Survival strategy for Chinese immigrants in New York - Research Paper Example

? Survival strategy for Chinese immigrants in New York Chinese immigration began in America pre-1850, but for the purposes of this paper, discussion will be confined to the limitations of 1880 and later. Within this paper I will outline the development of the Chinese population within New York. I will also discuss the racial tension between the white majority and the Chinese minority that led to the creation of the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting citizenship from the Chinese people based on race alone. I will follow the continued growth of Chinatown and its divided two tier society that formed the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. I will discuss the ramifications of the Exclusion Act and the construction of the Chinese bachelor society. I will conclude with Ping Dong’s story of her entrance into the United States and the subterfuge she had to perpetuate in order to rejoin with her husband, following the lifting of the Exclusion and the entrance of War Brides after World War II. In the 1850’s and 1860’s, Chinese immigration began with arrival in the Port of New York, which was a passageway for westward expansion and the California Gold Rush. , Many men from China moved west to pan for gold and seek their fortune, but instead “busted” with little success. Unemployed and unwanted, Chinese workers were hired for manual labor to build the railroads, cook and clean. When the railroads were completed, and jobs were more scarce, animosity quickly developed between the “yellow peril” and the white workers. Enmity grew so much that racism became legal; the Workman’s Party in California adopted the slogan, “The Chinese Must Go.” They successfully rallied Congress for laws to exclude the Chinese. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was enforced tightly until after World War II (Foner 144). By 1900, the Chinese in California started moving back eastward to New York. The Chinese population in California decreased as the population in New York increased. The Chinese people in New York moved to a central area, across Canal Street from Little Italy in lower Manhattan. This group of Chinese had several things in common: most were from a small area in Sze Yap, and spoke Taishanese, a dialect of Cantonese. Most left their families behind, hoping to make a fortune in the gold mines and to send for them, not expecting the backlash of harsh immigration laws aimed directly at their population. Most were poor and uneducated and worked at odd jobs, laundry, cleaning, and household help. Most were “unassimilated,” staying within the confines of the community for friendship and family, not easily conversant in English. As they were not allowed to become naturalized citizens, nor were they allowed to bring their wives, they were mostly a bachelor society, with men outnumbering women 27 to 1 (Foner 145). The Chinese community was close-knit, in part due to enforced segregation from the white populace, but also to provide for each other and for financial strength. It was common for a two room apartment to have 5-15 people, each with his own limited space. They slept in tri-tiered bunks, two or three to a bed (Burrows 1128). The Chinese looked to their own selves for self-support, they created a self-sustaining society with a government, social services, businesses, and jobs. In order to protect itself, the Chinese created the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, or the CCBA (McIllwain 215). It was through this association that one could buy a business, get a job, plan a funeral, or arrange for banking. This was self-governing and self-regulating for the Chinese community, a hierarchical system of courts within the community that also decided law and imposed taxes for the New York Chinese. Each section of Chinatown had representation through the Tongs. The Tongs collected the taxes and imposed the protection within the community. Chinese society was two tiered: Uptowners, or the Elite, mainly comprised of investors and businessmen, and Downtowns, or the Workers, made of the working class (Kwong 15). After the Immigration Law of 1924, for a Chinese man to enter the United States legally he had to have completed his bachelor’s degree and have enough money to sustain himself while attending graduate school and have enough money to return to China within 6 months after graduating. These were the make of the Uptowners. Conversely, the Downtowners were children of farm workers and laborers. Becoming a US citizen was illegal, so the Chinese had to create a way around the law to stay within the country. The San Francisco Fire of 1906 destroyed most of the records of immigration and births. It became impossible to disprove a Chinese claim to citizenship, so a father would return to China to bring back his “paper son.” Once here in America, this “paper son” was entitled to all rights and privileges as a United States citizen. Selling the “slots” for the “paper sons” became a lucrative business. The imbalance of women worsened with the harsh enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act; it is estimated that in 1900 there were 40-150 women for 7,000 Chinese men living in New York (http://www.ny.com/articles/chinatown.html). This reinforced the bachelor existence and also continued to segregate the Chinese population. In addition, it created an “entertainment” community for the lonely men. Houses of prostitution, opium dens, and gambling houses continued to perpetuate the racist ideas that the Chinese people were “dirty” and criminals. The Chinese Alien Wives Act, the War Brides Act, and the Alien Fiancees and Fiances Act helped restore the gender balance to the Chinese population. This opened the door that was previously locked closed to Chinese female immigration (Zhao 80). The previously mentioned Chinese Exclusion Act did not permit Chinese women who married American citizens after 1924 to enter the United States. Women had to create a fictitious identity to claim their husbands of many years. For example, Dong Zem Ping, as recorded in her son Arthur Dong’s film, “Sewing Women,” was married at age 13. When her husband came to America, most likely as a paper son, he did not report that he had a wife, much less that she was pregnant. Although his wartime military service qualified him to bring in his family members, his previous sworn testimony, as well as the testimonies of his sponsor and friends, prevented him from reclaiming his real identity. Dong, therefore, had to marry her husband a second time in order to enter the country as a war bride. She had to claim she was a new bride when she came to the United States, she could not reveal she was the mother of an 8 year old boy. Dong was admitted, but she had to leave him behind in the village [in China]. ( Zhao 86). There are thousands and thousands of documented stories like Dong’s. She was one of the wives that waited decades to be allowed to live with her husband again. In conclusion, Chinese people that immigrated to America in the 1800’s suffered greatly from the racist laws that continued until the contemporary society of Post World War II. Separated from their families both physically and emotionally, the New York Chinese created a society that is rich with culture and tenacity. Their survival strategy of working together, substitute family relationships, sponsoring one another, and keeping their home culture alive has given them a community strength unparalleled by other minority groups. Their segregated population gave them the opportunity to create schools, jobs, businesses and places of worship. They embraced their “otherness” and created a positive culture of associations and interconnectedness. Works Cited Burrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. Oxford UP, 1998. Print. Foner, Nancy. New Immigrants in New York. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Print. Kuo, Chia- Ling. Social and Political Change in New York’s Chinatown: The Role of Voluntary Associations. Praeger, 1977. Web. May 23, 2011. Kwong, Peter. The New Chinatown. rev ed 1996, Canada: Hill and Wang. Print. McIllwain, Jeffrey S. Organizing Crime in Chinatown: Race and Racketeering in New York City, 1890-1910. New York: McFarland and Company, 2004. Print. Zhao, Xiaojian. Remaking Chinese America: Immigration, Family and Community, 1940-1965. NY: Rutgers University Press, 2002. Print. Read More