Interview with Jielin Dong, Phd. Co-author of The Rocky Road to Liberty

Dr. Jielin Dong is the Founder and President of Javvin Technologies, Inc, a technical publishing company.  A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a Ph.D degree in Physics, she was came to the U.S. in 1982 after receiving her B.S. degree from Zhongshan University.  She is the President of the Chinese American Society.

Q:      Please tell our readers about the Chinese American Society? What are your goals?

JD:    Chinese American Society (CAS), formed in Nov. 2009 by a group of new immigrants from mainland China, is a non-profit organization to inspire Chinese Americans’ social and political participation and contribution; to foster Chinese cultural heritage; to promote Chinese Americans’ social, political and economic well-being; to enhance understanding among all peoples, and to advocate world peace.

Q:    What led the group to publish The Rocky Road to Liberty?

JD:    For new immigrants, integration with the society is one of the greatest challenges. Learning history, especially the history of Chinese Americans, is a very important part of this integration.  During the studies, we found lots of shocking materials that presented a dark past in the Chinese immigration history, which is very different with the democracy, equality and human rights that we are enjoying now. This dark past is rooted in the Chinese Exclusion Act.

We decided to put together the book The Rocky Road to Liberty to educate the new immigrants, to raise awareness of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and to prevent similar things from happening again to our and all ethnic communities.

Q:    This is probably one of the first bilingual books to cover the issue of Chinese American Exclusion laws.  Is there much interest in this topic among more recent Chinese immigrants?

JD:     The initial response is very positive from the new Chinese immigrants.

Q:    As the editor, what surprised you the most about the history of Chinese exclusion?

JD:    There are many Caucasian people, such as U.S. Senator George Frisbie Hoar, U.S. Congressman E. Morse and the writer Mark Twain, who had fought hard for Chinese immigrants based on their conscience.  The root causes of racial discrimination are actually financial reasons, such as jobs, wages, etc. Other reasons such religion and cultural habits are only secondary.  Over history Chinese immigrants did not fight as a group as much as other ethnic groups. Most people fought their cases individually by filing a law suit in court.

Q:         The last section of the book focuses on examples of governmental apologies for acts of injustice perpetrated on other ethnic groups.  What does CAS advocate in terms of redress?

JD:    We are considering the following possible redress for the apology:
•    Establish a monument to remember the contributions of the early generations of Chinese immigrants.

•    Make sure the Chinese Exclusion Act, the final apology and the contributions of the early Chinese immigrants are included in history text book of schools.

The Chinese American Society’s Book Launch Party
Co-sponsored by AIISF and other community organizations

Date: 3-5PM March 27, 2010
Location: California Historical Center (Near Flint Center in De Anza College)
21250 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA 95014
Ticket price: $60 for cocktail and Book or $20 for Cocktail only

Mail a check:
Chinese American Society
180 Golf Club Road, No. 139
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-1526 USA
Event Speakers: Paul Fong, CA State Assymblymember; Keynote Speaker
Hsing Kung, AAGG Founder and President
Michael Chang, Founder and President of APALI; Former Mayor of Cupertino