Institutional Racism Against Chinese Immigrants
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This paper is an examination of the emergence of direct institutional racism against Chinese immigrants in America, as chronicled in Sucheng Chan's book, Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. When the first immigrants from China began arriving in the United States during the middle of the 19th century, they were subjected to the same kinds of distrust and discrimination that all newcomers and outsiders felt. However, because they could be easily identified by their racial features, they were soon singled out for violent attacks which eventually led to an institutionalized racism that extended well into the 20th century. Early laws prevented Asian immigrants from ever becoming citizens, subsequent legislation attempted to restrict their freedoms and limit their perceived threat to mainstream Americans, while later institutional efforts fought the "yellow peril" in subtler (but no less antagonistic) ways. In the end, however, institutionalized racism slowed but did not stop the contribution of Asian immigrants to American society. Immigrants from China were the first major group of Asians to come to the United States. They began arriving in the mid-1850s, driven out of their homeland by political and economic forces that encouraged them to join the California Gold Rush and seek the promise of better lives and better jobs offered overseas. Most of the initial arrivals were young men, willing to work long hours for low wages in the hope of earning enough to return to
. . .
the threat of violence had an impact on the choices immigrants made not only in their livelihoods but in the way they carried out their livelihoods. For instance, few Chinese miners engaged in hydraulic mining, the method that used powerful water jets to uncover ore deposits, since this required a substantial investment in equipment which could then be destroyed; "investing a lot of money in heavy equipment was simply too risky" (Chan, 29).
Many of the violent attacks could be dealt with in the courts, though justice often reflected the low status held by immigrants. When four Chinese were murdered and two others injured by members of a white supremacist organization in 1877, "the suspects were convicted and sentenced, [but] all were released on parole long before their sentences were up" (49).
However, violence was only the most obvious way in which Chinese immigrants were attacked, intimidated, and discriminated against. Many more were subjected to various forms of direct institutional racism, situations in which legislative and social structures contrive to limit the activities of individuals because of their race. For instance, the Chinese could be targeted wherever their methods of working or living were distinctly diff
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1270
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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