EARLY CHINESE IMMIGRATION ETHN 100 Week 13 Session 2b

Questions from Takaki, Ch. 8: Searching for Gold Mountain 1. How does Takaki link the arrival of Chinese immigrants to Manifest Destiny? 2. What were the key push and pull factors that led to the immigration? 3. What types of labor did the Chinese provide? 4. Why were many Chinese immigrants forced into self-employment? What were some of these forms of self-employment? 5. How did the social and economic landscape in the agricultural south encourage Chinese immigration to that region? 6. How did the 1854 California Supreme Court decision in People v. Hall situate Chinese immigrants in the American racial hierarchy? 7. Describe the cultural, economic, and social situation of Chinese women at the time of immigration to the United States? 8. Why did Chinatowns emerge in the United States (California, specifically)? What were some of the prominent organizations that developed, and what functions did they serve? 9. How did the San Francisco Earthquake in 1899 impact Chinese immigration to the United States?

Immigrant Experiences: Early Chinese vs. European  Similarities: Intended to be sojourners (make money and go back to mother country); mainly men, primarily poor.  Differences: Regional settlement, race, and the first immigrant group to be shut out by the US government.  Chinese Diaspora existed when immigrants to the US began to show in large numbers. History of indentured servitude “Coolie trade” from Asian countries to the UK. Gold Rush attracted Chinese to “Gold Mountain”

Structure of Chinese American Community  San Francisco – dai fu (big city) – Cultural, economic and administrative hub of Chinese America.  Key cultural difference between European and Chinese immigrants: Churches (European) and Family (Chinese) as key institutions for organizing communities, transmitting values, customs and traditions.

Cultural Characteristics an  Family Associations – initially based on blood ties (clans) it was adapted by immigrants.  District Associations  Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association – AKA the Six Chinese Companies or Six Companies  Origins in Guangdong province (primary region of immigration)  Often served as the community’s voice to white America.  American-born Citizen’s groups  Native Sons of the Golden State/Chinese American Citizens Alliance

Systematic Discrimination  Direct Referential Racism – discriminatory changes in policy, law, or ordinance that target a group without explicitly naming them. Extreme residential discrimination  California Foreign Miners Tax  Municipal ordinances on living conditions, employment, bodies  Policies aimed at baring Chinese from land ownership and employment

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882  Barred immigration of Chinese laborers for 20 years (two, ten-year periods)  Outwitted immigration laws (resistance): undocumented and documented entry  Undocumented: Entered the country (CA) via Northwestern and southern points of entry.  Extralegal: Misrepresented their status to enter with papers.

Chinese American Identity and Foreign Affairs: World War II  World War II: The social developments of World War II (Pearl Harbor) affected the status of Chinese in the US.  Chinese were re-imagined by the US dominant culture – admired for their resistance to the Japanese; hard working peasants (Pearl S. Buck’s, The Good Earth).  The US and China become allies after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This had implications for Chinese immigration to the US. (FDR removes restrictions)  Population boom: increased immigration; increased number of American-born Chinese.

Chinese American Identity and Foreign Affairs: The Cold War Era  The Cold War  Image of the Chinese shifts again as WWII shifts to the Cold War.  Victory of Communist forces of Mao Zaedong in 1949  “Ping Pong Diplomacy”  Chinese American groups are under federal surveillance for ties to Communist China.  Statehood for Hawaii (1959)  Racial and ethnic demographics added more representation for APIs  Hiram Fong – US Senator  US-born Chinese increase. Population becomes more educated

Chinese American Identity and Foreign Affairs: Global Capitalism  Chinese engagement in the global marketplace increases significantly under a system of “state capitalism.”

Next Time  Japanese and Filipino Americans  Online Session: Amy Tan