When the Chinese came to America, they sought out to earn fortunes from the California Gold Rush. After the Gold Rush though, they continued to stay in the US as laborers for projects like building railroads. They came from regions of China that were suffering from extreme poverty, so the prospect of a new life appealed to them and returning to China was not an option. They kept to themselves but increasing competition for work further marginalized the community. Due to pressures from the white community, Congress passed several acts of…
Tag: Chinese Immigration
Part 2: Claiming Citizenship
Why should we care even about Asian American legal history? Who is Wong Kim Ark and what did he ever do for us? To put it briefly and simply, in 1898 he challenged Congress’s discriminatory policies against the Chinese and won. To read the landmark court case, check out Cornell University Law School’s break down of the case and decision. In case reading long court records isn’t your thing though, here are the facts: Wong Kim Ark was born to two Chinese parents in the United States in 1873. In 1882, Congress passed…
Part 3: “Perpetual Foreigner”
Immigration is a hot button topic right now, but much of the dialogue centers around Latino immigrants even though Asians are outnumbering Latino immigrants coming to the US. Remember when most people in the US were first or second generation immigrants? They came from places besides Latin America. How have we forgotten where we came from? That we were all once foreigners. Some of us haven’t had the luxury of being allowed to forget though. What is the perpetual foreigner stereotype? It is one of the longest persisting Asian stereotypes.…