The Early Chinese Experience in the PNW What led to the Chinese Exclusion Act and what did it do?

The Early Chinese Experience in the

PNWWhat led to the Chinese Exclusion Act and what did it

do?

Terms to know:

• Scapegoat – Someone who takes the blame for others or who is the recipient of irrational hostility.

• Institutional Racism – Racism on the part of formal organizations such as governments, schools, or other large institutions. Can be both subtle and overt.

• Stereotype - A widely held but oversimplified idea about a group of people, such as a gender or racial group.

What do you see in this commercial from the 1970s?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjNRXfRXnoc

Why did some Chinese men choose to come to the U.S.?

PUSH factors in China included:

War and rebellion

Poor economy

Shortage of jobs and land

Overpopulation in some areas

Famine

Why did some Chinese men choose to come to the U.S.?

PULL factors included:

Work (primarily in mining and railroads)

The ability to provide for their families

The promise of a better life

By 1851, 25,000 Chinese immigrants had come to the U.S.

Chinese Miners

The driving of a “golden spike”. Who is in the picture?

Who really did the work?

Anti-Chinese sentiment

• As the U.S. economy declined, unemployed white workers looked to the Chinese as scapegoats.

• Anti-Chinese riots, most often violent, occurred in numerous areas, including Seattle.

• A series of laws were enacted that began to limit the rights of the Chinese in the U.S..

Legislation

• Anti-Chinese laws, both state and federal, were passed over the years. The Chinese were:

- taxed just for being Chinese

- Prohibited from practicing cultural traditions

- Prohibited from taking certain jobs (such as mining)

- Prohibited from enrolling their children in schools

- Prohibited from testifying against white people

Impact

• Chinese men were forced out of the jobs they came for and into others, such as providing food and laundry services to miners. Most could not afford to go back to China.

• Chinese workers could not establish families

• Chinese people in the U.S. could not fully participate in American culture, yet could not express their own traditional culture

• Chinese people in the U.S. were not protected by the legal system.

1882 – The Chinese Exclusion Act

Effectively ended Chinese immigration into the U.S.

Made it nearly impossible for the Chinese to get back into the U.S. if they left

Excluded the Chinese from eligibility for U.S. citizenship, and, therefore, the rights of citizenship

Prevented the Chinese community from growing

The riots in Seattle

The riots in Seattle

More Laws

• The Chinese Exclusion Act was renewed

• In 1924, the Immigration Act was passed, which limited immigration of many groups to no more than 2% of the current U.S. population of that group

• Asian immigration laws in particular were not officially expanded until the 1940s – 1960s

In your own words ….

1. In what ways were the Chinese scapegoated?

2. In what ways were the Chinese victims of Institutional Racism?

3. In what ways does the commercial we watched represent Chinese stereotypes?