In the era of U.S. expansion, new immigrants arrive from China, India, Japan, the Philippines, and beyond. Eventually barred by anti-Asian laws, they become America's first "undocumented immigrants". Undeterred, they continue to build railroads, take their fight for equality to the US Supreme Court, and even dazzle on the silver screen.

An American-born generation straddles their country of birth and their familial homelands in Asia. Family loyalties are tested during World War II when Japanese Americans are imprisoned in incarceration camps and brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the battle lines. For Koreans and other Asian Americans, joining the U.S. war effort also meant the fight for independence in Asia.

During the years of the Cold War, Asian Americans are simultaneously heralded as the "model minority" while also suspected as the perpetual foreigner. As Asian Americans aspire to run for national political office for the first time, an emerging culture-quake rises to the surface as they are fueled with bold ambition and hope.

During a time of the war and social tumult, a young generation fights for equality both in the fields and on campuses to claim a culture and new identity of their own: Asian Americans. The aftermath of the Vietnam War introduces new immigrants and refugees who further expand the definition of who is Asian American.

At the turn of the millennium, Asian Americans have become the fastest-growing population in the U.S. During this time of tremendous change, Asian Americans, newly empowered by their growing numbers and rising influence, must navigate their role in the future of America as the country tackles urgent debates over immigration, race, and the economic disparity.