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Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
China is one of the oldest cultures in recorded history. For centuries it was a feudal society bound by traditional roles and responsibilities according to age, sex, birth order, and class within society. Less than one hundred and fifty years ago, there was almost no contact between China and the West. The Chinese were forbidden to teach their language to a foreigner or to send books abroad. The first Chinese arrived in the United States in 1847 when they were brought by a missionary for schooling in Massachusetts, and with the push by America to open up China to trade, the year 1848 saw the arrival of silk merchants and the first true immigrants, two men and a woman, to work in mining areas. By 1851, after news of the gold rush had reached economically depressed Canton in south China, tales of riches brought twenty-five thousand Chinese to California. The Chinese had developed mining throughout Southeast Asia, and they named America "Gam Saan," or Gold Mountain. America also needed access to cheap labor for the Central Pacific Railroad, and the economic conditions in China made for a frail but mutual alliance between the two countries.
Most of the Chinese who came were poor male villagers. Known as "sojourners," they left their wives and children with the idea of making enough money to return to China. To Americans, the Chinese appeared alien, due more to cultural differences than racial characteristics. Compounding the problem, Chinese sojourners maintained a psychological and social separateness from American society by maintaining the values, norms, and attitudes of their homeland, and men still dressed according to Chinese custom with long queues (braids), felt slippers, cotton blouses, and little round hats.
Opposition began as Chinese gold miners, mining locations Americans considered worthless, made them profitable. Because men far outnumbered women, Chinese seized opportunities as cooks, launderers, and household servants. Charges were made by Whites that the Chinese depressed wages and lowered the standard of living. This backlash, along with the lawless setting of the frontier, resulted in violence against the Chinese.
Government intervention concerning hostility to Chinese immigration began with a treaty with China in 1868 giving Chinese in the United States the privileges of travel or residence as citizens of nations with most favored status, but excluded the right of naturalization. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred any heavy immigration of Chinese. From 1908 to 1930, 72,796 Chinese departed while 48,482 arrived in America.
Chinese Immigration to Hawaii
In 1865, Hawaii sent Dr. William Hillebrand, Royal Commissioner of Immigration, to bring back cheap labor for sugar plantations. Two vessels transported 500 workers, each with a five-year contract to Hawaii. The percentage of Chinese in Hawaii rose from one-tenth of one percent in 1853 to twenty-two percent in 1884. The increased Chinese presence in Hawaii became a political issue, and during the 1880s, Japanese were substituted for Chinese. Later, the number of Japanese would be seen as a threat and replaced with Filipinos.
During the early 1900s, the Chinese were able to move off the plantation by saving part of their net monthly wage of $14.60. However, legal impediments were contrived to block the advance of Asians to middle occupations. In 1903, Hawaii implemented a law that stipulated only citizens or persons eligible to become citizens (not Asians) were to be employed as mechanics or laborers on work carried on "by this Territory".
Chinese Reaction to Growing Hostility
Because of growing White dissension, sojourners either returned home or, for the vast majority of Chinese, withdrew residentially and economically, establishing "Chinatowns" in larger cities. Metropolitan areas afforded the anonymity the Chinese were looking for. The "Chinatown" in San Francisco was for many years the most powerful network for Chinese in America, and was the home for many activities, illegal in America but acceptable in China. San Francisco was also headquarters for merchant associations known as "tongs." To some, the tongs served for the betterment of merchants and business people. To others, tongs were criminal organizations which exerted a tyrannical force over the Chinese.
During the 1930s and 1940s there was an exodus from "Chinatowns". The younger and better educated landed positions in mainstream America. Many Chinese restaurants and laundries had to close their doors, and because the defense industry needed manpower, Chinese were recruited to work in the defense industry. The barriers to employment opportunities were broken.
Two important political changes in the 1960s have positively affected the Chinese in America. First, the New Immigration Act of 1965 replaced restrictive country quotas with more permissive hemispheric quotas. Second, the Equal Opportunity Act opened opportunities for Chinese beyond the traditional businesses of restaurants and laundries. Compared to the pre-1945 era, there has been great improvement in Chinese assimilation in America. Only since the mid-1960s has the integration of Chinese into American society begun to resemble that of other immigrant groups of generations earlier.
The Coming of Chinese Americans
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 drew a significant number of Chinese who came to do menial work for the growing population of gold seekers. Most of these Chinese immigrants were young males from Guangdong
(also called Canton) province in search of job opportunities. Many of them returned home after they had accumulated enough money. They worked in gold mines, the lumber industry, and the railroads. In 1868, the United States Congress ratified the Burlingame Treaty which allowed the free and unlimited immigration of Chinese but excluded them from naturalization.
By the time the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, the European labor force found itself in direct competition with the unemployed Chinese railroad workers. The American citizens regarded the Chinese
immigrants as serious competition for their employment opportunities. This type of sentiment was further intensified by two other factors. The first was an increase in Chinese immigration after 1860. The second was the depression that started in 1873. In San Francisco, an Irish immigrant named Denis Kearny started a movement to fight the "Oriental menace". Throughout the West, there were anti-Chinese riots. Finally prompted by anti-Chinese sentiments, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. It ended the immigration of Chinese laborers. The Geary Act of 1892 extended the 1882 exclusion policy. In 1924, the National Origins Act drastically restricted immigration to the United States from all Asia. Since very few Chinese women were allowed to join their husbands in the United states and Chinese men were forbidden by law to marry whites, there was little opportunity for them to have families and many of the immigrants returned to China or to other
more hospitable places. By 1924, the total number of Chinese in the United States had dropped to fewer than 62,000.
In 1943, because of the fact that China was a wartime ally in the fight against Japan in the Second World War, Congress repealed its anti-immigration laws and granted naturalization rights to foreign-born Chinese.
Origins of Chinatowns
Chinese are industrious people. They enjoyed living in communities with their peers. The early Chinese immigrants created small Chinatowns in which they opened their own stores and restaurants, set up temples, and formed different community support groups. The most useful of the early associations were the Chinese Six Companies. These were family and clan organizations that helped immigrants to get established. The association also served as the leading group to govern internal affairs within the Chinese communities. This is particularly prominent in large Chinatowns such as San Francisco, Washington D.C., and New York. The Chinese Six Companies also served as employment bureaus to hire Chinese workers for American employers.
There were other organizations such "Tongs" which were formed to serve as benevolent protective associations. The initial purpose of the Tongs were to protect the interests of the Chinese community from the unfairness of the American laws. In 1980 many Chinatowns experienced gang problems. Many of these gang members formed criminal organizations using the title of "Tongs". This concept destroyed the initial intent of the Tongs' purpose and many Americans developed the misconception that the earlier Tongs were used as criminal activities. In fact, many gang problems were related less to the Tongs and more towards many uneducated young immigrants lacking employment and economic opportunity in America.
There are still many benevolent associations (known as Tongs) in many parts of the Chinatowns and they are legitimate associations. They play an important role in supporting the advancement of Chinese Americans in the United States.
Furthermore, the Chinatowns now are magnets to tourists and natives alike. Whereas in the past, the Chinatowns were meeting places for Chinese only, now they seek to open their doors to all nationality by providing great food, gift shops, and cultural exchange centers. The Chinatowns are where the East welcomes the West and the West embraces the East. It's the portal to the East in America.
Our children should not be placed in any position where their youthful impressions may be affected by association with pupils of the Mongolian race.
San Francisco School Board, l905
In response to the challenge of changing demographics more than a century ago, the San Francisco School Board established a segregated Chinese Primary School for Chinese children to attend, including those who were American-born. By the turn-of-the century after Japanese immigrants had settled in the wake of Chinese exclusion, the School Board also applied the Chinese segregation policy to Japanese students. School superintendent, Aaron Altmann, advised the city's principals: "Any child that may apply for enrollment or at present attends your school who may be designated under the head of 'Mongolian' must be excluded, and in furtherance of this please direct them to apply at the Chinese School for enrollment."
Throughout their history, Asian Americans have confronted a long legacy of exclusion and inequity in relation to school policies and practices, particularly during periods of changing demographics, economic recession, or
war. In spite of historic, linguistic differences, distinct Asian nationalities have been grouped together and treated similarly in schools and in the larger society. The grouping of Asian Americans together, then, makes sense in light of historic links from the past to the present.
Beginning in the 185Os when young single men were recruited as contract laborers from Southern China, Asian immigrants have played a vital role in the development of this country. Working as miners, railroad builders,
farmers, factory workers, and fishermen, the Chinese represented 20% of California's labor force by 1870, even though they constituted only .002% of the entire U.S. population. With the depression of 1876, amidst cries of
"They're taking away our jobs!," anti-Chinese legislation and violence raged throughout the West Coast
In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act-the only U.S. Iaw to prevent immigration and naturalization on the basis of race-which restricted Chinese immigration for the next sixty years. The "Chinese Must Go" movement was so strong that Chinese immigration to the U.S. declined from 39,500 in 1882 to only 10 in 1887.
By 1885, following Chinese Exclusion Act, large numbers of young Japanese laborers, together with smaller numbers of Koreans and Indians, began arriving on the West Coast where they replaced the Chinese as cheap labor in building railroads, farming, and fishing. Growing anti-Japanese legislation and violence soon followed. In 1907, Japanese immigration was restricted by a "Gentleman's Agreement" between the U.S. and Japan.
Small numbers of Korean immigrants came to Hawaii and then the mainland U.S. following the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War and Japan's occupation of Korea. Serving as strike-breakers, railroad builders, and agricultural workers, Korean immigrants faced not only racist exclusion in the U.S. but Japanese
colonization at home. Some Korean patriots also settled in the U.S. as political exiles and organized for Korean independence.
South Asian Indian immigrants also entered the U.S. as laborers, following Chinese exclusion. Recruited initially by Canadian-Pacific railroad companies, a few thousand Sikh immigrants from the Punjabi region immigrated to Canada which, like India, was part of the British empire. Later, many migrated into the Pacific Northwest and California, and became farm laborers. Ironically decried as a "Hindu invasion" by exclusionists and white labor, the "tide of the Turbans" was outlawed in 1917 when Congress declared that India was part of the Pacific-Barred Zone of excluded Asian countries.
By 1924, with the exception of Filipino "nationals", all Asian immigrants, including Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Indians were fully excluded by law, denied citizenship and naturalization, and prevented from marrying Caucasians or owning land.
With all other Asians excluded, thousands of young, single Filipinos began migrating in large numbers to the West Coast during the 1920s to work in farms and canneries, filling the continuing need for cheap labor. Filipinos were not legally excluded by the immigration laws because the Philippines was already annexed by the U.S. as a result of the 1898 Spanish-American War. Racism and economic competition, intensified by the depression of 1929, however, led to severe anti-Filipino violence and passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1935 which placed an annual quota of fifty on Filipino migration-effectively excluding their entry as well.
During the half century from 1882 to 1935, three waves of early Asian immigrants contributed their labor to the building of this country but were eventually denied entry and not granted naturalization rights until 1952.
Though coming from different countries and cultures, the pioneering Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, and Filipinos each faced similar conditions of exclusion which forged the beginnings of a common, shared Asian experience in America.
There are important parallels between European and Asian immigration history, especially in terms of how individuals responded to the "pushes" and "pulls" in their homelands and then faced contradictory experiences of
discrimination and opportunity the U.S.. However, the "push-pull" model commonly used to explain European immigration, like the melting pot paradigm of immigrant assimilation, does not explain the fundamental differences in patterns of Asian immigration and exclusion.
These differences can only be understood by recognizing critical features of the historical period, including:
-- the reality of western colonialism and unequal power relations in Asia --the insatiable need for cheap labor that accompanied manifest destiny westward expansion and economic development in the U.S.
--the influence on social policy and public attitudes that resulted from lack of knowledge about Asian peoples, and racist notions of white superiority.
Though many are familiar with Ellis Island as a symbol of America's immigration history, few realize that Angel Island - a comparable immigration detention center for the West Coast - was the site where immigration policy was enforced during the Asian exclusion years. Angel Island represents an important counterpoint to Ellis Island and the saga of American immigration history. It is the subject of children's stories and documentary films as well as the classic text, Island
Between 1910 and 1940, hopeful Chinese immigrants were detained at Angel Island where they were required to undergo humiliating medical examinations and detailed interrogations. Questions ranged from "What are the birthdates of each member of your family?" to "Who lived in the third house of the second row of your village?. Failed answers were grounds for continued detainment and eventual deportation back to China.
In 1970, a park ranger discovered sets of Chinese characters carved into the wooden walls of the barracks. Now recognized as an historic Iandmark, the Angel Island detention center bears witness to the bitterness and
frustration of excluded Chinese immigrants who carved more than one hundred poems into the walls.
Although minor reforms in immigration law, due to changing international relations, allowed for limited numbers of Asians to enter the U.S. following the World War II era, U.S. immigration laws remained discriminatory toward Asians until 1965 when, in response to the civil rights movement, non-restrictive annual quotas of 20,000 immigrants per country were established. For the first time in U.S. history, large numbers of Asians were able to come to the U.S. as families. In addition, due to the United States' eagerness for technology during the Cold War, foreign engineers and scientists were also encouraged to emigrate to the U.S. The dramatic changes
in the Asian Pacific American landscape during the past twenty years, particularly with the explosive growth of new Filipino, Korean, South Asian Indian, and Chinese populations have resulted from the liberalization of
immigration laws in 1965.
Beginning in 1975, Southeast Asian refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos have entered the U.S. after escaping from war, social chaos, discrimination, and economic hardship. Roughly one million Southeast Asians, including about 30,000 Amerasian children of American servicemen and their families, have entered the U.S. since then through a variety of refugee resettlement and immigration programs.
Refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos each have distinct cultures, languages, and contexts of historical development. Although each country shares certain influences from their common history as a French colonial
territory for nearly a century until 1954, Vietnam is much more culturally influenced by China while Cambodia and Laos have been more influenced by India. Within each country, there are Chinese and other ethnic minority
populations such as the Hmong, Mien, and Kmhmu from Laos.
Many cases also link the present to the past. The experiences of personal struggle, economic contribution, racial harassment, and discriminatory legislation targeting Vietnamese fishermen in California's Monterey Bay
during the 1980s, for example, are almost identical to those of earlier generations of Japanese and Chinese fishermen who successively fished in Monterey Bay during the late 1800s and early l900s.
Hopes for the Second Generation of Asian Americans
During the 1960's to 1980's, there was a shift in Asian American demographics. Large numbers of college-bound students from Korea to Taiwan were migrating to America. Many decided to make America their home by opening their own businesses and raising a family. Now, the products of that hardworking generation are growing up. Tradition demands that the children take over their parents' small businesses, however, the change in geography and times has redefined this custom. Instead of "keeping the business in the family," parents are now encouraging their children to do what they want, even if they still would like to pass the business on.
"I would like my children to do what makes them happy. I want them to have a sense of satisfaction and growth. Whatever they choose to do, I will support them," states Angie Mao-Wong, proud parent of three. Parents are realizing that their children have ambitions other than business. Yet, all parents agree that it is mandatory for their children to go to college. Not only that, many strongly prefer their children to seek professional careers, such as in medicine or law.
Byoung Lee explains, "I don't want them to take over my gift store because I want them to be more specialized. I want them to be their own boss." Mr. Lee has three sons, two of them lawyers and one doctor, who all received strong guidance to seek these fields. Parents want their children to be specialized because many believe it is more respectable and also less hardworking than operating a small business.
Aside from encouraging them, some parents also feel a sense of sadness when it comes to looking at their children's future. They see their children as less aware of their culture. "They have so much privilege and yet no sense of ambition," sighs Alina Chu. "I came here fluent in Chinese, Spanish, and English. My kids can barely master English and they don't know any Chinese. They no longer reach to do what I wanted to do years ago. Living in United States has given little sense of our culture." Times have changed and the next generation of Asian Americans is foraging their own paths. As Scott Wang of two simply put it, "I want my kids to create what they want to do, let them fulfill hopes. I mean, that's what I came here to do, isn't it?"
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