But if previous testimonials about the Roots program are true, learning about the past can help the interns reconcile their American upbringing with their Chinese past. It can strengthen them against the parts of American society that don't accept them because they are Chinese. This knowledge of the past can also create a greater appreciation of the present.
"I have not seen one student who has not been touched, or has not come out of the experience a different person," Al Cheng, co-coordinator of the program and group leader in China, told me before the trip. "Some are even ashamed of their Chinese background," he says, before participating in Roots.
The program is limited to residents of northern California who trace their family roots to Guangdong, the province around Hong Kong that has been sending immigrants to the United States for more than 150 years. When I went along two years ago, the group was mostly made up of urban kids who'd never seen a farm, much less a farm in China. Among the twelve of us were a couple of high school kids, a few college students, two engineers, and an Internet entrepreneur.
The Chinese Culture Center and the Chinese Historical Society of America, both of San Francisco, sponsor the Roots program with help from the Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs in Guangdong. Since 1990, Roots has given about one hundred people the chance to visit the homes and villages where their ancestors were born.
For Wilson Woo, co-owner of a Web consulting company, the Roots trip was the first time he had been to China since he visited as a child in 1986. The trip reminded him of his culture and how important that knowledge is.
"The more you understand who you are, it doesn't matter what kind of racist or offensive things people throw at you," Woo says. "You know the truth inside."
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