Ethnic Tensions in Late 19th Century America: Chinese Immigration Case, Papers of Art

Download Ethnic Tensions in Late 19th Century America: Chinese Immigration Case and more Papers Art in PDF only on Docsity! Ben Rubinstein 1 IAH 201, Paper 2 During the late nineteenth century the United States faced a massive influx of immigrants. The country was akin to a black hole, a vortex that pulled people from every populated corner of the planet. Most came to escape poverty; others fled political persecution. The immigrants were drawn by hyperbolic myths. Asians heard of California’s “gold hills,” while Europeans dreamed of streets paved with gold (1). Just before and after the turn of the century, soon-to-be citizens were entering from across both oceans. From across the Atlantic came the Europeans. Collectively, they were relatively similar to the groups that came before them. The most alien of the new migrants were the Jews. While they seemed foreign to the established Americans, the differences were quite superficial; they were part of the Judeo-Christian tradition and exhibited cultural/moral common ground. From across the other ocean, the Pacific ocean, came the Asians. The first wave of Asian laborers in the mid 19th century was well received (I use the term laborer specifically; only men came to America, and it was their goal to return to their families once they amassed a sufficient amount of money). The Asians, mostly Chinese, were seen as industrious and hard working. They settled in California and many of them became involved in the gold mining industry where there was excess wealth to be had. Problems arose when Chinese migration failed to cease. They were no longer seen as a novelty, a curiosity, but as a real threat to American prosperity. Their income did not support the American economy in the least; they were the ultimate birds of passage (2). As a result, in 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the only legislation written to prohibit a certain ethnicity from migrating to America. Ben Rubinstein 2 IAH 201, Paper 2 Why was it that the Chinese were the only ones to face such legislation? Surely they weren’t the only birds of passage; most Italian migrants came to America to make a small fortune and then return to their families in Italy. The Italians, however, never faced similar legislation. What made the Chinese different? The answer lies in the extreme foreignness represented by the Chinese people. Both culturally and physically, the Asian migrants were unlike any other group that American citizens had encountered. The Chinese were even more foreign than the Japanese. It was because of that foreignness that they suffered such cruel xenophobia and ostracizing, legally as well as socially. Ben Rubinstein 5 IAH 201, Paper 2 Another instance in which the schism between Eastern and Western beliefs must have proved too much for the delicate Western sensibilities was the topic of the afterlife and ancestors. While Western religions all believed, roughly, that if one was good, in the afterlife one would go to a wonderful blissful place quite separate from the real world. However, Eastern religions told that ancestor spirits remained on land in which they inhabited in their mortal lives. This was one of the reasons that most Asians felt so strongly compelled to return to their native homes once they amassed a small fortune; they feared the wrath of vengeful ancestors if they lingered too long in foreign lands. That notion, of course, must have seemed absolutely absurd to Westerners, who knew that their ancestors were really living in a blissful land, Heaven, up in the clouds, or somewhere, far enough away anyway as not to be a bother (6). It’s obvious that Chinese and Japanese migrants faced very unique but still separate experiences in America. The Japanese, after all, never faced legislation barring them from entering the country. Why was that so? That was because in the late 19th century China and Japan were very different nations, politically. Japan was much more industrialized than China, and thus had much better relations with the United States. However, it was still ruled in a slightly archaic fashion; it had an Emperor. Therefore, many of the Japanese migrants, unlike the Chinese migrants, were not escaping poverty, but rather trying to gain civil freedom. In addition, and because of the industrialized/modernized/Westernized nature of Japan, many of its migrants were slightly quicker to assimilate and release cultural affiliations. Many of the wealthier Japanese, in fact, arrived on Angel Island in Western suits. These factors made the Japanese individuals much more appealing to our changing country than the Chinese (7). Ben Rubinstein 6 IAH 201, Paper 2 In a country being culturally revolutionized so rapidly it is surprising that such xenophobia could exist. Well, perhaps it isn’t really that surprising at all. Many of the well rooted Americans felt threatened by the influx of different cultures. They felt not only that their culture was going to be usurped by foreigners, but that their money was going to be as well. In such a climate it was difficult to point such a bigoted finger at any of the European migrants; they were so similar, relatively peaking, to the existing Americans. Xenophobia seemed much better substantiated when turned against a group like the Asians, Chinese specifically, who were so much more physically and culturally foreign than their European counterparts. (1) AI CD: China: Rice Pad (2) AI CD: China: Rural Scene (3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_peril (4) www.shanghaistar.com.cn/2002/1024/cu18-1.html (5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism (6) AI CD: Japan: After the day’s work in the paddy field (7) AI CD: Angel Island: Japanese Families and Picture Brides