Ep. 7: China historian Anne Chao grew up on four continents, archives oral history of Chinese Americans

Chinatown 2.0

Professor Anne Chao is a Chinese modern historian that lectures at Rice University. She is also manager of the Houston Asian American Archive, an oral history archive that looks to document the challenges faced and contributions made by the Asian American community.

As the daughter of a Taiwanese diplomat, Anne moved between Congo, Australia, Washington DC, and Taiwan as a kid. Her Ph.D. dissertation was on the social networks of Chen Duxiu, co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party and publisher of the influential magazine Xin Qingnian, or New Youth.

In this interview, we covered her multi-continental childhood, views on Asian’s involvement in politics, a history of discrimination suffered by Asian Americans, inspiring stories from the Houston Asian American archive, and her work on Chen Duxiu.

Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) oral histories: https://haaa.rice.edu/

* Intro
* Multi-continental childhood between Congo, Australia, Washington DC and Taiwan
* Nativism, liberalism, populism of major Western countries today
* Black Lives Matter awakens Asian Americans to more active political participation
* A brief history of discrimination of Chinese, Japanese and Indian Americans
* Asians’ general inactiveness in the American political process
* Age-old question of mainstream assimilation for Asian Americans
* Stories from Houston Asian American Archive
* China’s history around the rise of Chen Duxiu and his publication 新青年