"They would stop you on the street. Harass you and ask
all sorts of questions, push you around. It became a daily part
of our lives in Chinatown during that time."
-
MAURICE CHUCK
"Apparently
some statements that I had made were quoted to the FBI by someone
because when I told these statements I was quite startled that
they had some way made their way into the files."
- CONNIE
HWANG
"They had pictures of people in
it and asked me to identify each of these people as to were
I knew them or not. And how they stand in relation to their
point of view of China."
- ROLLAND LOWE
"I was delivered with a piece
of paper and what it was, was a subpoena to appear before the
Department Loyalty Board."
- ELEANOR WONG TELEMAQUE |
CHARACTERS
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HENRY
CHIN
arrived in the United States in 1940 and started working in
a laundry for $4/week. He eventually became president of the
Chinese Hand Laundry Allliance (CHLA). Under his leadership,
the CHLA was able to raise funds to help China in its efforts
to resist the Japanese invasion. From 1955-1975, Mr. Chin was
president of the China Daily News. As a result of Mr. Chin's
outspoken support for the People's Republic of China, the FBI
followed him for over twenty years. Finding no grounds to arrest
him, they finally gave up in 1972, the same year President Nixon
made his historic visit to China. In the film, Mr. Chin jokes,
"That's why I always say, Nixon liberated me!" He
received a standing ovation at the premiere of The Chinatown
Files at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 2001,
and died in 2002. |
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MAURICE
CHUCK is a native of Guangdong, China and immigrated
to the United States with his father in 1948. A journalist,
author, editor, publisher and expert translator, Mr. Chuck is
founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Chinese language
daily newspaper the San Francisco Journal, as well as editor-in-chief
of the Fukien Chinese Weekly. He served as interpreter/translator
for Mayor Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco during her 1984
visit to Shanghai. A former member of Mun Ching, Maurice Chuck
was arrested and jailed in the 1950s when his father's testimony
under the Chinese Confession Program was used against him in
court. Respected as an authority on China, Mr. Chuck has taught
Asian American Studies and has been interviewed frequently by
U.S. local and national media on events in China. |
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CONNIE
HWANG was born in San Francisco. She grew up
in Chinatown and attended U.C. Berkeley. A former member of
Mun Ching, she was harassed by the FBI because of her involvement
in the group and was prevented from working in industries that
required security clearances. She currently works as a computer
consultant.
Connie
Hwang was the staff photographer for East West Newspaper and
later became an editor of the San Francisco Journal, another
bilingual paper in Chinatown. She has written or photographed
for the Pacific Citizen, the New York Nichibei, and the Hokubei
Mainichi. She was active in several Chinatown organizations
including the Asian American Health Clinic on Stockton Street,
the I-Hotel Dental Health program, and was a supporter of
On Lok, Self-Help for the Elderly, the Chinese Historical
Society, The Chinese Cultural Center and other groups. Her
work as a photographer in the 1970s has put many images of
contemporary Chinese American life into the mainstream media.
|
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JUDGE
THOMAS RUSSELL JONES was the defense attorney
for the three laundry workers in the case of the U.S. vs. the
China Daily News and Tom Sung and Chin Gong and Hong Ming. These
three men were charged with violating the Trading With the Enemy
Act when they responded to an ad in the China Daily News enabling
them to send money to their families in China. Judge Jones recalls
the climate of the times, when the U.S. government went to great
lengths to intimidate and terrorize ordinary people with its
anti-Communist campaign. He was shocked when the guilty verdict
was delivered; "I had all I could do to contain myself"
is how he describes his reaction. In 1967, he won election to
the New York State Supreme Court, where he served with great
distinction until his retirement in 1985. He organized the Supreme
Court Justices Association of the City of New York and was later
elected President of the Association. He co-founded the Supreme
Court Justices Association of New York State. Since his retirement,
he organized The Children's Times Corporation, an advocacy group
for underpriviledged children. Justice Jones is also a Silver
Life Member of NAACP.
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HIM
MARK LAI was the former President of Mun Ching
and is a retired engineer. He is renown for his contributions
as one of the first Asian American scholars. He taught courses
in Chinese American history at San Francisco State University
and University of California, Berkeley as well as authored essays
and books on Chinese American history, including History Reclaimed
: An Annotated Bibliography of Chinese Language Materials on
the Chinese of America. He was consultant to the Asian American
Studies collections, University of California at Berkeley, and
is currently adjunct professor in the Asian American history
department, San Francisco State University. In the film he speaks
about his experiences in Mun Ching and provides a historical
perspective on their activities. |
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KATHY
LOWE, a former member of Mun Ching, joined the organization
to find friendship and companionship. Her citizenship papers
were taken away for twenty years because of her involvement
in the group. She has been active in her community, and has
been president of Chinese for Affirmative Action, Square and
Circle, and Chinese Hospital Auxiliary. Through the Lawrence
Choy Lowe Memorial Fund, she and her husband have given over
half a million dollars to charitable organizations, while supporting
other local causes as well. |
|
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DR.
ROLLAND LOWE,
, the husband of Kathy Lowe, is also a former member of Mun
Ching. During his military service in Korea, he was investigated
by Army intelligence because of his one-time membership in the
group. A physician practicing in San Francisco's Chinatown,
he was the first ever Asian American President of the California
Medical Association. His goal as president was to get physicians
more involved in their communities in order to be better patient
advocates. He has worked to provide low-income immigrants with
high quality health care and advocated for better health care
within the Chinese American community.
In 1987,
Dr. Lowe founded the Lawrence Choy Lowe Memorial Fund , a
charitable and civic foundation which makes gifts to nonprofit
organizations in the Chinese community. Among it aims is ensuring
Asian civil rights and the establishment of a capital campaign
for the Chinese Historical Society's museum. Dr. Lowe has
served in many community organizations and worked to provide
decent housing for the elderly in San Francisco. At the White
House Conference on Philanthropy, Dr. Lowe was one of the
"everyday Americans" recognized by the President
and Mrs. Clinton for his philanthropic contributions.
Dr. Lowe
said, "I consented to record my story with great reluctance.
I had suppressed this bad experience from my conscious for
over forty years. When the Wen Ho Lee case broke out last
year, my feelings changed. Here again under the banner of
"red menaces" and "yellow peril" Chinese
Americans were hounded and their civil rights were abused."
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a
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MATTHEW
MARKS is a former Treasury agent in charge of the Office
of Foreign Assets in Washington D.C. He maintains to this day
that the Chinese American community in the 1950s gave substantial
assistance to the Chinese Government. |
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a
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JAMES
SHERIFF is a retired FBI agent who was involved in the
Chinatown investigations in San Francisco. He speaks candidly
of his strategy of looking for informants within San Francisco's
Chinatown, who would report on their neighbors to the U.S. government.
He discusses the collaboration of the FBI and the Immigration
Service to threaten with deportation those Chinese suspected
of Communist activities. |
|
a
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ELEANOR
WONG TELEMAQUE was born in the United States. As a young
woman, she joined the Chinese Student Christian Association
in the hopes of meeting guys. During the McCarthy era, she was
subpoenaed to appear before the State Department Loyalty Board
- because the Chinese Student Christian Association was charged
with being a Communist front organization. She always considered
herself to be an American and never dreamt that her loyalty
to the U.S. would be called into questionwas born in the United
States. As a young woman, she joined the Chinese Student Christian
Association in the hopes of meeting guys. During the McCarthy
era, she was subpoenaed to appear before the State Department
Loyalty Board - because the Chinese Student Christian Association
was charged with being a Communist front organization. She always
considered herself to be an American and never dreamt that her
loyalty to the U.S. would be called into question. |
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