:22:40.930 --> 00:22:44.573
if I married somebody who
was a Chinese American,

00:22:45.950 --> 00:22:48.689
that there will be a lot
of pressure from that wife

00:22:48.690 --> 00:22:52.869
to make me conform, you
know, get in the business,

00:22:52.870 --> 00:22:57.379
go to work eight to five,
buy a house, buy property,

00:22:57.380 --> 00:23:01.129
buy stocks and bonds, you know,
cut your hair and all that.

00:23:01.130 --> 00:23:03.573
And I was fiercely independent.

00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.289
- I met Victor and 1954.

00:23:09.290 --> 00:23:14.109
I was directing a play and
I was looking for actors.

00:23:14.110 --> 00:23:16.689
And then we got married after,

00:23:16.690 --> 00:23:19.804
right after the play was put on.

00:23:19.805 --> 00:23:21.009
I think it was only done one night.

00:23:21.010 --> 00:23:24.279
And then we got married
shortly thereafter. (laughs)

00:23:24.280 --> 00:23:27.079
Was a very short courtship.

00:23:27.080 --> 00:23:29.088
- [Renee] Wow, that\'s pretty quick.

00:23:29.089 --> 00:23:31.899
- Yeah, that\'s exactly
what my parents thought,

00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:33.139
it was a little too quick.

00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:35.109
They didn\'t approve, nor did his family.

00:23:35.110 --> 00:23:39.239
His family sent their
minister to my father

00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:42.879
to try to persuade him to
keep us from getting married.

00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:45.973
And his father also for me,

00:23:47.061 --> 00:23:48.869
he wanted to interview me.

00:23:48.870 --> 00:23:53.870
And said, discouraged
me from getting married

00:23:54.300 --> 00:23:57.599
because he said the Chinese
did not inter-marry.

00:23:57.600 --> 00:23:59.449
They were pure race.

00:23:59.450 --> 00:24:01.529
And that the children
would be funny looking.

00:24:01.530 --> 00:24:03.473
And why didn\'t we just live together?

00:24:04.560 --> 00:24:06.633
I was very insulted at the time.

00:24:17.260 --> 00:24:20.219
- This is the times of where all the races

00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:21.150
will come together.

00:24:21.151 --> 00:24:24.458
And so for me, I didn\'t think much of,

00:24:24.459 --> 00:24:28.724
that this person was black and I\'m Chinese

00:24:28.725 --> 00:24:30.512
and all that kind of stuff.

00:24:30.513 --> 00:24:32.813
We thought there would be a new world.

00:24:34.030 --> 00:24:35.983
America just wasn\'t ready.

00:24:46.110 --> 00:24:48.299
- [Renee] Alexis de Tocqueville
believed that Americans

00:24:48.300 --> 00:24:50.029
will always be haunted by the conflict

00:24:50.030 --> 00:24:51.293
between black and white.

00:24:55.460 --> 00:24:58.669
On my way out of New Orleans
I drive past plantations

00:24:58.670 --> 00:25:00.589
where Chinese workers were imported

00:25:00.590 --> 00:25:03.713
to take the place of African
slaves after the Civil War.

00:25:05.399 --> 00:25:08.389
I wonder what that conflict has meant

00:25:08.390 --> 00:25:10.163
for us Asian Americans?

00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:22.709
- Don\'t move!

00:25:22.710 --> 00:25:24.623
Okay, JT, look.

00:25:27.260 --> 00:25:29.759
Wait a minute, I wanna get another one.

00:25:29.760 --> 00:25:31.489
- [Renee] I joined up
with a pair of old friends

00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:32.553
from New York City.

00:25:36.130 --> 00:25:41.130
- 220, so it\'s gotta be,
220, so it has to be.

00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:44.543
I mean, they can\'t change the name.

00:25:44.544 --> 00:25:46.299
- [Renee] Our first stop
together is Rosedale.

00:25:46.300 --> 00:25:50.909
Their oldest son Billy came
here as a freedom rider in 1964.

00:25:50.910 --> 00:25:53.793
I never met Billy, but
I know he died young.

00:25:54.840 --> 00:25:57.589
The Kochiyamas have come
to visit the Davis\'s,

00:25:57.590 --> 00:26:00.203
the family Billy stayed
with that Freedom Summer.

00:26:01.230 --> 00:26:02.686
- And you\'re Billy\'s father?

00:26:02.687 --> 00:26:03.940
- That\'s right.

00:26:03.941 --> 00:26:07.868
- I was trying to think how
many people were staying here

00:26:07.869 --> 00:26:08.702
during the time Billy were here.

00:26:08.703 --> 00:26:10.945
I believe it was about 20.

00:26:10.946 --> 00:26:12.988
- They were all staying right here?

00:26:12.989 --> 00:26:14.612
- They all stayed right here.

00:26:14.613 --> 00:26:15.647
- [Bill] Oh my gosh.

00:26:15.648 --> 00:26:18.749
- Up here, right up from the bank.

00:26:18.750 --> 00:26:21.479
It was a restaurant, and
blacks weren\'t allowed

00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:22.563
in there at all.

00:26:23.630 --> 00:26:25.059
And Billy and them used to go up there

00:26:25.060 --> 00:26:27.259
and sit down every day in
front of the restaurant.

00:26:27.260 --> 00:26:29.229
Every day, they never did fail.

00:26:29.230 --> 00:26:32.309
Well, they kept on and they
got to fighting up there.

00:26:32.310 --> 00:26:34.904
Black people started
going in the restaurant.

00:26:34.905 --> 00:26:37.679
And I guess that\'s about
the biggest major thing

00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:39.449
at that particular time
because everybody thought

00:26:39.450 --> 00:26:41.306
it was very impossible to get them

00:26:41.307 --> 00:26:43.393
to let black people in there.

00:26:46.030 --> 00:26:48.279
- [Renee] This visit to
Mississippi is like a homecoming

00:26:48.280 --> 00:26:50.229
in more ways than one.

00:26:50.230 --> 00:26:53.529
Bill and Yuri\'s romance began
right here at Camp Shelby

00:26:53.530 --> 00:26:55.193
in the middle of World War II.

00:26:56.150 --> 00:26:57.879
Tell me when you first met.

00:26:57.880 --> 00:26:59.449
- I bet he doesn\'t even remember, do you?

00:26:59.450 --> 00:27:01.039
- [Bill] Oh yeah.

00:27:01.040 --> 00:27:02.823
- You never remember that date.

00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:05.429
When was the date?

00:27:05.430 --> 00:27:06.609
- November something?

00:27:06.610 --> 00:27:09.469
- [Yuri] Yeah, but you
don\'t remember the date?

00:27:09.470 --> 00:27:12.509
- 43 or 42?
- [Yuri] No, but the date.

00:27:12.510 --> 00:27:14.501
November of what?

00:27:14.502 --> 00:27:17.059
- I don\'t know. (laughs)

00:27:17.060 --> 00:27:18.060
- [Yuri] 20th.

00:27:19.130 --> 00:27:24.130
- Well, I first met her
November 20th, 1943.

00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:28.863
And when a busload of
visiting Gis were given a pass

00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:34.679
to spend a weekend at
the concentration camp

00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:37.789
known as Jerome Arkansas.

00:27:37.790 --> 00:27:40.909
We arrived at camp
around two in the morning

00:27:40.910 --> 00:27:44.099
and she was the only
one there greeting us.

00:27:44.100 --> 00:27:47.139
And it was her customs to get their names.

00:27:47.140 --> 00:27:49.776
And she would say, well,
what Island are you from?

00:27:49.777 --> 00:27:54.777
And so when she asked me, you
know, I was being a smart ass.

00:27:55.610 --> 00:27:57.973
I said, I come from Manhattan Island.

00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:03.339
- Of course he was very good
looking and quite dashing.

00:28:03.340 --> 00:28:05.639
And I guess the fact
that he was from New York

00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:09.819
made him seem like, you
know, very sharp kind of guy,

00:28:09.820 --> 00:28:13.879
always giving as he
says, smart ass remark.

00:28:13.880 --> 00:28:15.529
But you know how women think

00:28:15.530 --> 00:28:17.593
that\'s sort of clever or something.

00:28:22.250 --> 00:28:24.309
- [Renee] Bill and Yuri\'s
love affair always struck me

00:28:24.310 --> 00:28:27.029
as something right out of
a Hollywood screenplay.

00:28:27.030 --> 00:28:28.239
Bill was a young GI

00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:31.133
with the all Japanese
American 442 Battalion.

00:28:34.270 --> 00:28:36.739
But there was one glitch
in this love story.

00:28:36.740 --> 00:28:39.240
While Bill was fighting
the Nazis overseas,

00:28:39.241 --> 00:28:43.249
Yuri was a prisoner in Arkansas
at a concentration camp

00:28:43.250 --> 00:28:44.763
for Japanese Americans.

00:28:46.380 --> 00:28:48.499
- [Announcer] Here in
the land of Buffalo Bill,

00:28:48.500 --> 00:28:50.999
the government is
erecting model camp towns.

00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:54.539
Towns in which they live
unmolested, not as prisoners

00:28:54.540 --> 00:28:57.440
but free to work and paid by
the United States government.

00:28:59.840 --> 00:29:03.449
Bath tubs, yes, all the comforts of home.

00:29:03.450 --> 00:29:04.729
The Japanese in America

00:29:04.730 --> 00:29:07.947
are finding Uncle Sam a loyal
master, despite the war.

00:29:09.450 --> 00:29:12.063
- Wait a minute, that\'s
all that\'s left maybe?

00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:16.853
Where was the camp?

00:29:19.790 --> 00:29:20.809
Wait a minute.

00:29:20.810 --> 00:29:23.023
What\'s all that empty space?

00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:25.279
Is that the camp?

00:29:25.280 --> 00:29:27.830
- [John] I taken a bulldozer
and buried this thing.

00:29:29.260 --> 00:29:30.093
- Buried what thing?

00:29:30.093 --> 00:29:30.926
- The camp.

00:29:30.926 --> 00:29:31.759
- [Yuri] Oh, you did it?

00:29:31.760 --> 00:29:32.899
- Oh yeah.

00:29:32.900 --> 00:29:34.929
- [Yuri] Oh, you bulldozed the whole camp?

00:29:34.930 --> 00:29:36.129
- [John] Yeah, it\'s buried.

00:29:36.130 --> 00:29:37.699
- Buried.
- A buried city.

00:29:37.700 --> 00:29:40.369
See this was blocks, you remember
well the streets you know.

00:29:40.370 --> 00:29:42.369
It was 10,000 of y\'all here.

00:29:42.370 --> 00:29:46.389
Now lookee here, you all
wasn\'t prisoners of war.

00:29:46.390 --> 00:29:47.539
- [Yuri] Well, we were...

00:29:47.540 --> 00:29:49.779
- You was interned for your protection,

00:29:49.780 --> 00:29:51.734
they claimed you know.
- [Yuri] Protection?

00:29:51.735 --> 00:29:52.896
- When we came, I came and went.

00:29:52.897 --> 00:29:54.559
- No, we consider
ourselves prisoners of war.

00:29:54.560 --> 00:29:55.639
But wait a minute, wait a minute.

00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:56.889
What I want to know is...

00:29:56.890 --> 00:29:59.003
- I thought they had an
injustice done to them.

00:29:59.004 --> 00:30:00.609
I fell in love with them.

00:30:00.610 --> 00:30:03.122
I mean, I was here with everyday and...

00:30:03.123 --> 00:30:05.161
- [Yuri] Really, you
knew the Japanese people?

00:30:05.162 --> 00:30:06.641
- I was in here with them.

00:30:06.642 --> 00:30:07.916
- Can I get a shot of you?

00:30:07.917 --> 00:30:11.306
Put your head out more,
because I can\'t see your face.

00:30:11.307 --> 00:30:12.759
And make sure to open the door.

00:30:12.760 --> 00:30:13.829
What\'s his name again?

00:30:13.830 --> 00:30:15.119
- John Earnest Ellington.
- [Bill] John.

00:30:15.120 --> 00:30:16.399
- John Earnest Ellington.

00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:17.400
Wait a minute.

00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:19.542
No piece of paper?

00:30:19.543 --> 00:30:20.563
Just a piece of paper.

00:30:20.564 --> 00:30:21.654
- [John] I wouldn\'t have one.

00:30:21.655 --> 00:30:22.992
- [Renee] How did the
people around Jerome feel

00:30:22.993 --> 00:30:24.435
about the Japanese coming here?

00:30:24.436 --> 00:30:26.864
- Well, all those people that
were here is dead and gone.

00:30:26.865 --> 00:30:29.986
We\'re talking about 40
something years ago, girl.

00:30:29.987 --> 00:30:33.267
And these young folks don\'t
even know what it\'s all about.

00:30:33.268 --> 00:30:34.739
- [Renee] But how did they feel?

00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:36.849
- Well, they all, they felt like me.

00:30:36.850 --> 00:30:39.239
They felt like they was mistreated.

00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:41.240
When he was around them
and with them, lookee here,

00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:44.499
when the war department come and bringing

00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:47.689
those messages here about the dead,

00:30:47.690 --> 00:30:49.593
they cry just like the white people.

00:30:50.860 --> 00:30:54.183
They lost a million son, and husband.

00:30:59.682 --> 00:31:01.059
- [Bill] By the end of the war,

00:31:01.060 --> 00:31:04.223
we thought we were becoming expendable.

00:31:05.410 --> 00:31:06.559
- [Renee] What do you mean by that?

00:31:06.560 --> 00:31:10.527
- That we were always at
the point of an attack.

00:31:12.220 --> 00:31:16.654
And being at the point of big
army or a division attack,

00:31:16.655 --> 00:31:19.089
you\'re always vulnerable,

00:31:19.090 --> 00:31:22.069
on both sides and then the front.

00:31:22.070 --> 00:31:24.909
And so we took the brunt, many times,

00:31:24.910 --> 00:31:26.689
the brunt of the casualties.

00:31:26.690 --> 00:31:30.013
But they said that they
always put the best troops

00:31:30.014 --> 00:31:32.563
to lead the way.

00:31:38.320 --> 00:31:40.929
Yuri already knows that,
she knew personally

00:31:40.930 --> 00:31:45.619
these young newlyweds and the
husband would go over seas

00:31:45.620 --> 00:31:50.620
and first day of combat or
within one month, they\'re dead.

00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:56.200
So there were a lot of young
widows, and that\'s why.

00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:01.963
I wasn\'t trying to
weasel out of a marriage.

00:32:03.542 --> 00:32:08.100
But, but that was a
terrific consideration.

00:32:11.215 --> 00:32:14.048
♪ Love look away. ♪

00:32:20.966 --> 00:32:23.779
- [Renee] Bill and Yuri traveled
a long road after the war.

00:32:23.780 --> 00:32:26.503
They moved to Harlem to
raise their six children.

00:32:27.630 --> 00:32:30.749
They spend 50 years there
fighting for justice,

00:32:30.750 --> 00:32:32.863
and not only for Asian Americans.

00:32:38.820 --> 00:32:40.359
And the road has brought us here

00:32:40.360 --> 00:32:42.489
to the grave of James Cheney,

00:32:42.490 --> 00:32:43.919
the young civil rights worker

00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:46.543
murdered by the Klan in 1964.

00:32:49.810 --> 00:32:52.809
- You and your two comrades,
Goodman and Schwerner,

00:32:52.810 --> 00:32:56.209
are part of a history
that can never be erased.

00:32:56.210 --> 00:32:59.389
Others have followed after
you and always a struggle

00:32:59.390 --> 00:33:03.309
for a better, safer and
equitable world will continue.

00:33:03.310 --> 00:33:07.759
Today on May 26th, four days
before your 48th birthday,

00:33:07.760 --> 00:33:11.877
we are here to remember you
and be inspired by your life.

00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:32.809
- [Renee] Bill and Yuri
introduced a generation

00:33:32.810 --> 00:33:34.513
of Asians to Malcolm X.

00:33:35.730 --> 00:33:37.243
They\'ve lived history.

00:33:39.190 --> 00:33:41.579
As a child, I had no
idea that black struggle

00:33:41.580 --> 00:33:44.489
for equality I saw on
TV had anything to do

00:33:44.490 --> 00:33:46.279
with Asian-Americans.

00:33:46.280 --> 00:33:47.893
It changed our lives.

00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:53.639
Asian Americans got fair
housing, the right to intermarry,

00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:55.373
even the right to be here.

00:33:56.580 --> 00:34:00.929
In 1965, Congress struck
down the Asiatic Barred Zone,

00:34:00.930 --> 00:34:03.823
laws that virtually excluded
Asians from the country.

00:34:05.430 --> 00:34:07.586
The doors were opened.

00:34:07.587 --> 00:34:11.353
And I wonder what have you given back?

00:34:13.113 --> 00:34:14.942
♪ I\'m on my way ♪

00:34:14.943 --> 00:34:17.610
♪ I\'m on my way ♪

00:34:35.290 --> 00:34:37.743
I\'m on my way to my hometown of Chicago.

00:34:42.270 --> 00:34:45.269
I think back to growing
up here during the 1960s,

00:34:45.270 --> 00:34:46.853
talk about being invisible.

00:34:48.530 --> 00:34:51.369
If one Asian showed up
for 10 seconds on TV,

00:34:51.370 --> 00:34:54.439
the whole family would
come running to see it.

00:34:54.440 --> 00:34:55.809
Dad would race him from the yard,

00:34:55.810 --> 00:34:57.260
Grandma would grab her walker

00:34:58.200 --> 00:35:00.750
and then you can never be
sure it was a real Asian.

00:35:03.942 --> 00:35:08.153
- You are the enemy. (laughs)

00:35:09.770 --> 00:35:11.199
- [Renee] With these guys on the screen,

00:35:11.200 --> 00:35:14.489
Victor Wong had a lot of guts
to try his luck as an actor

00:35:14.490 --> 00:35:17.269
at the famous Second City Theater.

00:35:17.270 --> 00:35:20.713
- How sad to disillusion
you, and how easy.

00:35:21.683 --> 00:35:24.266
(upbeat music)

00:35:25.820 --> 00:35:29.533
- [Renee] Second City is just
a ways from my old house.

00:35:33.930 --> 00:35:36.433
Sure enough I find Victor
on the Wall of Fame.

00:35:44.839 --> 00:35:48.229
- It was my first time out of Chinatown,

00:35:48.230 --> 00:35:52.499
and here I am suddenly in a
strange city not knowing anybody

00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:57.259
and having to perform with
a group that was all white.

00:35:57.260 --> 00:35:58.899
I was frightened.

00:35:58.900 --> 00:36:01.079
It was just the beginning of
the civil rights movement.

00:36:01.080 --> 00:36:03.019
You have to remember.

00:36:03.020 --> 00:36:06.969
And people were kind of
didn\'t know what to do

00:36:06.970 --> 00:36:11.329
with this Asian American in their midst.

00:36:11.330 --> 00:36:14.919
I sometimes didn\'t have very
good time from fellow actors.

00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:19.920
Like kind of saying, \"Why don\'t
you go home kid?\" (laughs)

00:36:20.302 --> 00:36:21.502
\"You don\'t belong here.\"

00:36:22.990 --> 00:36:25.493
So. I didn\'t work out.

00:36:27.200 --> 00:36:29.783
(upbeat music)

00:37:02.892 --> 00:37:04.989
- Coming back again to Chicago

00:37:04.990 --> 00:37:07.033
has sent my memories into overdrive.

00:37:09.290 --> 00:37:12.343
Somewhere a long time ago
I made two vows in life.

00:37:15.470 --> 00:37:17.729
First, like Victor and the Kochiyamas,

00:37:17.730 --> 00:37:19.689
to stand up against the attitudes

00:37:19.690 --> 00:37:22.663
that confronted my
grandfather at America\'s door.

00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:27.563
And second, I\'d never turn
into my all-American parents.

00:37:34.020 --> 00:37:36.929
Just like Bill Kochiyama,
my father joined the army

00:37:36.930 --> 00:37:38.653
eager to fight the Nazis.

00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:43.529
But as luck would have it,
dad\'s unit was quarantined

00:37:43.530 --> 00:37:46.089
with chickenpox back in the USA.

00:37:46.090 --> 00:37:48.140
By the time they got to the German front,

00:37:49.024 --> 00:37:50.024
the war was already over.

00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:55.719
Meanwhile on the home front,

00:37:55.720 --> 00:37:57.949
mom was spending her teenage years

00:37:57.950 --> 00:37:59.883
locked behind barbed wire.

00:38:05.171 --> 00:38:06.259
The Japanese have a concept:

00:38:06.260 --> 00:38:09.083
The nail that sticks up
must be pounded down.

00:38:11.180 --> 00:38:12.889
Mom believed that being too Japanese

00:38:12.890 --> 00:38:14.323
got her sent to the camps.

00:38:16.540 --> 00:38:19.043
So we were raised to just blend in.

00:38:30.160 --> 00:38:33.729
I didn\'t know from Japan, except
grandpa\'s family was there.

00:38:33.730 --> 00:38:36.399
And it was so poor we\'d
to send them care packages

00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:38.653
full of all this great
stuff every Christmas.

00:38:40.510 --> 00:38:44.359
Then in 1966, my family
pulled up roots from Illinois

00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:45.973
and set off for California.

00:38:49.470 --> 00:38:51.943
We got there just in time
for the summer of love.

00:38:55.608 --> 00:39:00.333
And in short order, we
went from this, to this.

00:39:05.090 --> 00:39:06.999
We each rebelled in our own way.

00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:08.829
Bobby, my metaphysical brother,

00:39:08.830 --> 00:39:12.199
became a deadhead and
ran off to a Moonie camp.

00:39:12.200 --> 00:39:13.449
But the Moonies kicked him out

00:39:13.450 --> 00:39:15.350
because they thought he was too wacky.

00:39:16.610 --> 00:39:20.179
And if that wasn\'t embarrassing
enough, get a load of me.

00:39:20.180 --> 00:39:24.025
There was my hippie phase, my disco phase,

00:39:24.026 --> 00:39:26.023
my want-to-be-home-girl phase.

00:39:27.620 --> 00:39:30.809
Then for a school project, I
interviewed my grandparents

00:39:30.810 --> 00:39:33.219
about their interment camp memories.

00:39:33.220 --> 00:39:36.429
And my teacher told the
class they were lying,

00:39:36.430 --> 00:39:39.713
that something like the camps
could never happen in America.

00:39:40.570 --> 00:39:44.180
In that moment, I knew it was
racism that defined my life

00:39:45.150 --> 00:39:48.143
and I would never turn the
other cheek as my parents had.

00:39:49.390 --> 00:39:50.993
I\'d fight back.

00:40:02.007 --> 00:40:03.289
I joined up with other young people

00:40:03.290 --> 00:40:05.143
who are as angry as I was.

00:40:07.870 --> 00:40:10.203
That was the end of being an outsider.

00:40:12.010 --> 00:40:15.023
And I decided I\'d become a
filmmaker to show the world.

00:40:23.610 --> 00:40:26.199
And what\'s amazing for me to discover,

00:40:26.200 --> 00:40:28.873
is Victor Wong was right there with us.

00:40:30.853 --> 00:40:32.503
- It was a time of great turmoil.

00:40:33.730 --> 00:40:36.999
So for 10 years, I was
just exposed to the world

00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:39.253
as a reporter, it was a remarkable thing.

00:40:42.710 --> 00:40:47.233
This is during the time,
these ladies no longer there.

00:40:48.240 --> 00:40:49.240
Isn\'t that something?

00:40:53.064 --> 00:40:56.883
You see all these pictures,
I took all these pictures.

00:40:58.570 --> 00:41:03.570
These faces, I look for an
answer in all of these faces.

00:41:07.740 --> 00:41:08.890
Here\'s your generation,

00:41:09.978 --> 00:41:11.828
when the young kids finally stood up.

00:41:21.730 --> 00:41:23.609
- [Renee] For the first time in my life,

00:41:23.610 --> 00:41:26.119
I knew I belonged in America.

00:41:26.120 --> 00:41:28.313
I felt comfortable in my own skin.

00:41:39.510 --> 00:41:42.253
Not to say I didn\'t take
things a little too far.

00:41:43.090 --> 00:41:45.309
To show my ethnic pride, I made shirts

00:41:45.310 --> 00:41:47.203
out of these premium rice bags.

00:41:49.260 --> 00:41:51.329
I believed in yellow power.

00:41:51.330 --> 00:41:53.110
I believed in Ho Chih Minh

00:41:54.260 --> 00:41:56.403
And I believed the East was red.

00:42:07.987 --> 00:42:10.487
(cows mooing)

00:42:18.088 --> 00:42:19.099
It seems like a lifetime ago

00:42:19.100 --> 00:42:21.629
when I had everything all figured out.

00:42:21.630 --> 00:42:24.793
But here I am again, back
on this crazy search.

00:42:26.872 --> 00:42:29.872
(engine sputtering)

00:42:32.410 --> 00:42:33.340
- [Announcer] Welcome to Car Talk,

00:42:33.341 --> 00:42:35.399
broadcasting from the Car Talk center

00:42:35.400 --> 00:42:37.240
with a charitably impaired,
a Car Talk classic.

00:42:42.618 --> 00:42:43.451
(horn honks)

00:42:43.452 --> 00:42:45.639
- [Renee] There\'s got to be a better way.

00:42:45.640 --> 00:42:48.009
- Hi, my name is Tom Vu.

00:42:48.010 --> 00:42:49.659
Let me tell you what happened to me.

00:42:49.660 --> 00:42:52.789
In 1975, me and my family came to America

00:42:52.790 --> 00:42:54.259
as poor immigrant people.

00:42:54.260 --> 00:42:55.909
We were broke, destitute.

00:42:55.910 --> 00:42:57.359
Take a look at this picture here.

00:42:57.360 --> 00:43:00.359
Me, mom, dad, 10 brother
and sister, have to live

00:43:00.360 --> 00:43:02.379
in a little bitty tent like this.

00:43:02.380 --> 00:43:04.649
Thank God that I developed
this unique system

00:43:04.650 --> 00:43:06.735
to make millions in real
estate starting from nothing.

00:43:06.736 --> 00:43:10.639
As a result, we became
financially independent.

00:43:10.640 --> 00:43:12.009
- [Renee] Can you tell us what exactly

00:43:12.010 --> 00:43:13.629
is your secret formula?

00:43:13.630 --> 00:43:15.833
- The secret formula to a success?

00:43:16.930 --> 00:43:19.209
I would say three little words.

00:43:19.210 --> 00:43:20.949
Three little words.

00:43:20.950 --> 00:43:22.450
- [Renee] Okay, what are they?

00:43:23.490 --> 00:43:25.169
Before I tell you the three little word,

00:43:25.170 --> 00:43:27.970
I want to show you the power
of these three little word.

00:43:32.775 --> 00:43:34.849
- [Cameraman] Okay, standby, Tom.

00:43:34.850 --> 00:43:39.850
Motivational training in
five, four, three, two.

00:43:39.960 --> 00:43:41.979
- Today I am going to show you how

00:43:41.980 --> 00:43:43.699
to buy real estate in America.

00:43:43.700 --> 00:43:45.249
In front of you is Shay.

00:43:45.250 --> 00:43:46.929
Shay is a good candidate

00:43:46.930 --> 00:43:48.889
because she doesn\'t know
much about real estate.

00:43:48.890 --> 00:43:51.859
And I will show her exactly what to do.

00:43:51.860 --> 00:43:54.479
Shay, America is a changing world today.

00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:56.759
In one state, it may going down in value.

00:43:56.760 --> 00:43:58.599
The other state may go up in value.

00:43:58.600 --> 00:44:00.529
Now, would you please look at the camera

00:44:00.530 --> 00:44:03.099
and tell me what you\'ve learned so far?

00:44:03.100 --> 00:44:05.958
- The key to buying real estate
America is to be selective.

00:44:05.959 --> 00:44:10.359
Do your homework and study
up on the local market.

00:44:10.360 --> 00:44:12.563
You don\'t want to buy anything blindly.

00:44:13.470 --> 00:44:14.310
- [Tom] Very good, very good.

00:44:14.311 --> 00:44:17.423
Okay, can you tell the people
the reason so they understand?

00:44:19.060 --> 00:44:20.060
- No.

00:44:22.223 --> 00:44:24.806
(gong ringing)

00:44:27.359 --> 00:44:32.359
♪ Hard, hard, hard feeling ♪

00:44:33.522 --> 00:44:36.738
♪ Yes there\'s a hard feeling ♪

00:44:36.739 --> 00:44:38.502
♪ Hard, hard feeling ♪

00:44:38.503 --> 00:44:39.629
- [Tom] I like to invest in bad economy.

00:44:39.630 --> 00:44:42.708
So I think the best time is right now.

00:44:42.709 --> 00:44:46.079
Look at the real estate
situation in America,

00:44:46.080 --> 00:44:48.259
a lot of bankruptcy, foreclosure.

00:44:48.260 --> 00:44:52.023
Every time the mass losing
money, somebody\'s making money.

00:44:52.024 --> 00:44:52.857
(cash register ringing)

00:44:52.858 --> 00:44:55.169
The key for you to make some
quick cash using my system

00:44:55.170 --> 00:44:57.659
is to buy property from distressed people

00:44:57.660 --> 00:45:00.419
who have to sell quickly like foreclose.

00:45:00.420 --> 00:45:02.239
- [Renee] Got this nagging feeling.

00:45:02.240 --> 00:45:04.149
I think Tom\'s got my house on his list

00:45:04.150 --> 00:45:05.869
of distressed properties.

00:45:05.870 --> 00:45:08.783
- [Tom] I show people 20 ways
to spot these good deals.

00:45:09.891 --> 00:45:11.228
- [Man] Tom Vu.

00:45:11.229 --> 00:45:13.129
(audience clapping)

00:45:13.130 --> 00:45:14.886
- [Renee] Tom and I are
the same generation,

00:45:14.887 --> 00:45:16.393
but he seems older than me.

00:45:17.600 --> 00:45:19.100
Then he\'s lived through a war.

00:45:21.340 --> 00:45:24.509
All the time I was a teenager
dreaming the East is red,

00:45:24.510 --> 00:45:28.293
Tom Vu was in refugee camps
dreaming that the West is green.

00:45:29.720 --> 00:45:31.063
Greenbacks green.

00:45:32.500 --> 00:45:35.399
- We got the damn cash to close the deal

00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:37.609
and we can close the
deal for them right away.

00:45:37.610 --> 00:45:38.610
And they say, no.

00:45:40.390 --> 00:45:41.619
- [Renee] Well, I finally learned

00:45:41.620 --> 00:45:43.469
the three secret words to success,

00:45:43.470 --> 00:45:47.639
the Tom Vu mantra, don\'t give up.

00:45:47.640 --> 00:45:48.989
He may need it.

00:45:48.990 --> 00:45:50.859
Apparently Tom is being investigated

00:45:50.860 --> 00:45:52.993
by the Florida State Attorney\'s Office.

00:45:52.994 --> 00:45:55.623
So much for the profit of profit.

00:45:57.499 --> 00:46:00.930
♪ Well, while I was in prison ♪

00:46:00.931 --> 00:46:04.834
♪ I was up there serving time ♪

00:46:04.835 --> 00:46:09.835
♪ When I come back home
I heard our baby crying ♪

00:46:10.996 --> 00:46:15.624
♪ Ain\'t that a hard feeling ♪

00:46:15.625 --> 00:46:19.792
♪ Yeah, ain\'t that a hard feeling ♪

00:46:27.190 --> 00:46:29.679
- I drive through the
Heartland to Duluth, Minnesota

00:46:29.680 --> 00:46:31.973
where Chung King Chinese
food got its start.

00:46:34.890 --> 00:46:35.890
Who made it?

00:46:36.720 --> 00:46:39.369
An Italian immigrant named Jeno Paulucci,

00:46:39.370 --> 00:46:40.909
the man who created a world

00:46:40.910 --> 00:46:44.339
where Italian, Chinese and
Mexican food could live together

00:46:44.340 --> 00:46:45.613
in frozen harmony.

00:46:48.231 --> 00:46:51.269
Now tell me, how in the world
does an Italian immigrant

00:46:51.270 --> 00:46:52.983
become America\'s egg roll King?

00:46:54.418 --> 00:46:55.251
- Well, at least you took
your name off your coat,

00:46:55.252 --> 00:46:56.687
that was a little pushy.

00:46:56.688 --> 00:46:57.759
- Yeah, a little pushy.

00:46:57.760 --> 00:46:58.760
- Right.

00:47:05.700 --> 00:47:07.579
- [Renee] When I go to
the Paulucci building,

00:47:07.580 --> 00:47:09.539
there\'s no Jeno in site.

00:47:09.540 --> 00:47:10.849
I expect egg rolls.

00:47:10.850 --> 00:47:13.749
Instead. I happened upon a
group of garment workers.

00:47:13.750 --> 00:47:15.269
The women here are refugees

00:47:15.270 --> 00:47:17.329
from the Hmong hill tribe of Laos.

00:47:17.330 --> 00:47:19.333
And that\'s how I meet Pang-ku Yang.

00:47:21.270 --> 00:47:23.683
She studies English
during her coffee breaks.

00:47:27.790 --> 00:47:29.159
What are you writing?

00:47:29.160 --> 00:47:30.193
- Oh, that?

00:47:34.300 --> 00:47:39.300
Moo dah, your body or baby
sometimes they getting yellow.

00:47:42.450 --> 00:47:43.569
- [Renee] Jaundice?

00:47:43.570 --> 00:47:45.459
(speaking foreign language)

00:47:45.460 --> 00:47:46.919
Jaundice?

00:47:46.920 --> 00:47:48.503
- Mm-hmm, Jaundice.

00:47:53.100 --> 00:47:57.258
This this my son Chu, Chu Yang.

00:47:57.259 --> 00:48:00.629
And is this like, he\'s the second boy.

00:48:00.630 --> 00:48:05.079
And this is On, On Yang.

00:48:05.080 --> 00:48:09.743
And this is Jerry Yang and Tom Yang.

00:48:10.815 --> 00:48:12.829
- [Renee] Do you know
who Tom and Jerry is?

00:48:12.830 --> 00:48:14.239
In the cartoon?

00:48:14.240 --> 00:48:15.354
Who are they?

00:48:15.355 --> 00:48:16.220
- The cat and mouse.

00:48:16.221 --> 00:48:17.719
- [Renee] The cat and mouse?

00:48:17.720 --> 00:48:18.939
So which one of you is the cat

00:48:18.940 --> 00:48:20.199
and which one of you is the mouse?

00:48:20.200 --> 00:48:21.200
- I\'m the cat.

00:48:22.431 --> 00:48:24.295
♪ This is the United States ♪

00:48:24.296 --> 00:48:27.216
♪ The United States of America ♪

00:48:27.217 --> 00:48:29.239
♪ 50 States are in our land ♪

00:48:29.240 --> 00:48:32.092
♪ And they\'re all joined as one ♪

00:48:32.093 --> 00:48:34.908
♪ There are crowded states
with many industries ♪

00:48:34.909 --> 00:48:37.372
♪ And other states with open spaces ♪

00:48:37.373 --> 00:48:39.764
♪ There are people here
from the world over ♪

00:48:39.765 --> 00:48:42.950
♪ With many million different faces ♪

00:48:42.951 --> 00:48:45.063
♪ This is the United States ♪

00:48:45.064 --> 00:48:47.950
♪ The United States of America ♪

00:48:47.951 --> 00:48:50.075
♪ 50 States are in our land ♪

00:48:50.076 --> 00:48:52.913
♪ And they\'re all joined as one ♪

00:48:52.914 --> 00:48:56.914
♪ And they\'re all joined as one ♪

00:49:00.570 --> 00:49:02.049
- [Renee] These days,
things are looking better

00:49:02.050 --> 00:49:03.609
for the Yangs.

00:49:03.610 --> 00:49:06.619
Although they spent most of
their 12 years here on welfare,

00:49:06.620 --> 00:49:08.779
Pang-ku has managed to find full-time work

00:49:08.780 --> 00:49:10.033
with a sewing factory.

00:49:12.896 --> 00:49:16.329
- [Announcer] It\'s Joann, in
a polka dotted black dress

00:49:16.330 --> 00:49:17.730
from Taylor\'s Fine Fashions.

00:49:27.890 --> 00:49:29.329
- [Renee] It turns out that Mr. Yang

00:49:29.330 --> 00:49:32.363
fought alongside Americans
during the Vietnam War.

00:49:33.670 --> 00:49:35.209
He\'s just been laid off from a job

00:49:35.210 --> 00:49:37.149
at a spaghetti sauce factory.

00:49:37.150 --> 00:49:39.609
In Laos Mr. Yang would be the breadwinner.

00:49:39.610 --> 00:49:42.043
But in America, it\'s
his wife who has a job.

00:49:44.770 --> 00:49:48.579
- [Mr. Yang] But it\'s
not easy, it\'s difficult.

00:49:48.580 --> 00:49:53.223
You know, it\'s 1980, I
come from United State.

00:49:54.180 --> 00:49:59.180
I never know to write my name.

00:50:00.040 --> 00:50:01.393
It\'s difficult.

00:50:03.840 --> 00:50:05.139
- [ Renee] Can you tell
me what you were watching

00:50:05.140 --> 00:50:06.569
in the video?

00:50:06.570 --> 00:50:08.119
- Yeah, I watching TV.

00:50:08.120 --> 00:50:12.973
I was just watching from
my country, from Laos.

00:50:14.450 --> 00:50:18.193
Because I miss my country.

00:50:19.310 --> 00:50:20.143
- [Renee] You miss it?

00:50:20.143 --> 00:50:21.110
- Yes.

00:50:21.111 --> 00:50:24.099
- [Renee] Were you a soldier
for the United States?

00:50:24.100 --> 00:50:29.100
- I was soldier for United
State about 11 years.

00:50:32.068 --> 00:50:35.818
This was working for, I make a soldier.

00:50:35.819 --> 00:50:36.810
- [Renee] How old were
you when you started

00:50:36.811 --> 00:50:38.089
as a soldier for the US?

00:50:38.090 --> 00:50:39.623
- Um, was 15.

00:50:45.411 --> 00:50:47.599
- [Renee] What kind of
skills do you have for work?

00:50:47.600 --> 00:50:52.600
- I skilled, only in
farmer and the soldier.

00:51:00.300 --> 00:51:02.599
- This is the clothes.

00:51:02.600 --> 00:51:06.829
When we live in Laos,
everywhere, every day.

00:51:06.830 --> 00:51:08.839
- [Renee] So here I am
thinking of asking Pang-ku

00:51:08.840 --> 00:51:10.519
about all the identity questions

00:51:10.520 --> 00:51:12.820
that have been plaguing
me through my journey.

00:51:13.656 --> 00:51:16.556
But to tell you the truth, I\'m
embarrassed to bring it up.

00:51:19.200 --> 00:51:22.159
- Do you have the
clothes for your wedding?

00:51:22.160 --> 00:51:23.853
- Yes I do.

00:51:25.880 --> 00:51:29.319
- [Renee] What Pang-ku talks
to me about is survival.

00:51:29.320 --> 00:51:31.689
Other than that, she knows who she is

00:51:31.690 --> 00:51:32.940
and where she comes from.

00:51:34.670 --> 00:51:38.150
- This is easy to wear.

00:51:39.090 --> 00:51:42.780
When you wear, you just
put it like that, see.

00:51:47.450 --> 00:51:49.279
- Pang-ku shows me a quilt she made

00:51:49.280 --> 00:51:51.643
of the closing days of the Vietnam war.

00:51:58.520 --> 00:52:02.839
- The North Vietnamese came to village

00:52:02.840 --> 00:52:05.519
and tried to kill my husband.

00:52:05.520 --> 00:52:06.819
- [Renee] How did you escape?

00:52:06.820 --> 00:52:11.820
- [Pang-ku] Just escaped from
the jungle at night quietly,

00:52:12.460 --> 00:52:14.799
nobody talking.

00:52:14.800 --> 00:52:19.789
Because we teach them that
if you yell or you crying,

00:52:19.790 --> 00:52:23.243
then everybody must be killed.

00:52:24.100 --> 00:52:26.993
And they they afraid too and they quiet,

00:52:27.966 --> 00:52:32.363
but they small, they don\'t
know and they crying.

00:52:36.470 --> 00:52:37.579
- [Renee] I find out that four

00:52:37.580 --> 00:52:40.099
of Pang-ku\'s children died in Laos.

00:52:40.100 --> 00:52:42.499
The last baby died of jaundice.

00:52:42.500 --> 00:52:44.723
In the Hmong language, Mo Da.

00:52:47.062 --> 00:52:49.562
(baby crying)

00:52:57.800 --> 00:52:59.859
- [Pang-ku] When I walk to the store,

00:52:59.860 --> 00:53:04.860
when I walk to the bus stop

00:53:04.920 --> 00:53:09.920
and they always chasing
and throwing a rock.

00:53:10.730 --> 00:53:13.789
We didn\'t know how to speak English,

00:53:13.790 --> 00:53:17.469
but I know exactly they said,

00:53:17.470 --> 00:53:22.470
they said, China, go back to your country

00:53:22.540 --> 00:53:25.213
don\'t come to our country.

00:53:26.130 --> 00:53:31.130
I think they thought that Hmong
people and Chinese people,

00:53:32.016 --> 00:53:36.257
Vietnam and Cambodia,
we all the same people.

00:53:37.387 --> 00:53:38.863
And they didn\'t like it.

00:53:42.320 --> 00:53:46.529
- This face, even though
it\'s Chinese American,

00:53:46.530 --> 00:53:48.739
that is my folks came from South China,

00:53:48.740 --> 00:53:52.529
you could say, oh he\'s a
Korean or he\'s a Vietnamese,

00:53:52.530 --> 00:53:54.679
or he is a Japanese.

00:53:54.680 --> 00:53:56.169
I mean, they couldn\'t tell the difference.

00:53:56.170 --> 00:54:00.230
But in this last century,
this three Wars shot

00:54:02.464 --> 00:54:04.259
in the far East.

00:54:04.260 --> 00:54:08.529
The war with Japan, the
war with the Koreans

00:54:08.530 --> 00:54:11.109
once the Chinese were also involved,

00:54:11.110 --> 00:54:13.223
the war with Vietnam.

00:54:14.140 --> 00:54:16.099
I think most Americans think of it

00:54:16.100 --> 00:54:19.809
as just one huge war with Asia.

00:54:19.810 --> 00:54:24.810
And, and so they\'re used
to thinking about this face

00:54:25.920 --> 00:54:28.773
you know, even subconsciously
as their enemy.

00:54:32.929 --> 00:54:35.512
(bright music)

00:55:20.400 --> 00:55:21.629
- [Renee] Traveling through America

00:55:21.630 --> 00:55:23.123
can take your breath away,

00:55:25.600 --> 00:55:27.850
but it can break your
heart at the same time.

00:55:36.350 --> 00:55:37.899
I know every town I pass through

00:55:37.900 --> 00:55:41.009
was capable of its hatred and bigotry.

00:55:41.010 --> 00:55:42.889
- [Announcer] We have a
breaking news for you right now.

00:55:42.890 --> 00:55:44.399
- [Announcer] A complete
disaster right now

00:55:44.400 --> 00:55:45.949
in downtown Oklahoma City.

00:55:45.950 --> 00:55:47.429
- [Announcer] Some sort
of explosion has ripped

00:55:47.430 --> 00:55:49.079
through the Alfred Murrah building.

00:55:49.080 --> 00:55:50.869
- [Renee] Seems like
Americans just don\'t know

00:55:50.870 --> 00:55:52.980
who other Americans are anymore.

00:55:52.981 --> 00:55:54.812
- [Announcer] There was
in fact a daycare center,

00:55:54.813 --> 00:55:56.462
we understand.

00:55:56.463 --> 00:55:57.509
- [Announcer] It\'s just devastating

00:55:57.510 --> 00:55:59.239
that it\'s happened
anywhere, but especially

00:55:59.240 --> 00:56:02.219
in our backyard here
in America\'s heartland.

00:56:02.220 --> 00:56:03.699
- [Renee] But as sure as there\'s hatred,

00:56:03.700 --> 00:56:07.319
I\'ve also seen the side of us
that embraces the stranger,

00:56:07.320 --> 00:56:09.713
in every town in every color.

00:56:12.240 --> 00:56:14.549
I began this journey
searching for what it means

00:56:14.550 --> 00:56:16.233
to be an Asian American.

00:56:17.280 --> 00:56:19.159
I realized now at the same time

00:56:19.160 --> 00:56:22.883
I\'m searching for America, my America.

00:56:32.890 --> 00:56:37.223
- And I wonder where this
journey will take me next.

00:56:38.661 --> 00:56:41.162
♪ One day I took a look
and you know what I found ♪

00:56:41.163 --> 00:56:45.399
♪ I was the only Asian
about 400 miles around ♪

00:56:45.400 --> 00:56:49.002
♪ Guess I\'m gonna get
me a big cowboy hat ♪

00:56:49.003 --> 00:56:53.366
♪ Learn to play baseball with a bat ♪

00:56:53.367 --> 00:56:57.495
♪ Invest in a pair of
fancy jogging shoes ♪

00:56:57.496 --> 00:57:01.415
♪ So I can get rid of
these only China man ♪

00:57:01.416 --> 00:57:05.416
♪ in Great Falls, Montana blues ♪

00:57:11.590 --> 00:57:14.309
- [Renee] I\'m in Seattle to
meet Mike and Rafael Park,

00:57:14.310 --> 00:57:18.863
AKA The Seoul Brothers,
born in Seoul Korea.

00:57:19.980 --> 00:57:21.899
I hear they\'ve developed
quite a reputation

00:57:21.900 --> 00:57:24.763
as local Lotharios, as well as rappers.

00:57:26.080 --> 00:57:29.859
And where the Park brothers
go, trouble follows.

00:57:29.860 --> 00:57:31.899
- I remember one time I
was at Dick\'s Drive In,

00:57:31.900 --> 00:57:34.409
which is a burger place,
and this drunk white dude

00:57:34.410 --> 00:57:36.809
comes in the place with
his friends talking about,

00:57:36.810 --> 00:57:39.269
look at all these fuckin\'
Asians around here, right.

00:57:39.270 --> 00:57:41.586
I was basically plugging
this guy all upside the head.

00:57:41.587 --> 00:57:46.129
I got both his eyes, man,
he looked like a bug, man,

00:57:46.130 --> 00:57:47.439
or something like that.

00:57:47.440 --> 00:57:49.309
And both his nostrils were bleeding,

00:57:49.310 --> 00:57:51.363
his lips were fatter than Mick Jagger.

00:58:01.160 --> 00:58:02.969
- [Renee] I find out
that Mr. and Mrs. Park

00:58:02.970 --> 00:58:05.599
were college sweethearts in Korea.

00:58:05.600 --> 00:58:07.559
Like thousands of young Koreans,

00:58:07.560 --> 00:58:09.649
they made their way to America.

00:58:09.650 --> 00:58:12.509
It was soon after the
birth of their first child

00:58:12.510 --> 00:58:15.913
the son who had come to be
known as Psycho Mike MC.

00:58:17.670 --> 00:58:20.613
I wonder what I should call
them, the Seoul parents?

00:58:22.803 --> 00:58:26.470
(speaking foreign language)

00:58:29.243 --> 00:58:34.089
- She says sometimes he
seems to support the violence

00:58:34.090 --> 00:58:37.459
in order to achieve justice.

00:58:37.460 --> 00:58:39.293
But I don\'t agree with him.

00:58:40.555 --> 00:58:45.555
Before you try to use
violence as a last resort,

00:58:46.610 --> 00:58:51.610
you have to do everything
possible you can do

00:58:52.406 --> 00:58:55.539
to prevent the violence first.

00:58:55.540 --> 00:58:58.229
- I mean the day of
turning the other cheek

00:58:58.230 --> 00:59:00.589
and turning the other way
when someone\'s attacking you

00:59:00.590 --> 00:59:03.437
and all this stuff,
we\'re through with that.

00:59:03.438 --> 00:59:04.400
- You know, any means necessary.

00:59:04.401 --> 00:59:06.314
- I mean, if someone\'s gonna attack me,

00:59:06.315 --> 00:59:08.429
I\'m gonna smack them back.

00:59:08.430 --> 00:59:09.430
- That\'s right.

00:59:10.170 --> 00:59:12.883
- We are going to go to church and enjoy.

00:59:15.740 --> 00:59:16.740
About 10:00.

00:59:18.590 --> 00:59:22.313
Why don\'t you offer them
anything you have to them.

00:59:23.861 --> 00:59:24.851
- [Mike] We\'ll order pizza.

00:59:24.852 --> 00:59:27.948
Maybe we\'ll go to Ying\'s
drive-in or something like that.

00:59:27.949 --> 00:59:31.099
- Bye.

00:59:31.100 --> 00:59:32.149
- [Man] Somebody\'s got a dope rhyme.

00:59:32.150 --> 00:59:35.246
What\'s up, I hear you\'ve
got stupid lyrics.

00:59:35.247 --> 00:59:38.346
- I wrote a new rhyme
called just like honey.

00:59:38.347 --> 00:59:41.276
It\'s like, you know,
cause a lot of people,

00:59:41.277 --> 00:59:44.359
they don\'t look at Asian men
like sex symbols and stuff.

00:59:44.360 --> 00:59:46.289
So that\'s what I wrote this
line about just like honey.

00:59:46.290 --> 00:59:49.529
It\'s a little bit more on that tip.

00:59:49.530 --> 00:59:51.009
- Why man?

00:59:51.010 --> 00:59:53.428
You about one of the best
looking Asians I know,

00:59:53.429 --> 00:59:55.388
you know that\'s right.

00:59:55.389 --> 00:59:58.139
(man beatboxing)

01:00:00.803 --> 01:00:03.759
♪ Yo, here\'s a taste of
something delicious. ♪

01:00:03.760 --> 01:00:06.327
And by the way, it\'s also nutritious

01:00:06.328 --> 01:00:08.716
♪ Not made for the ears of the child ♪

01:00:08.717 --> 01:00:10.768
♪ But for the ladies to go buck wild ♪

01:00:10.769 --> 01:00:13.290
♪ You see the rhyme is like
Kentucky Fried Chicken ♪

01:00:13.291 --> 01:00:15.586
♪ So get with me, I\'m finger lickin\' ♪

01:00:15.587 --> 01:00:17.938
♪ I\'m here today to kick some flavor ♪

01:00:17.939 --> 01:00:20.456
♪ And to the ladies I\'m like a Lifesaver ♪

01:00:20.457 --> 01:00:23.164
♪ A sweet tootsie roll,
I last a long time ♪

01:00:23.165 --> 01:00:25.124
♪ Give me a minute and
I\'ll make you mine ♪

01:00:25.125 --> 01:00:27.570
♪ I\'ll bet you never thought
about a lover that\'s Asian ♪

01:00:27.571 --> 01:00:29.959
♪ Gettin\' cozy with
the yellow persuasion ♪

01:00:29.960 --> 01:00:32.218
♪ Maybe you heard something
about a small dick ♪

01:00:32.219 --> 01:00:34.551
♪ But I\'ll tell you now
that that\'s bullshit ♪

01:00:34.552 --> 01:00:36.754
♪ If you don\'t believe, follow me home ♪

01:00:36.755 --> 01:00:39.311
♪ And find out on your
own that I\'m full grown ♪

01:00:39.312 --> 01:00:41.346
♪ Is good lovin\' what you need ♪

01:00:41.347 --> 01:00:43.698
♪ Well I\'ll give you
satisfaction guaranteed ♪

01:00:43.699 --> 01:00:46.423
♪ Like a gourmet meal tasty and yummy ♪

01:00:46.424 --> 01:00:49.674
♪ I\'m just like honey. ♪

01:00:53.390 --> 01:00:56.409
- [Renee] I Hightail it down
to California just in time

01:00:56.410 --> 01:01:00.083
for the annual Winter
Blossom Debutante Ball.

01:01:05.053 --> 01:01:07.983
- Will all the debutantes please
come over here and line up.

01:01:11.568 --> 01:01:13.699
- It\'s one of the most
important times of your life

01:01:13.700 --> 01:01:16.079
is standing up there and doing a curtesy

01:01:16.080 --> 01:01:18.530
in front of all of your
friends and your parents.

01:01:21.490 --> 01:01:24.874
- It\'s just serves sort
of as a good marker

01:01:24.875 --> 01:01:28.449
for where Chinese Americans
are coming in society.

01:01:28.450 --> 01:01:31.149
And sort of like, well,
I have a lot of respect

01:01:31.150 --> 01:01:33.209
for the Guild for saying,

01:01:33.210 --> 01:01:36.375
if we can\'t have a big charity
ball and a big fundraiser

01:01:36.376 --> 01:01:38.989
and a big debutante ball with Caucasians,

01:01:38.990 --> 01:01:40.893
well, we\'ll just have one of our own.

01:01:44.250 --> 01:01:47.852
- My daughter, Michelle is one
of the debutantes this time.

01:01:47.853 --> 01:01:50.969
I take great delight in
introducing her tonight.

01:01:50.970 --> 01:01:55.970
- She has won the Miss Asian
talent contest in San Francisco

01:01:59.510 --> 01:02:01.594
- And also won first place

01:02:01.595 --> 01:02:04.779
in the Seventh High
School art competition.

01:02:04.780 --> 01:02:06.429
- She played piano, she played tennis,

01:02:06.430 --> 01:02:08.919
she\'s a member of the drill team and...

01:02:08.920 --> 01:02:10.593
- Very active in volleyball.

01:02:23.180 --> 01:02:25.599
- [Renee] The Deb ball
is meant for parents

01:02:25.600 --> 01:02:27.839
to introduce their daughters to society,

01:02:27.840 --> 01:02:30.393
and a few nice Chinese
boys in the process.

01:02:32.570 --> 01:02:34.193
But I\'m sensing tension.

01:02:35.160 --> 01:02:38.059
You see only Chinese escorts are allowed.

01:02:38.060 --> 01:02:40.379
Yet guys are complaining
that some of the Debs

01:02:40.380 --> 01:02:42.313
don\'t even have Chinese boyfriends.

01:02:47.080 --> 01:02:49.629
- [Announcer] She\'s a freshman
at Notre Dame University.

01:02:49.630 --> 01:02:51.659
She\'s an accomplished ballroom dancer,

01:02:51.660 --> 01:02:53.239
and was the featured conference speaker

01:02:53.240 --> 01:02:55.063
on Asian gender issues.

01:02:59.300 --> 01:03:02.129
- [Renee] Is it true none of
you have Chinese boyfriends?

01:03:02.130 --> 01:03:03.789
- I think there are some
with Chinese boyfriends

01:03:03.790 --> 01:03:06.255
and there\'s some with
non Chinese boyfriends.

01:03:06.256 --> 01:03:07.339
- [Renee] Does it really
matter to anybody?

01:03:07.340 --> 01:03:08.663
I don\'t think so.

01:03:08.664 --> 01:03:10.007
- I don\'t think so, I don\'t
think it makes a difference.

01:03:10.008 --> 01:03:12.589
- [Renee] The boys really
thought it mattered a lot.

01:03:12.590 --> 01:03:13.666
- Really?

01:03:13.667 --> 01:03:15.679
- I mean, just for example,
I\'ve met some Asian women

01:03:15.680 --> 01:03:18.129
who will say things like,
I would never go out

01:03:18.130 --> 01:03:19.539
with an Asian guy, never.

01:03:19.540 --> 01:03:23.242
You know, I only date white guys.

01:03:23.243 --> 01:03:27.159
Speaking to that, Mike\'s latest article.

01:03:27.160 --> 01:03:30.727
He has his own column in the
UW Daily, Asiatic Static.

01:03:30.728 --> 01:03:34.509
His latest article is about
the white male fantasy.

01:03:34.510 --> 01:03:37.319
You know, just about how Asian
women have been characterized

01:03:37.320 --> 01:03:39.769
as being kind of
submissive, exotic, erotic.

01:03:39.770 --> 01:03:43.019
And Asian men are usually
stereotyped as being

01:03:43.020 --> 01:03:45.573
kind of short, unmanly, childlike.

01:03:50.765 --> 01:03:52.659
- [Renee] Do you already have a boyfriend?

01:03:52.660 --> 01:03:57.559
- I\'m on the end section
of a relationship, yeah.

01:03:57.560 --> 01:03:58.393
- [Renee] Is he Chinese?

01:03:58.394 --> 01:03:59.563
- No, he\'s white.

01:04:00.410 --> 01:04:01.939
Somehow when I was going out with him

01:04:01.940 --> 01:04:05.539
I felt like maybe I was
better than some Asian women.

01:04:05.540 --> 01:04:07.459
It\'s not something that
I\'d admit to, you know

01:04:07.460 --> 01:04:09.279
but I think now that I\'m stepping away

01:04:09.280 --> 01:04:12.259
from that relationship, it was there.

01:04:12.260 --> 01:04:14.259
I somehow thought I was better.

01:04:14.260 --> 01:04:18.290
And John somehow, I don\'t
want to speak for him,

01:04:18.291 --> 01:04:23.291
but sort of liked the idea
of having an Asian girlfriend

01:04:24.570 --> 01:04:27.209
and sort of thought
one-up-manship on the Asian men

01:04:27.210 --> 01:04:29.260
who couldn\'t get me, quote unquote.

01:04:53.810 --> 01:04:57.415
- [Renee] I don\'t get
the sense that these two

01:04:57.416 --> 01:04:59.279
have any trouble finding girlfriends.

01:04:59.280 --> 01:05:01.949
I have a feeling the
problem isn\'t politics,

01:05:01.950 --> 01:05:04.203
more likely it\'s mom.

01:05:05.600 --> 01:05:07.559
- That means like, we get
a girlfriend or something.

01:05:07.560 --> 01:05:09.759
And then if we\'re with the same girl

01:05:09.760 --> 01:05:12.197
for more than three
months, she starts riffing.

01:05:12.198 --> 01:05:15.289
She just starts like tripping out.

01:05:15.290 --> 01:05:18.239
She starts worrying, because
then she starts thinking

01:05:18.240 --> 01:05:20.859
that we\'re going to get
married or something like that.

01:05:20.860 --> 01:05:23.769
- [Renee] Why does she worry,
because you\'re too young?

01:05:23.770 --> 01:05:27.113
- Well, no, I think she\'s
really picky, you know?

01:05:28.446 --> 01:05:30.659
And like, no girl is
good enough for her sons.

01:05:30.660 --> 01:05:33.139
- 99.9% of the girls that we date

01:05:33.140 --> 01:05:35.146
will not pass the mom test.

01:05:35.147 --> 01:05:35.980
- [Renee] Why is that?

01:05:35.981 --> 01:05:37.909
What are her criteria?

01:05:37.910 --> 01:05:39.738
(laughing)

01:05:39.739 --> 01:05:41.069
- Only mom knows the criteria.

01:05:41.070 --> 01:05:42.040
That\'s the mom test.

01:05:42.041 --> 01:05:44.255
They got to pass the mom test

01:05:44.256 --> 01:05:46.419
and no girl that has, has ever
stepped into this household

01:05:46.420 --> 01:05:48.663
has passed the mom test.

01:05:52.768 --> 01:05:57.768
♪ He\'s my guy. ♪

01:05:57.958 --> 01:06:02.958
♪ I don\'t care what he does ♪

01:06:04.136 --> 01:06:09.136
♪ Cause he\'s my guy ♪

01:06:10.314 --> 01:06:15.314
♪ I guess he always was ♪

01:06:16.419 --> 01:06:20.502
♪ For nobody knows better than I ♪

01:06:22.640 --> 01:06:25.749
- [San Sun] It just serves
sort of as a good marker

01:06:25.750 --> 01:06:29.449
for where Chinese Americans
are coming in society.

01:06:29.450 --> 01:06:31.159
- [Rafael] The day of
turning the other cheek

01:06:31.160 --> 01:06:33.519
and turning the other way
when someone\'s attacking you

01:06:33.520 --> 01:06:35.720
and all this stuff,
we\'re through with that.

01:06:37.730 --> 01:06:39.869
- [Victor] I always thought
as I was growing up then

01:06:39.870 --> 01:06:44.569
as an Asian American, I really
had to write my own manual

01:06:44.570 --> 01:06:46.433
as to how to live in this country.

01:06:48.432 --> 01:06:53.432
♪ I\'m his until I die ♪

01:06:53.694 --> 01:06:58.694
♪ For nobody knows better than I ♪

01:07:02.003 --> 01:07:04.920
♪ That he\'s my guy ♪

01:07:12.970 --> 01:07:16.156
- [Renee] Do you have good or
bad memories of your father?

01:07:16.157 --> 01:07:18.469
- No, I didn\'t have very
good memories of my father.

01:07:18.470 --> 01:07:20.253
He was from another world.

01:07:22.440 --> 01:07:24.819
It was totally Chinese.

01:07:24.820 --> 01:07:27.993
He lived and died in
just 10 square blocks.

01:07:30.640 --> 01:07:35.640
I grew up and eventually
wanted to be an American.

01:07:36.470 --> 01:07:41.389
That is these things here,
I wanted to take with me

01:07:41.390 --> 01:07:45.283
and add it to America.

01:07:46.870 --> 01:07:49.499
- He\'s just like his
father, that\'s what\'s so,

01:07:49.500 --> 01:07:51.513
and his father broke their hearts.

01:07:52.720 --> 01:07:55.739
Because he, his father
would go down the street

01:07:55.740 --> 01:07:57.379
in Chinatown and he would meet the kids

01:07:57.380 --> 01:07:59.430
and wouldn\'t speak to them in the street.

01:08:00.690 --> 01:08:01.773
He was a mess.

01:08:03.920 --> 01:08:05.629
And Victor, anyway.

01:08:05.630 --> 01:08:06.630
No, no.

01:08:08.030 --> 01:08:11.049
Because I was only married
to Victor seven years.

01:08:11.050 --> 01:08:13.069
And of course he didn\'t
really support the children

01:08:13.070 --> 01:08:14.253
after the divorce.

01:08:15.130 --> 01:08:16.539
- [Renee] Why not?

01:08:16.540 --> 01:08:20.743
Because he felt that if I
divorced him, that was my problem.

01:08:22.230 --> 01:08:24.449
You know, so you know how kids are.

01:08:24.450 --> 01:08:27.029
With your parents, no matter
what they are, they\'re normal.

01:08:27.030 --> 01:08:28.453
You accept them.

01:08:29.438 --> 01:08:30.939
And my kids love Victor, adore him.

01:08:30.940 --> 01:08:33.349
They don\'t judge him or anything.

01:08:33.350 --> 01:08:34.550
You know, that\'s Victor.

01:08:35.670 --> 01:08:39.527
But they suffer, they\'ve
suffered terribly from him.

01:08:45.360 --> 01:08:48.253
- I personally was just too childish.

01:08:51.850 --> 01:08:54.009
As I reflect on it, it\'s strange,

01:08:54.010 --> 01:08:56.167
I treated them like my
father treated my mother.

01:08:56.168 --> 01:09:01.168
You know, very in the
traditional Chinese way.

01:09:01.430 --> 01:09:03.023
This was terrible.

01:09:08.920 --> 01:09:12.399
- [Renee] I realize everything
may not boil down to culture.

01:09:12.400 --> 01:09:14.629
Sometimes it\'s the accidents of fate,

01:09:14.630 --> 01:09:16.430
or it could be the choices you make.

01:09:17.500 --> 01:09:21.123
Victor reminds me of some flawed
Buddha wandering the earth.

01:09:22.030 --> 01:09:24.163
At least his small piece of the earth.

01:09:25.587 --> 01:09:27.920
(rap music)

01:09:36.470 --> 01:09:39.549
Victor has been my roadmap
to Asian America\'s past.

01:09:39.550 --> 01:09:42.143
Now I\'m looking for some
direction to the future.

01:09:58.794 --> 01:10:00.689
I catch a demonstration at UCLA.

01:10:00.690 --> 01:10:02.529
Some people call it the University

01:10:02.530 --> 01:10:04.763
of Caucasians Lost Among Asians.

01:10:06.872 --> 01:10:09.705
(crowd screaming)

01:10:12.043 --> 01:10:14.059
I meet Alyssa King who I describe

01:10:14.060 --> 01:10:16.803
as new Asian American voice?

01:10:19.570 --> 01:10:21.293
- I was a registered Republican.

01:10:23.766 --> 01:10:26.471
- [Renee] Registered Republican?

01:10:26.472 --> 01:10:28.077
- Yeah, in high school I
registered Republican. (laughs)

01:10:28.078 --> 01:10:29.389
- Yeah, she\'s pretty much like a nerd.

01:10:29.390 --> 01:10:30.669
You know she stayed to herself

01:10:30.670 --> 01:10:31.849
and she couldn\'t really interact

01:10:31.850 --> 01:10:33.089
with other Korean Americans.

01:10:33.090 --> 01:10:34.489
I\'m serious.

01:10:34.490 --> 01:10:35.733
But now she goes...

01:10:36.608 --> 01:10:38.363
- [Alyssa] I was different, that\'s why.

01:10:41.130 --> 01:10:43.699
- [Renee] Alyssa tells me
her mom raised her alone,

01:10:43.700 --> 01:10:45.909
and I get the sense she\'s
adopted a second family

01:10:45.910 --> 01:10:47.243
here in Korea town.

01:10:53.100 --> 01:10:55.441
There\'s something about
Alyssa that reminds me of me.

01:10:55.442 --> 01:11:00.442
But my anger was inspired by
the wartime internment camps.

01:11:00.670 --> 01:11:03.519
Alyssa\'s family probably remembers
the war for the brutality

01:11:03.520 --> 01:11:05.149
of the Japanese military,

01:11:05.150 --> 01:11:07.909
not for what happened
to Japanese Americans.

01:11:07.910 --> 01:11:09.629
- S-T-Y-E-S

01:11:09.630 --> 01:11:11.309
- [Renee] Alisa had to grow up faster

01:11:11.310 --> 01:11:13.437
in a far tougher world than I did.

01:11:15.720 --> 01:11:18.679
What does your dad think
about all your activities?

01:11:18.680 --> 01:11:21.761
- I haven\'t talked to my
father since high school.

01:11:21.762 --> 01:11:25.579
In And basically I don\'t really
have any kind of connection

01:11:25.580 --> 01:11:27.349
or relationship with him.

01:11:27.350 --> 01:11:31.495
My parents separated when
I was in second grade

01:11:31.496 --> 01:11:32.989
and so he\'s been absent
out of my life pretty

01:11:32.990 --> 01:11:33.990
much since then.

01:11:34.840 --> 01:11:36.759
And I remember my mother
and my grandmother,

01:11:36.760 --> 01:11:38.959
my mother\'s mother, being
very upset when he left.

01:11:38.960 --> 01:11:42.069
But you know, I was basically standing up

01:11:42.070 --> 01:11:44.839
and looking at them and asking
them, why are you crying?

01:11:44.840 --> 01:11:46.569
You should be glad that he\'s leaving.

01:11:46.570 --> 01:11:47.779
And I\'m sure he heard me saying that,

01:11:47.780 --> 01:11:50.439
but I just thought he
was a very evil person

01:11:50.440 --> 01:11:53.639
and it\'s probably better
that he left our lives.

01:11:53.640 --> 01:11:54.884
- [Renee] What would he do?

01:11:54.885 --> 01:11:57.229
- He was just abusive to my mother.

01:11:57.230 --> 01:11:59.239
He would hit her and stuff.

01:11:59.240 --> 01:12:01.799
I think for at least a lot
of Asian families, I know,

01:12:01.800 --> 01:12:04.789
the bad stuff, you\'re not
supposed to talk about it really.

01:12:04.790 --> 01:12:06.887
But I think that\'s a problem,
because I think it\'s important

01:12:06.888 --> 01:12:08.249
to talk about these problems.

01:12:08.250 --> 01:12:10.659
I think one of the reasons
why they\'ve escalated so

01:12:10.660 --> 01:12:12.963
is because people have
been trying to hide them.

01:12:15.210 --> 01:12:16.559
- [Renee] It could be, you simply have

01:12:16.560 --> 01:12:18.549
to leave your family behind

01:12:18.550 --> 01:12:20.573
and all their old ways of thinking.

01:12:21.480 --> 01:12:24.549
On Ocean Beach I meet
Madhuri Rosemary Anji.

01:12:24.550 --> 01:12:27.179
In America she\'s known as Mads.

01:12:27.180 --> 01:12:29.509
Mads tells me she\'s a lesbian woman,

01:12:29.510 --> 01:12:32.743
a liberal Indian, and
a conservative German.

01:12:35.560 --> 01:12:38.930
- I was born approximately there

01:12:40.100 --> 01:12:43.159
which was in Dresden in East
Germany at that point of time.

01:12:43.160 --> 01:12:45.609
From there we emigrated to India,

01:12:45.610 --> 01:12:48.299
which would mean we flew
all the way across down

01:12:48.300 --> 01:12:52.807
to nearly the Southern tip of India.

01:12:52.808 --> 01:12:54.809
My mother is German.

01:12:54.810 --> 01:12:57.329
My father is Indian.

01:12:57.330 --> 01:12:59.889
The other one is of my
father and my sister

01:12:59.890 --> 01:13:01.729
smelling the flowers.

01:13:01.730 --> 01:13:03.233
Wholesome family.

01:13:04.410 --> 01:13:07.763
On top is my father and
my mother getting married.

01:13:10.242 --> 01:13:13.103
What would I say when I
come out to my parents?

01:13:14.210 --> 01:13:17.079
I\'m pretty sure the topic of
marriage is gonna come up,

01:13:17.080 --> 01:13:19.593
because it has crept up recently.

01:13:20.730 --> 01:13:24.729
My sister is too old to
get married apparently.

01:13:24.730 --> 01:13:25.823
She\'s 36.

01:13:27.500 --> 01:13:32.019
In India she\'s too old
to get married. (laughs)

01:13:32.020 --> 01:13:34.773
My brother just got
married and now I\'m next.

01:13:38.740 --> 01:13:40.799
- [Renee] Mads and her
friends are here to celebrate

01:13:40.800 --> 01:13:43.096
a Hindu festival called Holi.

01:13:43.097 --> 01:13:44.453
That\'s Holi with an I.

01:13:46.270 --> 01:13:47.879
Hey Mads, what is Holi?

01:13:47.880 --> 01:13:50.599
As far as I know, no one really knows.

01:13:50.600 --> 01:13:55.001
But it\'s essentially
the welcoming of spring,

01:13:55.002 --> 01:14:00.002
the burning of winter, fertility
in a agricultural sense.

01:14:03.920 --> 01:14:07.303
Happiness and color and
welcoming life in general.

01:14:08.948 --> 01:14:11.443
And also a really nice way
to get your hands on people.

01:14:13.746 --> 01:14:15.996
(laughing)

01:14:26.080 --> 01:14:29.036
So when I go back home, I will look at him

01:14:29.037 --> 01:14:31.129
and I will say the reason
I\'m not getting married

01:14:31.130 --> 01:14:33.769
is because I\'m gay.

01:14:33.770 --> 01:14:37.129
And my father will most probably
not know what that means.

01:14:37.130 --> 01:14:40.183
So I am going to have
to explain it to him.

01:14:41.092 --> 01:14:42.419
What is a queer South Asian?

01:14:42.420 --> 01:14:44.523
Me! (laughs)

01:14:45.380 --> 01:14:46.579
A queer South Asian.

01:14:46.580 --> 01:14:49.593
I was a German in India.

01:14:50.510 --> 01:14:54.429
And when I was in Germany,
I was an Indian in Germany,

01:14:54.430 --> 01:14:56.969
because of my skin color and
because of the way I looked,

01:14:56.970 --> 01:14:58.033
because of my hair.

01:14:59.410 --> 01:15:01.919
So I was always treated as a foreigner

01:15:01.920 --> 01:15:04.509
in a country where I thought I wasn\'t.

01:15:04.510 --> 01:15:06.219
So I figured I might as
well come to a country

01:15:06.220 --> 01:15:07.393
where I am a foreigner.

01:15:09.100 --> 01:15:11.629
And not necessarily be
treated as a foreigner.

01:15:11.630 --> 01:15:14.929
- According to the polls,
59% of Californians voted

01:15:14.930 --> 01:15:16.597
for Proposition 187.

01:15:18.679 --> 01:15:21.289
59% of Californians voted
in support of racism,

01:15:21.290 --> 01:15:24.505
immigration-bashing and scapegoating.

01:15:24.506 --> 01:15:26.372
Well you know what I
have to say about that?

01:15:26.373 --> 01:15:28.031
I say that\'s bullshit!

01:15:28.032 --> 01:15:29.433
Because we are the Californians!

01:15:29.434 --> 01:15:31.692
We are the ones that this poll

01:15:31.693 --> 01:15:34.193
is suppose to be representing!

01:15:35.160 --> 01:15:37.789
- [Renee] What does your
mother say to all this?

01:15:37.790 --> 01:15:40.190
- She kind of doesn\'t
know that I\'m so involved.

01:15:41.365 --> 01:15:44.379
I mean, before I kind
of told her some stuff,

01:15:44.380 --> 01:15:49.380
but because my academics, yeah um.

01:15:49.800 --> 01:15:51.869
She made me promise that I would quit.

01:15:51.870 --> 01:15:54.529
So I kind of lied and
said yeah, I\'ll stop.

01:15:54.530 --> 01:15:56.279
But I didn\'t actually.

01:15:56.280 --> 01:15:58.580
I\'ve still been as
involved and maybe more so.

01:16:03.128 --> 01:16:04.675
- If you start struggling
against the police officer,

01:16:04.676 --> 01:16:08.759
you take the risk of basically
getting a greater amount

01:16:08.760 --> 01:16:10.911
of police oppression back at you.

01:16:10.912 --> 01:16:14.683
- [Woman] Who\'s willing to
stay until you get arrested?

01:16:21.309 --> 01:16:23.629
- [Mads] My mother kind of
knows what it is to be gay

01:16:23.630 --> 01:16:25.389
because before I came to San Francisco

01:16:25.390 --> 01:16:27.790
she told me to be aware
of all those gay people.

01:16:28.690 --> 01:16:31.739
Little did she know that
her daughter was gay.

01:16:31.740 --> 01:16:32.840
They\'re gonna be hurt.

01:16:33.720 --> 01:16:35.363
They\'re gonna be confused.

01:16:36.430 --> 01:16:40.259
But I know that they love me a whole lot

01:16:40.260 --> 01:16:41.669
and I love them a whole lot too.

01:16:41.670 --> 01:16:44.029
And I know that given
a little bit of time,

01:16:44.030 --> 01:16:46.230
they\'re gonna be
completely accepting of it.

01:16:49.240 --> 01:16:51.549
- I want to explain to her
that a lot of the things I do

01:16:51.550 --> 01:16:52.899
is for, you know, it\'s for her.

01:16:52.900 --> 01:16:55.400
It\'s for the empowerment
for the Korean community.

01:16:56.450 --> 01:16:58.399
Her life, I think, has
always been a struggle.

01:16:58.400 --> 01:17:00.689
And you know, she went to night school.

01:17:00.690 --> 01:17:02.629
Yeah, everything basically I think is,

01:17:02.630 --> 01:17:04.480
she works and does everything for me.

01:17:09.413 --> 01:17:13.246
(singing in foreign language)

01:17:16.280 --> 01:17:18.329
I never really thought about
it until like recently,

01:17:18.330 --> 01:17:21.409
but even people like my mom
are my heroes and heroines

01:17:21.410 --> 01:17:24.689
because they face incredible obstacles

01:17:24.690 --> 01:17:26.809
when they come to foreign
countries like the US.

01:17:26.810 --> 01:17:30.467
But yet they manage to
feed us and clothe us

01:17:30.468 --> 01:17:33.583
put us through higher education.

01:17:43.550 --> 01:17:45.969
- [Renee] So what is it that Alyssa, Mads

01:17:45.970 --> 01:17:48.979
and all us Asian Americans have in common?

01:17:48.980 --> 01:17:51.219
Well, we all eat rice.

01:17:51.220 --> 01:17:55.289
I know it\'s not cool to say,
but we all know it\'s true.

01:17:55.290 --> 01:17:58.659
And we reinvent family wherever we go.

01:17:58.660 --> 01:18:00.293
No matter how far from home.

01:18:13.794 --> 01:18:16.377
(horn honking)

01:18:19.090 --> 01:18:20.133
- Hello, everybody.

01:18:21.170 --> 01:18:22.170
- Here we come

01:18:23.183 --> 01:18:26.095
- [Renee] Victor is now married
to his fourth wife, Nancy.

01:18:26.096 --> 01:18:29.019
- Hi.

01:18:29.020 --> 01:18:30.569
- [Renee] He\'s had five children in all,

01:18:30.570 --> 01:18:32.404
and now a new grandchild.

01:18:32.405 --> 01:18:33.529
- Hi Heather.

01:18:33.530 --> 01:18:34.633
Where\'s Vanessa?

01:18:36.120 --> 01:18:38.669
- [Renee] It\'s a Chinese
custom to bring a red envelope

01:18:38.670 --> 01:18:41.019
full of money for the new baby.

01:18:41.020 --> 01:18:45.545
Imagine Victor, the old beatnik,
following Chinese customs.

01:18:45.546 --> 01:18:47.509
- [Victor] This is for Lisa.

01:18:47.510 --> 01:18:49.659
- Well, this is for my Chinese side.

01:18:49.660 --> 01:18:51.129
This is for my English side.

01:18:51.130 --> 01:18:53.009
- Well, tell them what
it really represents.

01:18:53.010 --> 01:18:53.843
Tell them about it.

01:18:53.844 --> 01:18:55.398
- [Woman] Don\'t you have one too?

01:18:55.399 --> 01:18:56.232
- It\'s a dragon.

01:18:56.232 --> 01:18:57.065
- It\'s our family dragon, see.

01:18:57.065 --> 01:18:57.960
It\'s like our crest.

01:18:57.961 --> 01:19:00.289
We all got these family dragons, you know?

01:19:00.290 --> 01:19:01.125
- [Victor] That\'s my name.
- Well I got it first

01:19:01.125 --> 01:19:01.958
and he copied me.

01:19:01.959 --> 01:19:04.603
- Yes, my father\'s name,
my name, my last name.

01:19:05.460 --> 01:19:07.950
- Why don\'t you pose next to Sir King

01:19:09.160 --> 01:19:10.179
so we can see a resemblance.

01:19:10.180 --> 01:19:12.001
- [Victor] Yeah, put your face next to...

01:19:12.002 --> 01:19:13.949
- It\'s incredible, it\'s incredible.

01:19:13.950 --> 01:19:16.309
Really, look.

01:19:16.310 --> 01:19:17.749
- [Renee] Victor spent a life rebelling

01:19:17.750 --> 01:19:20.289
against the traditions of his father.

01:19:20.290 --> 01:19:21.921
But I think what really got to him

01:19:21.922 --> 01:19:24.693
was his father\'s refusal to change.

01:19:26.190 --> 01:19:29.089
Because in the end, it\'s
tradition that sustained Victor

01:19:29.090 --> 01:19:31.059
when it came to his own children

01:19:31.060 --> 01:19:32.864
- All your brothers and sisters,
you look like your mother.

01:19:32.865 --> 01:19:33.698
I\'m telling you, the round face.

01:19:33.699 --> 01:19:35.310
- [Heather] I think your face is shaped.

01:19:36.578 --> 01:19:38.739
- Well, the closest I was
was to the one who died.

01:19:38.740 --> 01:19:40.659
You know, he was killed
here in the streets

01:19:40.660 --> 01:19:43.543
by a bunch of gangs.

01:19:45.270 --> 01:19:46.833
His name was Lyon.

01:19:54.700 --> 01:19:58.739
When Lyon was in the third
grade, he was nine years old,

01:19:58.740 --> 01:20:01.309
having trouble with his mother

01:20:01.310 --> 01:20:02.839
and he wanted to live with me.

01:20:02.840 --> 01:20:06.559
So it was kind of flattering me to myself

01:20:06.560 --> 01:20:09.623
because this was the first
child that has for me.

01:20:14.130 --> 01:20:16.201
I would ask him, you know,
give me three things, you know

01:20:16.202 --> 01:20:21.202
like a silver spoon and
a river or whatever this.

01:20:22.329 --> 01:20:24.669
And I would tell him
stories that I would make up

01:20:24.670 --> 01:20:27.693
as he was falling asleep.

01:20:29.420 --> 01:20:31.399
So I try my best.

01:20:31.400 --> 01:20:36.083
So that when I lost him, it
was a terrible, terrible thing.

01:20:47.490 --> 01:20:50.999
I think to the Chinese,
death is never somebody

01:20:51.000 --> 01:20:52.000
going to heaven.

01:20:53.270 --> 01:20:55.223
The spirits are always around.

01:20:56.350 --> 01:21:00.283
I\'m surrounded by all
the members of my family.

01:21:02.043 --> 01:21:05.563
And I imagine he\'s with
my great-grandfather,

01:21:06.552 --> 01:21:07.952
my grandfather and my mother

01:21:09.555 --> 01:21:11.715
They\'re telling him all about
what life should be like.

01:21:17.211 --> 01:21:21.510
♪ How I wonder where you are. ♪

01:21:21.511 --> 01:21:24.275
And some day I\'ll join him,
and we\'ll spend the rest

01:21:24.276 --> 01:21:26.297
of our eternities talking about things.

01:21:29.106 --> 01:21:33.030
♪ Twinkle twinkle little star ♪

01:21:33.031 --> 01:21:36.781
♪ How I wonder where you are ♪

01:21:41.420 --> 01:21:44.279
- [Renee] Death, brought
Victor back to his family.

01:21:44.280 --> 01:21:46.703
Maybe it\'s how my journey really began.

01:21:47.860 --> 01:21:50.199
Now that I\'m on my way
home, I pass the street

01:21:50.200 --> 01:21:51.939
where my own brother Bobby was killed

01:21:51.940 --> 01:21:53.809
by a hit and run driver,

01:21:53.810 --> 01:21:55.903
when he was about the same age as Lyon.

01:21:57.130 --> 01:21:58.979
Bobby was just starting out too,

01:21:58.980 --> 01:22:00.883
a musician and activist.

01:22:05.090 --> 01:22:07.359
You know, my mother never
put up a shrine for Bobby

01:22:07.360 --> 01:22:08.983
as you see an Asian homes.

01:22:10.310 --> 01:22:12.519
But she does keep all his
Grateful Dead t-shirts

01:22:12.520 --> 01:22:14.499
in vintage condition.

01:22:14.500 --> 01:22:18.023
Not a very Asian-like
thing to do, or is it?

01:22:20.357 --> 01:22:23.957
I no longer fear of being like my parents,

01:22:23.958 --> 01:22:26.458
now I\'m worried I\'ll never
be as good as they are.

01:22:36.520 --> 01:22:37.839
My parents.

01:22:37.840 --> 01:22:40.759
As I get older, my folks
seem to be getting younger.

01:22:40.760 --> 01:22:43.519
They\'re taking dancing lessons
and my dad\'s grown a beard

01:22:43.520 --> 01:22:45.139
and long hair in back.

01:22:45.140 --> 01:22:47.129
When it gets long enough to be a ponytail,

01:22:47.130 --> 01:22:48.130
I think I\'ll scream.

01:22:53.440 --> 01:22:56.099
A year after Bobby died, my
parents seemed to take up

01:22:56.100 --> 01:22:58.079
where he left off.

01:22:58.080 --> 01:23:00.889
They testified in public
about the internment camps

01:23:00.890 --> 01:23:02.139
so what happened to them

01:23:02.140 --> 01:23:04.933
will never happen to
another group of Americans.

01:23:06.190 --> 01:23:08.469
They raised their voices and made trouble,

01:23:08.470 --> 01:23:12.239
following in the footsteps of
their troublemaking children.

01:23:12.240 --> 01:23:15.413
Not a very Asian-like
thing to do, or is it?

01:23:19.371 --> 01:23:21.954
(upbeat music)

01:23:32.405 --> 01:23:33.238
My journey is over and I start thinking

01:23:33.239 --> 01:23:35.119
about a family of my own.

01:23:35.120 --> 01:23:36.649
And guess what?

01:23:36.650 --> 01:23:37.773
I even got married!

01:23:45.010 --> 01:23:46.319
I know you\'ve got to be wondering

01:23:46.320 --> 01:23:48.279
about the socio-cultural implications

01:23:48.280 --> 01:23:50.409
of my marrying a Mexican American.

01:23:50.410 --> 01:23:54.533
But for once, I can\'t
think of anything to say.

01:23:55.820 --> 01:23:57.713
Hi, Merry Christmas.

01:23:57.714 --> 01:24:00.271
- [Man] Oh, here they come.

01:24:00.272 --> 01:24:01.689
What is it, Mari?

01:24:04.536 --> 01:24:07.749
- Look at that, isn\'t that cute?

01:24:07.750 --> 01:24:10.227
- [Dad] Oh, we were a good looking couple.

01:24:12.555 --> 01:24:13.555
Let\'s see.

01:24:24.642 --> 01:24:27.339
- [Renee] And of course,
someday I\'ll pack my kids

01:24:27.340 --> 01:24:29.519
in the car and take them out on the road.

01:24:29.520 --> 01:24:32.139
Still as magnificent
to me today, as it was

01:24:32.140 --> 01:24:34.083
looking out for my dad\'s old Ford.

01:24:42.540 --> 01:24:44.569
Now, if someone asked
me where I came from,

01:24:44.570 --> 01:24:46.459
I tell them I was born in Chicago

01:24:46.460 --> 01:24:48.283
and raised in Asian America.

01:24:49.840 --> 01:24:52.009
I\'ve realized the
question is not how people

01:24:52.010 --> 01:24:54.049
become real Americans,

01:24:54.050 --> 01:24:56.763
but how America has become it\'s people.

01:24:57.850 --> 01:24:59.413
We are its people.

01:25:02.300 --> 01:25:04.699
To learn more about my America,

01:25:04.700 --> 01:25:08.453
visit PBS online at the
intranet address on your screen.

01:25:12.918 --> 01:25:15.501
(upbeat music)

01:26:02.204 --> 01:26:03.779
- [Announcer] Major funding
for this program was provided

01:26:03.780 --> 01:26:06.409
by the corporation for
public broadcasting.

01:26:06.410 --> 01:26:09.603
Additional funding was provided
by the following funders.