BECOMING AMERICAN. A Conversation/ Part 2
Jennifer Fang, a professor of history and the Director of Education at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon in conversation with Sankar Raman/The Immigrant Story
Wednesday, May 27th; 12:30pm PT/3pm ET
FREE// If you can, please support our memory activism collective by a tax-deductible donation to >> vanportmosaic.org/donate
When economic and social uncertainty strikes in the United States, time and again, Asian Americans have become the country’s de facto scapegoats. With the country’s history of legislative exclusion, internment and overt “othering” of Asian immigrants serving as a backdrop to our present, Asian communities in the United States today are facing, yet again, an upheaval of misplaced resentment due to COVID-19.
Join Jennifer Fang, a professor of history and the Director of Education at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon in conversation with Sankar Raman, founder of The Immigrant Story, as they explore how the United States’ historical (mis)treatment of Asian immigrants informs the treatment of Asian Americans today as a part of the “Who Gets to be American” series hosted by the Vanport Mosaic Festival.
Fang, whose academic research focuses on U.S History and Asian American History, will discuss the historical precedents that have shaped attitudes towards Asian Americans while Raman inquires about the future that lies ahead for Asian Americans.Together Fang and Raman highlight the importance of seeing the patterns of racism in our history to better help us identify and address its contemporary manifestations.
Jennifer Fang is the Director of Education at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and an adjunct professor at the University of Portland where she teaches Modern U.S. History and Asian American History. She holds a Ph.D. in U.S. History and is a specialist in race and immigration during the Cold War. A first-generation child of Chinese immigrants from Taiwan, and now the only member of her immediate family to live in the United States, Jennifer thinks a lot about contemporary immigrant and transnational experiences. Jennifer’s research and writing have been published in academic journals and incorporated into museum exhibitions. She has spoken across the state about Chinese American history.
Sankar Raman (Founder of The Immigrant Story):
Sankar immigrated to the U.S. from Madras, India, to attend graduate school, earning a Masters in Physics, and a PhD in Engineering from Purdue University. After a successful career in high tech, he founded a nonprofit organization, The Immigrant Story, which chronicles stories of immigrants in order to document and archive their voices in a variety of formats and genres.
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This event is part of the VIRTUAL VANPORT MOSAIC FESTIVAL 2020 - an online series of memory activism opportunities curated by Story Midwife Laura Lo Forti.
Made possible by the generous support of MCDD, Port of Portland, City of Portland Office of Community & Civic Life, Oregon Historical Society, Apex, Oregon Cultural Trust and Regional Arts & Culture Council