On April 30, 2025, the 1882 Foundation partnered with Politics and Prose to host Michael Luo and Jia Lynn Yang to discuss his newest book, Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America. This event was held at Politics and Prose’s flagship location on Connecticut Avenue in Washington D.C. with Jia Lynn Yang as moderator.
In this Talk Story, Michael began with his inspiration for the book. In 2016, he was in New York with his family and was told to “go back to China.” Michael said while he had faced comments like this before, he had never felt the need to reply. However, in this instance, he felt so angry that he followed her down the street to tell her off, but only wound up saying, “I was born in this country!” Perhaps it was the political climate of 2016 when the debate of who was allowed to be American was resurfacing yet again, perhaps it was the fact that his daughters had witnessed the whole encounter, perhaps Michael had just had enough. Either way, the event had made enough of an impact for Michael to write a viral piece in the New York Times in 2016 and launched him into a journey of researching exclusion in America; he was on a mission to prove to everyone, and especially his two daughters, that they did belong in the United States.
As for his process, Michael said that he poured over archives and documents at various libraries or universities, and wrote all without ever taking leave from his position as an Executive Editor at the New Yorker. Digitization came in handy multiple times as he was able to research for his book from the comfort of his home instead of traveling. This became especially useful during the pandemic.
The history of the Chinese in America is not an inherently new story. It has been written about in the past, perhaps most memorably by Iris Chang and her book, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History. However, Michael says his book is unique because it tells this mostly from the perspective of exclusion and what that means for the future. Even though the 1882 Exclusion Act may be disbanded, the principles of exclusion can always come back to haunt those who can be othered.
Moderator Jia Lynn noted that the strength of this book lies in the powerful stories told about individuals who previously had no voice. She noted one particularly moving story of the 1871 lynching in L.A. Later, in the Q&A this was further clarified as a significant difference between Chang’s Book, and Betty Lee Sung’s Mountain of Gold: The Story of the Chinese in America, along with her other publications.
This event was very successful, with nearly every seat being filled at the Politics and Prose location, and with those who remained standing. A final count of attendees was not able to be conducted, but there was an estimate of around 50 people.
