In 1882, Congress refused to bow to racist pressure and shot down a bill that would have halted Chinese immigration into the U.S. for 10 years. This changed the face of the west coast as more and more Chinese came across the Pacific and settled in America and helped build the once-wild west. The cultural clash between the white-bread eastern US and the Asian-influenced west led to the riots of the 1960's that culminated in 1968's Equal Citizenship Act.