THE CHINESE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES:
A SIMULATION
Developed by
Amy Nelson Thibaut
Houston, Texas
Published by
Center for Teaching lnternational Relations
Graduate School of International Studies
University of Denver
Denver, Colorado
About the Author
Amy Nelson Thibaut is a secondary teacher at Cypress Falls High School in Houston, Texas. She has been teaching at
the secondary level for twelve years, including junior high U.S. history and high school U.S. and world history. She
has held the position of team leader and is presently the acting Social Studies Department Chair. She holds a B.A.
degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and has done post-baccalaureate work at the University of Oregon,
University of Texas, and Sam Houston State University, and has been an active participant in the National
Endowment for the Humanities (N.E.H.) programs. This simulation game is a product of an N.E.H. program
sponsored by the Oregon International Council (O.I.C.). The author would like to express her appreciation to both the
O.I.C. and to N.E.H. for their inspiration and leadership.
About CTIR Publications
Although CTIR Publications is committed to providing balanced views in the context of its activities and books
that address controversial issues, not all individuals will consider them to be comprehensively representative of
all possible perspectives. We remind teachers that it is ultimately their responsibility to provide their students
with a balanced array of perspectives on such issues, and to use any supplementary teaching materials that they
offer in their classrooms according to the intent and spirit of the curriculum objectives of their individual school
districts and communities.
The views expressed in CTIR activity books are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.
©1992, U.S. library of Congress, TX 3 341 751. Amy Nelson Thibaut. All rights reserved. The materials in this
simulation may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means-mechanical, electronic, or otherwise-without written permission from the publisher.
THE CHINESE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES
SUBJECT:
Chinese Immigration In The United States
THEME:
Recognizing the tools of racism and the effects it has on society.
FOR:
Social Studies classes, U.S. History, World History, Sociology
GRADE:
7 through adult
LENGTH:
Days I and II (time restraints and choice of activities offered are at the teacher's
discretion). Day II or III dependent upon teacher's discretion.
PREPARATION: Students should already have studied Chinese culture and tradition. This lesson could
occur during a study of World War II, when studying the building of the
transcontinental railroad, or any lesson on prejudice.
NOTES:
Teacher notes have been provided to give more detailed information and also give the
teacher the ability to answer some of the more common questions that may be asked. They
do not belong on game cards and are only marked for the teacher's convenience. If the
students play alone, cut out the cards and use the notes only for your own reference.
DAY I OR II
OBJECTIVES:
•
•
The student will be able to...
Examine and record feelings about minorities.
Recognize the use of discrimination, scapegoating, and stereotyping as tools of racism.
Materials:
Handout #1, "Values Survey"
Handout #2, "Check list of Your Personal Actions"
Handout #3, "ABC's of Scapegoating"
Handout #4, "How to Tell Your Friends from the Japanese"
Procedures:
1. Ask students to complete column #1 of Handout #1, "Values Survey," and all of Handout #2, "Check list
of Your Personal Actions." Do not make any comments, but gather up Handout #2 to discuss at a later
time.
2. Hold a class discussion about Handout #1. Play the "devil's advocate" to make students defend their
positions and make firm commitments.
3. Distribute Handout #3, "ABC's of Scapegoating," have students read and then complete the form.
Discuss the answers with the students. Ask:
•
Have you ever been the victim of scapegoating7
•
they
Has someone ever asked you to remind them of something? Why do that? (If the task is forgotten then
have someone else who can be blamed.)
4. Read the passage from Handout #4, "How to Tell Your Friends from the Japanese," aloud. Explain that
even when we try to be nice we still can harbor dangerous stereotypical ideas. Distribute the handout and
ask students to complete the form. Discuss students' answers.
WORKSHEET KEY FOR "ABC's OF SCAPEGOATING":
1. Some object or animal or some luckless human being who is blamed for our own misfortunes.
2. War, famine, revolution, or depression.
3. Germany's defeat in World War I and all other misfortunes which plagued Germany.
4. Minorities
5. Blaming to persecution
6. Nazi Holocaust, Salem witch trials, Chinese in nineteenth century United States,
Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Handout #1
VALUES SURVEY
Read the following statements. Place a number, 1 through 5, in the appropriate column. Number 1 indicates
you strongly agree with the statement and number 5 indicates strongly disagree.
STATEMENT
1. People should accept the fact that prejudice exists.
2. Discrimination occurs and there is nothing one person can
do to change that fact.
3. When the government believes a group of people are
dangerous to society, those people should be isolated or kept
away from the rest of society.
4. Sometimes people must give up their individual freedom for
the good of the country as a whole.
5. If I disagree with something the government does, I should
speak out, no matter what the consequences may be.
6. If the government does something I don’t like, I should just
go along with it.
7. There are times when it is better to die for one’s principles
than to submit to injustice.
8. If you see a certain group of people being persecuted, you
should stay out of it and let that group handle it.
9. The end (goal) justifies the means (used to reach that goal).
NAME _______________________________________________
1
2
Handout #2
CHECK LIST OF YOUR PERSONAL ACTIONS
Check the column that best fits your feelings.
Sometime
1. Do you read magazines, books, and newspapers which
contain pictures and articles about people of other races
or nationalities?
2. Do you allow children of different races or nationalities
to enter your home to eat and visit?
3. Do you tell jokes about races and nationalities different
than your own?
4. Do you stop your friends from telling myths about
cultures and races when you know they are not true?
5. Do you try to education yourself about other races or
nationalities?
6. Do you watch television shows and movies showing
realistic segments of the lives of people from different
racial backgrounds or nationalities?
7. Do you live near people of different races or
nationalities, and do you have a positive attitude about
those people?
8. Do you call a person a name because they are of a
different race or nationality when you get into a fight or
argument?
9. Do you ask people of a different race or nationality for
help when you need it?
10. Do you have good friends of different races, cultures,
and nationalities?
Often
Never
Handout #3
Page 1 of 2
ABC's OF SCAPEGOATING
From the earliest times, people have had the idea that guilt and suffering could be shifted from one person to
another. If a load of wood could be taken from one person's back and placed on anthers, why not a load of guilt
or sorrow?
In ancient times, the high priest would lay both his hands on a goat's head and confess over it the bad deeds of
the entire community. The sins of the people were thus "transferred" to the goat, which was taken out into the
wilderness and let go.
Everywhere we see this human tendency: to seek a "scapegoat"--some object or animal or some luckless human
being--who is blamed for our own misfortunes.
Though scapegoating is found everywhere, it happens most often during times of stress of war, famine,
revolution, or depression.
If we have an impulse to "take it out on the dog" in ordinary terms, think of how much stronger this feeling is in
times of social tension.
The Nazi Holocaust in Europe, which occurred in the time of our parents and grandparents, was a terrible
example of scapegoating.
We could say these violent persecutions were simply the result of the brutal Nazis, but if we look more closely
we see that the Nazis were trying to shift shame, guilt, and frustration from German people to a convenient
scapegoat. Hitler and his henchmen, seeking a "goat," blamed the Jews for German's defeat in World War I and
all the other misfortunes which plague Germany. Then, under the direction of Hitler and his gang, fierce
emotions were focused upon the Jews. Savagery, violence and mass murder followed.
Such events, we know, have happened all through history. They could happen again. The victims have usually
been minority groups who, through no fault of their own, have been unjustly blamed and persecuted.
So we must learn to recognize many degrees of scapegoating, ranging from blaming to persecuting others.
Our concern here is to study scapegoating so that we may recognize the threat which faces us. Prejudice, we
know, is found almost everywhere. It comes about in feelings of dislike for different ethnic, religious, or racial
groups. So long as prejudice is merely a private frame of mind, it does not affect conduct or bring about
scapegoating, it harms no one but its owner. Public disaster starts when prejudice spills over into acts of
discrimination, into hateful words and deeds.
In ordinary times, our democracy is so strong that many different groups manage to live side by side peacefully,
even though minor fractions and prejudices exist. But America’s racial, religious, and ethnic mix could provide
fertile soil for prejudice and scapegoating.
Adapted from Gordon W. Allport, ABC's of Scapegoating, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
Copyright 1985. Used by permission.
Handout #3
Page 2 of 2
Our peril today lies in the fact that prejudice, combined with a tendency to blame others for our troubles, may
lead to scapegoating. This would be terribly destructive to the ideal of equal opportunity for all.
After reading the article above, answer the following questions:
1. Define the term scapegoat. ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. Scapegoating occurs most often in time of _____________, _____________, ____________, or
______________
3. Hitler used scapegoating to blame the Jews for ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. Most victims of scapegoating have been _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Degrees of scapegoating range from. _____________________ to _______________________.
6. List three historical examples of scapegoating. _______________________________________________
Handout #4
HOW TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS FROM THE JAPS*
Virtually all Japanese are short. Japanese are likely to be stockier and broader-hipped than short Chinese.
Japanese are seldom fat; they often dry up and grown lean as they age. Although both have the typical
epicanthic fold of the upper eyelid, Japanese eyes are usually set closer together. The Chinese expression is
likely to be more placid, kindly, open; the Japanese more positive, dogmatic, arrogant. Japanese are hesitant,
nervous in conversation; laugh loudly at the wrong time. Japanese walk stiffly erect, hard heeled. Chinese, more
relaxed, have an easy gait, sometimes shuffle.
From the above reading, answer the following questions:
1. List all the Chinese stereotypes used.
2. List all the Japanese stereotypes used.
3. Who is being portrayed as the "good guy" in the passage?
4. If you were a member of this "good" group, how would you feel being characterized in this manner?
5. List what factual information you can find in the article.
6. List what opinions you find in the passage.
7. If you had to pick either fact or opinion to characterize stereotyping, which would you choose?
8. Explain how stereotyping can be dangerous even in an attempt to do good.
*Time, December 22, 1941. (With the bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United
States found herself in a difficult position. The Chinese, once despised and discriminated against were now friends and allies.)
DAY II OR III
Objective: The object of the game is to let students feel and see that economic opportunities are not all that a
person needs to be successful in society. Your students, depending on their level, may discover very early that
society creates laws that will hold back certain minority groups. Once students discover this point, the games
has fulfilled its purpose. Since there really is no winning or losing involved, the game may be terminated
whenever the objective has been accomplished. Pick and choose the cards that apply to our particular lesson, or
put the students in groups with a different set of cards dealing with different time periods. Only with these
adaptations will all the game cards be used.
Materials: One game board for each group playing; the most successful use is to reproduce the game board on
a twin size, flat sheet, or on the floor with tape.
Three game tokens to move on the board, such as the "L," "J," and "S" tiles from a
Scrabble Crossword Game; or use three students in place of the playing pieces
Two pieces of string approximately six inches long; or a long piece of cloth to tie three
students together .
Two pieces of scotch tape.
Tape the string to the tokens (or students with a long string) in the following manner:
L
S
J
OPTIONS:
Option #1: Be the reader yourself. If you choose this option, divide the class into groups of three. Each person
in the group will listen to the cards being read to them and follow the directions for their token as read.
Option #2: Assign four people to each group. If you choose this option, you must have the game cards printed
in the order provided for each group. Three of the group members move the tokens while the fourth member
acts as the reader.
Option #3: If you wish to hold the students accountable for the factual information in the game, you may add a
fifth person to each group and provide the outline from this packet to the students to fill in as they play the
game. The fifth person would act as the scribe, filling in the information and making it available to their
teammates after they finish playing. Form is on page 18.
Option #4: (Especially for upper level students) Read the information on the card only. This forces the
students to listen carefully to the information. Then ask the students to decide how they move. Use it to facilitate
discussion.
8
Procedures:
1.
Explain the rules for play to the students.
•
Place the tokens on the "Legal," "Jobs," and "Social" squares of the game board. One person in each
group should be responsible for moving one of the tokens. That representative will follow the directions
given by each game card for their respective token.
•
When the game card instructs a player to move forward, he moves the token towards the bottom of the
game board. To move backwards he moves the token up. If the game cards continue to give backward
commands after the player has reached the top of the game board, wrap the string around the brad and
begin to move downward.
•
The token is tied to the other two. The string cannot be broken at any time for any reason!
•
If the movement of your opponent forces you backwards, you must move backwards with him. If your
forward movement pulls the others with you, you must forfeit your turn.
2.
Read the Introduction to the students. Then, have them play the game.
3.
After playing the game, debrief the students using the following questions:
•
What was the greatest obstacle standing in the way of Chinese success in the United States?
•
What was the basis of most U.S. discrimination against the Chinese?
•
Do you think U.S. treatment of Chinese Americans between 1860 and 1960 affects U.S.-Chinese
relations today? Why?
•
What are three generalizations you can make on the causes of discrimination?
•
What conclusions can you make about the effect discrimination has on minorities?
•
What impact does discrimination have on those who participate in it?
SIMULATION NOTE OUTLINE
I. Why did the Chinese Come to the United States?
A.
B.
II. How did the Chinese Get to the United States?
A.
B.
III. What jobs did early Chinese immigrants have?
A.
B.
C.
IV. List three examples of discrimination practiced by anti-Chinese racists?
A.
B.
C.
V. The Chinese were scapegoats in that they were blamed for .. .?
INTRODUCTION
Why Did They Come?
Chinese immigration began when a Chinese official confiscated and destroyed a large consignment of opium,
the sale of which was banned in China. Peasant communities suffered enormously from the Opium Wars that
following (1839-42).
February 2, 1848, is the traditional date given for the arrival of the first immigrants from China. There were
only three of them, but 41,000 Chinese immigrants joined the original three in the next ten years.
In the United States in 1848 gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley of California. People from all over
the world rushed to California to get rich in the gold fields. In the thirty years following the gold rush, more
than a quarter million Chinese came across the Pacific to take advantage of the California economic boom.
Most Chinese immigrants wanted to escape the economic depression in China by briefly working in the
California gold mines and then returning to their families in China to live out their lives in luxury.
How Did They Come?
The fare for the Pacific crossing in the mid nineteenth century was about $40--a small fortune to the ordinary
Chinese peasant, whose yearly earnings amount to $20 to $30 at the most. Few could raise the necessary sum,
or the extra money needed to bribe Chinese officials, for emigration from China was illegal.
To raise the necessary money for the four to six week Pacific crossing, Chinese emigrants did two things:
1. Contract Labor System (a.k.a. Coolie Labor System). Here the hopeful emigrant borrowed the ticket money
from an employer in the United States and agreed to work for a specific period of time, during which he
would receive little or no money. Many emigrants were swindled.1 (See Teacher Note #1)
2. Credit -- Ticket System. Chinese merchants or agents already in San Francisco, working through brokers in
Hong Kong, lent the ticket money to the emigration and he was obliged to pay it back within a fixed time
limit. Most Chinese used this system, but it was open to abuse.2 (See Teacher Note #2)
With the Chinese immigrants packed like sardines in the bowels of the ship they were off to the United States. 3
TEACHER NOTES
1. Contract Labor System Abuses. When emigrants arrived at their destination to find their contracts were
being sold at auction. Brokers' fees were based on then number of men they could deliver. They packed the
4
ships to the limits. The overcrowded, unsanitary conditions were so poor that many died on board.
2. Credit-Ticket System Abuses. Employers commonly deducted the cost of food and housing from the
workers' wage. This left the workers with little money to make payments, thus extending their
S
indebtedness.
3. The tax in practice was collected mainly from the Chinese because it was levied on those who did not desire
to become permanent citizens. Tax collectors sometimes collected the tax several times over and resorted to
terror and murder to collect it.
4. Due to the white miners' resentment of the Chinese, the Chinese sought other means of achieving their
goals. A wife and children would have been an encumbrance to a miner. Yet miners needed someone to do
the traditional "women's work"--washing, cooking, and cleaning. The Chinese filled the gap. They set up
laundries, opened restaurants and worked as cooks at the mining camps. Some worked as domestic servants.
During the last half of the nineteenth century, almost every well-to-do home in California had a staff of
Chinese servants. Virtually every cooking procedure used in the West today--barbecuing, frying, roasting,
sautéing, simmering, steaming, and stir-frying--was used first by the Chinese.
6
5. The laundry business was particularly appealing to the Chinese because it required little capital to get
started.7
6. Other occupations had to be investigated. One of the major employers of Chinese labor in the 1860s was the
Central Pacific Railroad.
7. TONGS. Criminal organizations who challenged the Six Companies for control of Chinatown. They were
8
unsuccessful, but they did gain control of vice--prostitution, gambling, and opium.
8. May prostitutes were slaves. Some had been kidnapped, but many had been sold by their own families. The
selling of children was not uncommon in China, and in fact, the government sanctioned it.
9
9. In 1849 California had adopted a state constitution prohibiting slavery and joined the union in 1850 as a
free, or non-slave, state. Many felt the influence and control of the Six Companies implied or impressed the
Chinese into slavery.l0
10. White treatment of native American Indians and blacks set a precedent and a standard for racist treatment of
l1
minorities in general.
11. Racism against anyone ethnic group opens the gate to indiscriminate racism.
12. The Burlingame Treaty dealt specifically with the question of Chinese immigration to the United States as
part of U.S. policy looking to the development of trade and economic relations between the U.S. and China.
13. Burlingame Treaty established the right of the emperor to appoint consuls in the U.S. ports to look after the
interests of the Chinese trade and immigration. Some provisions were:
•
Reciprocal rights to freedom of worship and conscience of each country's citizens while in the other's
country.
•
Reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment to immigrants or travelers (did not prohibit naturalization).
•
The Chinese had the right to enjoy all the privileges of the public educational institutions under the
control of the government of the U.S.12
14. Finally, various societies merged into the Six Companies, one for each of the districts from which most of
the immigrants came. The companies built clubhouses and saw to it that the bones of any immigrant who
had died were sent back to China to be honored as tradition demanded.13
15. The power of the Six Companies spread to every area where there was a Chinese quarter.14
16. Congress first voted to curtail Chinese immigration in 1879. However, President Rutherford B. Hayes
vetoes the measure. Three years later, after the Burlingame Treaty had been modified to allow the President
to restrict immigration for a period of time, the Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted with the reluctant
support of President Chester A. Arthur.15
17. A loophole in the Exclusion Act allowed the sons of those few Chinese who were born in the U.S. to enter.
Consequently, Chinese-American citizens visited China and announced the birth of a son. Some sons were
not really related to the immigrants, but claimed to be and were called "paper sons," because their only true
link to a Chinese-American father was a forged birth certificate.16
18. While U.S. labor blamed Chinese emigrants for their economic problems and placed pressure on the legal
system to provide anti-immigrant laws. U.S. society was shaped along anti-immigrant lines with the use of
stereotypical phrases and laws that challenged Chinese customs and traditions.
19. The Chinese were seen as a constant threat to the stability of California in the slavery conflict dividing the
17
eastern states. Many whites began to call for Chinese expulsion for the state.
20. California, the state with the largest Chinese population, was the most discriminatory. 18
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Archdeacon, Thomas J. Becoming American: An Ethnic History. New York: Collier MacMillan Publisher,
1983.
Athearn, Robert G. "Age of Stee1." American Heritage Illustrated History of the United States. 1989 ed.
Bouvier, Leon F. Think about Immigration Diversity in the U.S. New York: Walker and Company, 1988.
Chen, Jack The Chinese of America: From the Beginning to the Present. San Francisco: Harper & Row,
Publishers, 1981.
Coppa, Fran j. and Curran, Thomas j., eds. The Immigrant Experience in America. Boston: Twayne Publisher,
1976.
Daley, William. The Chinese Americans. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Hartman, Edward G. American Immigration. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1979.
Perrin, Linda. Coming to America: Immigrants from the Far East. New York; Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1981.
Reimers, David M. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. New York: Penguin
Books, 1990.
Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. New York: Penguin Books,
1990.
B'nai B'rith and Houston Chronicle. "Unit Three: Scapegoating and Racism." World of Difference. Houston:
Author, 1987.
ENDNOTES
1
Linda Perrin, Comjnll to America: Immjllrants from the Far East (New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1981)
2
Perrin 11-12.
3
Ibid.
4
William Daley, The Chjnese Americans (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987) 34.
5
Daley 34-35.
6
Perrin 21-77, Daley 40.
7
Perrin 23.
8
Perrin 17.
9
Perrin 18.
10
Perrin 26.
11
Jack Chen, The Chinese of America: From the Bellinnjng to the Present (San Francisco: Harper & Row,
Publishers, 1981) 46.
12
Chen 128-129.
13
Perrin 15.
14
Edward Hartman, American Immigration (Minneapolis: Learner Publications Co., 1979) 90.
15
David M. Reimers, The Immigrant Experience (Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989) 77.
16
Perrin 16.
17
Ibid.
18
Perrin 45.
19
Daley 37.
20
Daley 37, Reimers 75.
21
Perrin 23.
22
Chen 138.
23
Perrin 37.
24
Perrin 45.
25
Ibid.
26Perrin
46.
27
Perrin 23-24.
28Perrin
24.
29Ibid.
30Ibid.
31Daley
37.
32
Ronald Takaki, Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans (New York: Penguin Books, 1990)
102.
33
Daley 41.
34
Perrin 17.
35
Perrin 28.
36
Perrin 17.
37
Perrin 46.
38
Daley 41.
39
Chen 138.
40
Ibid.
41
Ibid.
42
Chen 139.
43
Daley 44.
44
Chen 138.
45
Ibid.
46
Chen 138, Perrin 36.
47
Chen 139.
48
Frank .1. Coppa and Thomas .1. Curran, eds. The Immigrant Experience in America (Boston: Twayne
Publisher, 1976) 194.
49
Daley 44.
50
Perrin 15, 36.
51
Chen 161.
52
Perrin 14.
53
Chen 161.
54
Ibid.
55
Chen 139.
56
Perrin 4.
57
Chen 84.
58
Chen 139.
59
Perrin 38.
60
Chen 161.
61
Daley 67.
62
Chen 139.
63
Daley 40.
64
Ibid.
65
Daley 41.
66
Daley 40.
67
Ibid.
68
Ibid.
69
Perrin 29.
70
Perrin 34.
71
Chen 155, Perrin 41.
72
Chen 161
73
Chen 161.
74
Coppa and Curran 201.
75
Coppa and Curran 202.
76
Chen 132.
77
Coppa and Curran 194.
78
Perrin 44.
79
Perrin 47.
80
Coppa and Curran 203.
81
Edward G. Hartman, American Immigration (Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co., 1979) 138.
82
Perrin 35.
83
Perrin 36.
84
Takaki 479.
85
Thomas J. Archdeacon Becoming American: An Ethnic History (New York: Collier MacMillan Publishers,
1983) 164.
86
Takaki 14-15.
87
Perrin 41.
88
Daley 67.
89
Perrin 55.
90
Perrin 17.
91
Perrin 58.
92
Perrin 56.
The Teacher Notes do not go "ith
individual cards, but refer to
specific topics.
Teacher Note 113
White miners push for legislation to
discourage Chinese miners. And in 1850,
California passes the Foreign Miners' Tax
to force Chinese out of the mines. The tax
levies vary from $3 to $20 a head per
9
month.l
1873--San Francisco taxes laundries
$15 per quarter of a year for using
poles to carry laundry. While the tax
on horse-drawn vehicles is $2 a
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
2
SOCIAL -Take one step backwardsl
3
Assaults by white miners are so frequent
that early Chinese-English phrase books
armed the immigrants with such phrases as
"They were lying in ambush" and "He was
choked to death with a lasso.,,20
JOBS -take one step forwardl
4
C
quarter.2
2
When discrimination excludes the Chinese
from many fields of employment,
laundering is one of the few occupations
21
still open to them.
Teacher Note 114
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
It
in
In July 1877, angry mobs set fire to 25 Chinese laundries in San Francisco.
In California no Chinese can walk along with a white woman.
24
No Chinese are allowed to go into a hospital even if they are sick.25
People are not allowed to hire Chinese or give them a job in a factory.26
23
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsl
6
LEGAL AND SOCIAL -take
one step backwardsI
7
LEGAL AND
backwardsI
SOCIAL
-take
one
step
JOBS -take one step backwardsI
Teacher Note 1/6
The Central Pacific starts off with fifty Chinese laborers, on a trial basis. "They do not work as rapidly as the
white men, but they keep constantly at it from sunrise until sunset.,,27
JOBS -take one step fonvardl
10
Of the ten thousand men who build the Central
28
thousand are Chinese.
Pacific, nine
JOBS -take one step fonvardl
11
JOBS -take one step fonvardl
12
Charles Crocker, general superintendent of the Central Pacific, describes (Chinese) performance as "equal to the
best white men.,,29
The railroad takes on every able-bodied Chinese it can find and sends to China for more.
JOBS -take one step fonvardl
30
Although most Chinese railroad workers work with pick and shovel, many are employed to place explosives to
clear mountain passages for the
31
tracks.
JOBS -take one step forward!
14 People vs. George W. Hall (Oct 1854)-an existing 14
status provides that "no black or mulatto person, or
shall be permitted to give evidence in favor of, or
white person," and the question was whether this
included the Chinese. In its review, the California
Court declar[ed] that the words "Indian, Negro, Black,
were "generic terms, designating races," and therefore
and other people not white"
could not testify against whites.
32
LEGAL -take one step backwards!
California
Indian,
against, any
restriction
Supreme
and White"
"Chinese
15
JOBS -take one step forward!
16
Chinese are the first commercial fishermen in
33
California.
1850s--Chinatown is a home away from home. It is a refuge where immigrants can find familiar food, speak
their own language, indulge their love of gambling, and take part in traditional Chinese
34
celebrations.
Teacher Note #10 and #11
SOClAL -take one step forward!
3
White society resent Chinatowns as an alien presence in the cities where they exist. 5
Chinatown is overcrowded. Residents are poor, for in addition to paying off their debts, they are also sending
money home to support their families and
there are few women.36
No Chinese could buy a house in California. 37
When Greek, Italian, and Dalmatian fishennen began to migrate from the East Coast to California, they
persuaded the California legislature to pass discriminatory laws once again to oust the Chinese
8
from industry.3
17
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsl
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
18
SOCIAL
-take one step backwardsl
19
LEGAL AND SOCIAL -take one step
backwardsI
20
1855--Head Tax requires shippers to pay $50 for every Chinese passenger they bring to the United States.
California legislature extends to Chinese an existing law barring the testimony of Native Americans and blacks
39
in court cases involving white.
1860--a fishing tax is levied on Chinese activities in fishing
40
1860--Chinese children are denied admission to general public schools. After 1866, they were allowed to attend
41
if white parents did not object. Chinese are denied admission to San Francisco City Hospital.
1865--Political Codes Amendment prohibits Chinese from attending general public schools, forcing attendance
42
at segregated schools.
(
c
I
t
•
LEGAL
-take
backwards!
one
step
LE
GA
Ltak
e
one
ste
p
bac
kw
ard
s!
22
C It
ii
LEGAL
-take
backwards!
one
step
23
LEGAL
AND
SOCIAL -take one
step backwards!
24
i
i
ii
1870--Sidewalk Ordinance makes it illegal to walk on the sidewalk carrying merchandise on poles. According to
the Laundry Ordinances (1873,1976), anyone who transports laundry without horsedrawn wagons has to pay a
high licensing fee. Because only the Chinese hand-carry their merchandise, these ordinances are clearly directed
43
against them.
1870--Act to Prevent Kidnapping and Importing of Mongolian, Chinese, and Japanese Females for Criminal
Purposes prevents entry of Chinese women without special certifications. Chinese are
44
prohibited from owning land in the state.
1873 -1875--San Francisco passes various ordinances against use of firecrackers and Chinese ceremonial
45
gongs.
1875--San Francisco Anti-Queue Law orders shaving off
46
queues (braids) of all Chinese arrested.
Teacher Notes #7, #8, #9 and #19
Teacher Note #20
2S
«
[I
«•
ii
i
i
i
i
L
E
G
A
L
t
a
k
e
LEGAL -take one step backwards!
o
n
e
27
s
t
e
p
b
a
c
k
w
a
r
d
s
!
«•
iii
LEGAL -take one step backwards!
28
26
SOCIAL AND LEGAL -take one step
backwards!
I87S--Law to regulate the size of Chinese shrimping nets reduces catches.47
LEGAL
( • 111 -take one step
backwards!
30
SOCIAL -take one step backwards!
After the mid-1870s, outbreaks of violence
increasingly common. Chinese farmers are
laundries and homes burned, and their
48
shot as they try to flee the flames.
3
1
( • 111 LEGAL -take one step
became
killed,
occupants
backwards!
32
( [I
111 LEGAL -take one step
backwards I
I87S--Cubic Air Ordinance requires 500 cubic
within rooming houses. (A health regulation aimed at clearing out Chinese ghettoes.)49
feet of air
1873 and I876-Another ordinance forbids the removal of bodies or bones without the coroner's permission.SO
1878--Burlingame
Treaty
assures
reciprocal right of
voluntary
immigration
and
guarantees
unrestricted
admission of Chinese
immigrants. 51
Teacher Notes #14 and #15
Teacher Note #16
To help new arrivals, a number of societies are formed. Clan
societies protect related families; district societies look after
men from the same district. 52
1879--Congressional act limits to fifteen the number of
Chinese that may enter the United States from one ship at a
53
time.
1880-Burlingame
Treaty
Amendment
prohibits entry
of
Chinese
laborers. 54
Teacher Notes #12 and #13
33
c
•
iii
LEGAL -take one step forward!
34
SOCIAL -take one step forward!
3S
C [I
iii
LEGAL -take one step backwards!
C [I
iii
LEGAL -take one step backwards!
37
1880--Fishing Act prohibits Chinese from engaging in any fishing business. Act to Prevent the Issuance of
licenses to Aliens deprives Chinese of
licenses for businesses or occupations. 55
"... they were better than most other workers. Honest, hardworking, and reliable, and not too proud to take on
jobs that other men shunned, the Chinese were soon in great demand.,,56
The Chinese also make useful farm laborers, ... They learn very quickly, are accurate, painstaking, and
57
trustworthy, and especially as gardeners and for all hand-labor, they are excellent.
1882--California legislature declares legal holiday to facilitate public anti-Chinese demonstrations.
58
LEGAL -take one step backwards!
38
JOBS -take one step forward!
39
JOBS -take one step backwards!
40
-Ii!
(JIIII(
SO
CI
AL
AN
D
LE
GA
L bot
h
tak
e
one
ste
p
bac
kw
ard
s!
Signboards stating "No Chinese Need Apply."S9
1882--Chinese Exclusion Act bans immigration of Chinese laborers into the United States for ten years and
60
prohibits naturalization of Chines.
1886--Yick Lee vs. San Francisco's laundries--U.S. Supreme Court rules that a law could be unconstitutional in
its application and that the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies to noncitizens living in
the U.S. Since then, more than 600 cases have cited this decision, which ensures equal protection for ail
61
'people living in the United States.
1887--Penal Code institutes fishing license tax aimed against Chinese fishermen.
Teacher Note #17
62
41
SOCIAL
-take one step backwardsI
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
42
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
43
C 11
in
LEGAL -take one step
forwardl
44
C
II
in
Hawaii's rice-growing industry is begun by the Chinese.
63
Chinese immigrant Guey Jones develops a superior variety of rice that creates a prize industry. 64
Lue Gim Gong developed an orange that can remain on the tree for two or three years and remain fresh for
65
months while on route to markets.
Chinese farmers are the first to hatch eggs by using artificial heat.
66
4S
JOBS -take one step forward I
JOBS -take one step forwardl
46
JOBS -take one step forward I
47
JOBS -take one step forwardl
48
The Bing Cherry is named for the Chinese farm foreman in Oregon who helps develop it.
67
JOBS -take one step forward!
50
White laborers, resent the success of the
in getting and keeping jobs, accuse them of
cheap labor and taking jobs away from
Americans.
SOCIAL -take one step backwards!
51
SOCIAL -take one step backwards!
52
Hotels, restaurants, and barbershops refuse to serve Chinese customers.
Wherever the Chinese go, they are mistreated and harassed.
68
69
SOCIAL -take one step backwards!
Chinese
providing
Many whites considered the Chinese to be racially inferior and incapable of assirnilation.70
1888--Scott Act prohibits Chinese reentry after temporary departure to visit family in China unless they have
relatives in the United States, or own land worth $1,000. The Act also declares Chinese immigrants ineligible for
citizenship.71
1892--Geary Act extends ban on immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years; Chinese must carry residence
certificates on penalty of deportation with
72
no right of habeas corpus bail procedure.
"Having a China man's chance" reflects extremely poor odds of success.
73
S3
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI
S4
LEGAL -take one step backwardsl
S
S
«
[1
in
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
S6
The most vicious stereotypes of Asians were perpetuated in the films of the 1920s and 1930s. In these films,
China and Chinatown, U.S.A., invariably are pictured as places of mystery and intrigue, where evil lurks behind
closed doors and where
74
anything is likely to happen--and often does.
Studio pUblicity describes the Chinese villain in such terms as: "Menace in every twitch of his finger; a threat in
every twitch of his eyebrow;
terror in each slit second of his slanted eyes.,,75
Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, explains that the "racial differences between
American whites and Asiatics would never be overcome. The Superior whites had to exclude the inferior
Asiatics, by law, or if necessary by force of arms."76
The Chinese gain the distinction of being the first people declared undesirable by the U.S. Congress,?7
Teacher Note U18
SOCIAL -take one step
backwards!
i
58
SOCIAL -take one step
backwards!
59
SOCIAL -take one step
backwards!
60
c
•
i
i
LE
GA
Ltak
e
one
ste
p
bac
kw
ard
s!
Because they have been deprived of the right to citizenship, the Chinese immigrants are denied the power of
political protest against injustice. 7 8
LEGAL AND SOCIAL -take one step
backwardsI
62
C [I
g
LEGAL -take one step
backwards!
1943--Due to W.W.II, President Roosevelt
signs an act repealing the Chinese Exclusion
strict limit is placed on the number of Chinese
79
63
enter the United States--only 105 a year.
finally
law. A
who can
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI
64
Another source of stereotyping, and one that attacks young minds before they are able to distinguish fact from
fiction, is comic books. They show diabolical Asians plotting to take over the world and drooling over white
80
women.
...belief that a Chinese could live on only a bowl of rice a day.81
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsl
"Pig-tailed Orientals"
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsl
6
6
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI
Chinese are referred to as the "yellow
67
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI
68
"Filthy Coolies,,83 is another derogatory name for Chinese immigrants.
Terms used to malign the Chinese are "heathen Chinese," "mice-eaters," and "Chinks."
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI
peril."82
"Look out for the Asian Invasion." "M.LT. means Made in Taiwan." "U.C.LA. stands for University of
Caucasians Living Among Asians.,,84
10/11106--San Francisco Board of Education issues an order to exclude all Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
85
children from neighborhood schools and to segregate them in an "Oriental" schoo1.
The 1922 Cable Act provides that any U.S. woman who marries "an alien ineligible to citizenship shall cease to
be a citizen of the United States.',86
1924--Johnson-Reed Act, or National Origins Act, places strict limitations on the immigration of certain national
groups, and totally prohibited the immigration of any persons "ineligible for citizenship." The Chinese, of course,
fell within that classification. 8 7
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI
70
« I(
III
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
71
(
LEGAL AND SOCIAL -take one step backwardsl
( 11
III
LEGAL -take one step backwardsI
1974--Lau vs. Nichols ensures a student's right to equal education regardless of his/her native language. The
bilingual programs instituted as a result of this ruling today benefits new immigrants
88
from Europe, South America, and Asia.
Today--"Whatever I do in school and college in the way of extracurricular activities or attaining high grades, I
am given much more credit and popularity than an American would receive if he did the same things. Being a
Chinese among American friends is, then, sort of an advantage.,,89
Even though Chinese-American children today think American, talk American, eat American, and dress
American, they still look Chinese. And because of that, they tend to be singled out as "different" by their
90
c1assmates.
Poverty, unemployment, substandard housing, poor health, juvenile delinquency, these are all major problems in
the Chinatowns. Even in the Chinatowns of today.91
73
( 11
g
LEGAL-take one step fOlWardl
74
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsl
SOCIAL take one step fOlWardl
75
SOCIAL take one step fOlWardl
76
Many Chinese-Americans now face rejection, not from white Americans, but from the Chinese themselves. 92
SOCIAL -take one step backwardsI