On March 28, 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, holding that children born in the United States, even to parents not eligible to become citizens, were nonetheless citizens themselves under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Read more.

In April 1975, Peter Yew asked police to stop beating a 15-year-old whom they had stopped for a traffic violation. For his concern, Yew was savagely beaten, taken back to the police station, stripped, beaten again, and arrested on charges of resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. His beating was the last straw as 15,000 Chinatown community members took to the streets to fight back against police attacks and brutality against their community. Read more.

On July 15, 1974, workers at the Jung Sai factory in San Francisco went on strike after a union activist was fired for "unsatisfactory work." The workers----most of them middle-aged Chinese immigrant women----protested the firing and unfair labor practices, and demanded better working conditions and the right to organize. This united body of immigrant workers inspired popular support from community, student, and working-class populations throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Read more.

Teaching Activity. By Wayne Wah Kwai Au. Lesson on the history of Hawai'i and the impact of colonization and tourism. Download lesson.