1960
6/13: In Kimm vs Rosenberg. the Supreme Court rules that a Corean national may be deported for refusing to answer whether he is a Communist.
1965
10/3: The Immigration Act of 1965 abolishing the racist “national origins” quota system is signed by LBJ. Asian immigrant quotas are finally placed on an equal footing with those of other nations.
1969
1/11: Berkeley’s “Yellow Identity” conference draws 900 attendees.
1/19: UC Berkeley students strike for 3 months to urge instituting ethnic studies.
3/4: The UC Berkeley faculty votes 550 to 4 in favor of establishing an Ethnic Studies Department.
1970
3/25: Kinney Kinmon Lau and 2 others sue the SF Board of Education for bilingual education rights.
5/8: Marion Lacadia Oberta becomes the first Filipina American to be appointed judge to the Los Angeles bench.
6/22: The Voting Rights Act Amendment of 1970 eliminates literacy test requirement for entry into the U.S.
1971
8/25: In Guey Hung Lee vs Johnson. the Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregating all-Chinese public schools. Parents voice fears of losing their language and culture.
1972
4/27: First national conference of Asian Americans and Pacific Island peoples is held in San Francisco, CA.
6/12: Federal legislation repeals two “anti-Oriental” laws, an 1872 law prohibiting entry of “Orientals” without a permit and a 1905 law banning “the import of an oriental woman with the intent to sell her.”
1974
1/21: In Lau vs Nichols the Supreme Court decides that bilingual education must be provided to non-English speaking students.
5/16: Chatham Square Rally in New York. Prompted by the refusal of DeMattheis Corp to hire Asian American construction workers for Confucious Plaza, Asian Americans for Equal Employment stages a demonstration.
5/18: Members of the Pacific/Asian Coalition coin the phrase “Asian Americans and Pacific Island peoples” to refer to themselves.
7/10: Asian Americans for Equal Employment succeeds in getting over 40 Asian American workers hired for construction of Confucious Plaza in NY. 1975
5/12: Over 2,500 New York Chinatown residents demonstrate outside City Hall against police brutality.
5/19: People from Philadelphia, Boston and Washington DC join 20,000 NYC Chinatown residents in a demonstration against police brutality.
5/23: Congress redefines the tern “refugee” to include people from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
5/28: Ft Indiantown Gap, PA, opens as a receiving center for Southeast Asian refugees. 16,000 refugees go through the camp.
6/30: State bulldozers tear down a part of Philadelphia Chinatown Community for a highway, despite promises not to tear down the Chinatown area without the consent of the community.
1976
6/1: In Hampton vs Wong Mow Sun the Supreme Court rules that the Civil Service cannot deny employment on the basis of race.
1976
11/2: Dr Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa becomes the first Asian American to be elected to the U.S. Senate from the continental U.S. The Canadian-born semanticist won national fame by standing up to anti-war protestors while serving as president of San Francisco State University. His lackluster record dooms his Senate career to a single term.
1977
4/2: A pan-campus conference at Yale leads to establishment of East Coast Asian Student Union (ECASU).
1980
1/4: National Convention of American Newspaper Guild resolves to stop newspapers from using the epithet “Jap”
3/14: Following translation of the citizenship test into Japanese, 37 Issei (first generation Ja-Am) are sworn in as U.S. citizens in L.A. Most have been residents for over 20 years.
3/17: 1980 Refugee Act increases the yearly quota of refugees allowed to enter the U.S.
4/15: Carol Kawanami is elected mayor of Villa Park, CA to become the first Japanese American woman to preside over an American city.
6/27: First Philippine Festival of the Arts began in NYC.
7/31: Commission on Wartime Relocation forms. 1981 investigation determines that internment was a “grave injustice” caused by “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership”. Next
