A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go to the Chinese American Museum. The two exhibitions I enjoyed most were Origins: The Birth and Rise of Communities in Los Angeles and Journeys. I really enjoy teaching my students about the local history and the cultures that shape and influence our community. These two exhibitions do a fantastic job of really highlighting the experiences and hardships of Chinese immigrants in LA. My students are always shocked when I tell them how far the Chinese travelled just for work and that they helped lay down the railroads not only in America but in Mexico as well. The Chinese were always assigned the most laborous and dangerous jobs. One of these extremely dangerous jobs was mining and so they had to blow up mountains and work with the highly exploseive ingredient that is nitroglycerin. Many Chinese and Irish died from doing this and most Americans refused these kind of jobs. The truth is America would not be the nation it is without the blood, sweat and tears from immigrants all over the world.
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