WITNESS TO THE PAST: The Memorial Tower of the Chinese Railroad Workers in Shanghai, presented by Illinois state in January 1991. The middle pole of the 1.5-ton steel sculpture connects 3,000 railroad spikes. The tower commemorates Chinese workers' contribution to railroads linking the U.S. coasts (CHEN RAN)

The number of Chinese Americans has approached 4 million and is expected to hit 6 million by 2020, making them the third largest ethnic minority group in the United States. The importance of Chinese Americans has grown remarkably these days, a sharp contrast to the late 19th century when ethnic Chinese, many of whom had been recruited to build the transcontinental railroad, were discriminated from their fellow Caucasian workers. More than 100,000 ethnic Chinese were living in the United States at the end of the 19th century, said an AFP report.

The soaring influence of Chinese Americans will help them win an apology from Congress. Chinese Americans have shown great solidarity for this cause. More than 100 Chinese associations across the United States are behind Chu's initiative.

In July 2009, then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a resolution apologizing to Chinese Americans for past discriminatory laws. The resolution also acknowledged the great contributions Chinese Americans made to California's development.

Canada has also taken action. In 2006, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a full apology to Chinese Canadians for the head tax and the exclusion of Chinese immigrants from 1923 to 1947. The Canadian Government also promised symbolic payments to those who were required to pay the head tax and to the spouses of deceased head tax payers.

Chinese American initiative

Since becoming the first Chinese American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, Chu has put the introduction of an apology resolution at the top of her political agenda. Her grandfather was one of the victims of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

While running for Congress in California, Chu kept in close touch with Paul Fong, a member of the California State Assembly. Fong, also a Chinese American, was the main sponsor of California's apology resolution.

Haipei Shue, President of the Washington, D.C.-based National Council of Chinese Americans, launched the 1882 Project to support Chu's campaign. The Museum of Chinese Americans in New York City also held exhibitions to promote a better understanding of Chinese American history.

Indeed, many Chinese Americans know little about the Chinese Exclusion Act, let alone other Americans.

"Most Americans are not familiar with the Act and the extraordinary levels of discrimination against Asian Americans," said Mike Coffman, a Congressman from Colorado who co-sponsored the House resolution with Chu.

Judy Biggert, another co-sponsor of the House resolution from Illinois, said she supports the bill because the United States is "a country where everyone is equal and gets equal rights."

"We have to keep that in front for future generations, because otherwise it will happen to someone else in a similar way," she said.

The timing of the resolutions was crucial. She could have introduced a resolution last year, but Sino-U.S. relations hit a rough patch following Washington's decision to sell arms to Taiwan, U.S. President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama and disputes over trade imbalances, causing her to delay action. In May, she took action, shortly after Obama launched his re-election campaign. Given his low approval rating, Obama needs to court voters, including Chinese American voters.

But activists still have a long way to go to get the resolutions passed in both chambers of Congress. Since Chinese Americans do not have a big say in mainstream U.S. media, it will be difficult for them to draw continued attention to the resolutions. At the moment, the U.S. Congress is too preoccupied with domestic and diplomatic challenges to allocate time for bills on racial discrimination more than a century old.

Historically, Chinese Americans have been uninterested in American politics. More often than not, they chose to remain silent instead of struggling for equal rights. Today, many young Chinese Americans are not fully aware of the lingering impact of Chinese exclusion laws. Many Chinese immigrants also tend to forget past grievances after naturalization. These attitudes could hinder progress in seeking an apology too.

Fong, who has backed Chu's efforts to seek an apology at the federal level, said it is of pivotal importance to educate Chinese Americans about their history. He has called on Chinese Americans to make concerted efforts to push for the passage of the resolutions.

The author is a researcher with the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Chinese Americans

The latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show the number of Chinese Americans reached 3,796,796 in 2009. In 2010, a total of 70,863 people from China obtained legal permanent resident status in the United States, and 33,969 were naturalized as U.S. citizens, said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.