Asian American History - Essay Example

 Asian American History Introduction The migration is a worldwide phenomenon. People move from their home places to a country where better employment opportunities are available and survival is comparatively easy. During nineteenth century, the people from most part of the world began seeing the US as a land full of opportunities. The reasons were varied that included the availability of vast natural resources, large inhabitable area and much lesser population density compared to their home countries. Initially, mostly laborers from the East Asian countries moved to the US for greener pastures. The paper explores about Southeast Asian migration to the US in the wake of Southeast Asian crisis and their subsequent experiences in the alien land and how they coped up in a given situation. Early Migrations Takaki dates Asian migration back to 1835 when a sugar mill owner began his sugar business in Hawaii. Local workers were not efficient enough to carry on his sugar mill operations. When he replaced them with Chinese workers, he found them more efficient. Perhaps, that was the first time when Chinese or Asian workers got its due recognition so much so that during laying of transcontinental railroads in 1834, it was decided to employ Chinese workers. By 1867, there were more than twelve thousand Chinese workers employed at the Central Pacific Railroad Soon stories of Hawaii were reaching to other shores. Between 1903 and 1920, in their bid to escape from the clutches of Japanese, more than eight thousand Koreans migrated to the US. The migration to the U.S. from other Asian countries such as Korea, Philippines, and India continued unabated (Takaki 21, 53). The Global Cold War and Hot Wars of Southeast Asia The end of World War II marked a new beginning of Asian migrations in the US. The global cold war between the oviet Union and the US intensified after the end of World War II and Asia became a battle ground in a process to leave an imprint on many underdeveloped and poor Asian countries by the two diametrically opposite economic and political ideologies – namely the USSR and the US. Cambodia which was a French colony until 1953 had a major political upheaval thereafter. Chandler mentions the radical thinking of Pol Pot: “We all carry vestiges of our old class character, deep-rooted for generations” (44). He believed in destroying these things in order to achieve socialism. The fight between Lon Nol's Khmer Republic supported by the U.S. and the Khmer Rouge supported by communists from North Vietnam brought an extraordinary turmoil within the country. Communism was exported to Cambodia via Vietnam during the time when both were under French rule. The Civil war during 1970-75 took the toll of more than 500,000 people and displaced more than three million people from its place. Khmer Rouge's ideology had several facets. As Chan puts it, "Fearing pollution or contamination, they savagely went about eradicating all those whom they deemed impure" ("Cambodia’s Darkest Hour" 14). Khmer Rouge believed more in the concept of race overthrowing the concept of class. It was neither a peasant revolution nor a revolution meant for working class. That is why Khmer Rouge began evacuating Phnom Penh on the same day after capturing it. In a most pathetic incident, the patients from the largest civilian hospital from the Phnom Penh were evacuated first. In a few days, the city's entire population was asked to move on the plea that Americans might bomb. In a bizarre and well-thought out move, approximately 2.5 million people were asked to leave their houses and places. Some of the Khmer leaders, such as Hou Yuon who opposed the evacuation, were removed from the scene. The citizens were completely baffled and wandering without shelter and food. Thousands of them died of illness, thirst and starvation. The former military officers and government officials who were called to take specific instructions never returned. Soon evacuees were declared enemies of the nation and were addressed as 'New People' (Chan, "Cambodia’s Darkest Hour" 16-18). Many of them were brutally executed. As if that was not enough, Khmer Rouge leaders ordered for another cross-country move. According to Chan, Khmer Rouge abolished markets, private property, money and everything that bore the mark of capitalism; schools were closed and even family institution was not spared ("Cambodia’s Darkest Hour" 19). That led to the mass exodus from the country. Laotian, Hmong, Cambodian and Vietnamese Migration The second civil war that soon followed lasted until 1991 displacing several hundred thousand people that camped along the Thai-Cambodian border. The cold war between two superpowers that intensified after World War II culminated into a full-fledged war between two or more political factions of the many Asian countries. It is not surprising that many Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos were easy to fall in trap of civil war due to their large population bases living below subsistence levels, less employment opportunities, and inadequate agricultural land to sustain huge populations. Laos has its roots, culturally and religiously, in neighboring countries, namely Thailand and Cambodia. Chan describes that thousands of Laotian and Hmong fled to Thailand border to get shelter in refugee camps. Very few people migrated before 1975 but in subsequent years thousands of Laotian and Hmong left their homeland to settle in the US. Most of the migration of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians took place only after communist came into the charge of these countries. About 44,000 Laotians that included Hmong and 80,000 Vietnamese were provided settlement as per the Geneva Convention; however, United Nations sent back more than 360,000 Cambodians to their homeland (Chan, “An International Refugee Crisis" 87-88). The major Vietnamese exodus took place through boats to the first asylum countries such as Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia. Chan argues that though much of the exodus happened under the connivance of Vietnamese officials, the U.S. never agreed for any repatriation of refugees, instead, it wanted these refugees to be settled in the several western countries. The US allowed the three categories of people in its soil that included the close family members of ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese who were already staying in the US and the former employees of agencies that served for the cause of the US government in the past. By November 1980, some 300,000 ‘boat people’ were resettled from the Hong Kong and Southeast Asian camps. The enactment of the 1980 refugee Act of the US and the subsequent increase in the annual quota of intake to 168,000 per year cleared the way for more refugees to enter the American Soil. This quota was in addition to the regular intake already in force as per the immigration policy. This act removed the geographical and ideological biases in dealing with granting asylum to the refugees from Southeast Asian countries. In 1987, the U.S. embassy in Thailand had some 670,000 ODP applications on the file awaiting asylum (Chan, “An International Refugee Crisis" 80-85) About the Experiences of Asian Migrants Chan argues that the presence of Asians in the U.S. generated the hostile behavior on part of whites and that was displayed in economic discrimination, prejudice, immigration exclusion, political disenfranchisement, social segregation and physical violence ("Hostility and Conflicts" 45). Asian immigrants had quite similar experiences from the host society. Chan argues that ethnocentrism is a universal phenomenon and Asian immigrants, whether Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian or Hmong, had similar experiences while beginning their economic journey. Giving examples, Chang states that they all suffered because of their poor knowledge of English and limited qualification. The lack of familiarity in doing the things as per the American ways and also not being equipped with the necessary job skills impeded their growth. They all faced racial bias and color prejudice. Several American laws came into their way of progress. They could not fight such prejudice because they had no political backup. They could not exercise vote because of the denial of the right of naturalization. (Chan, "Hostility and Conflicts" 61) Conclusion The US boasts of democracy and plethora of laws with all legal and political structures in place but it is an irony that these Asian American groups had to live with inferior status for a century. Despite these adversities these Asian groups could become parts of the American society. They could do so because they knew the ways of survival. Works Cited Chan, Sucheng. "An International Refugee Crisis". The Vietnamese American 1.5 Generation International Refugee Crisis. Philadelphia, 2006. Print. ---. "Cambodia’s Darkest Hour". Survivors: Cambodian Refugees in the United States. University of Illinois Press. Chicago, 2004. Print. ---. "Hostility and Conflicts". Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. Twayne Publishers. New York, 1990, Print. Chandler, David. "Choosing the Enemies". Voices from S-21: Terror and History in Pol Pot's Secret Prison. University of California Press. Berkley, 1999. Print. Takaki, Ronald T. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. Penguin Books. New York, 1989. Print. Read More