The Asian American Experience - Essay Example

 The Asian American Experience 1. Introduction According to Avakian (2002), the influx of Asians into United States territory has been occurring as early as 1759 when Filipino sailors in what would be called as Louisiana. It was Chinese Filipinos who were also the first Asians to have migrated into American soil specifically in Mexico. Other Asian nationalities such as the Japanese, Koreans, Southeast Asian nations and Pacific Islanders soon followed. However, the immigration of Asians into the U.S. is a tale woven with the elements of history dreams, hard work, discrimination, prejudice, triumph and persistence. In the following passages, I will be discussing the Asian immigration experience in to the United States. The focus will not be so much in establishing a chronological account of the social phenomenon as in analyzing the social and cultural forces that have operated in the regard for Asian Americans. 2.0 The Immigrants from Asia 2.1 The Chinese Experience The Chinese were the first people to immigrate in large numbers to the United States by late 1840’s. Driven by the desire to extricate themselves from economic hardship so prevalent in their country and the impending British takeover of China after winning the Opium War of 1839 -1842, the Chinese came in large numbers in the United States. They were attracted to do this due to the gold rush that was occurring in the California region. Most of them ended up as contract labourers. (Barkan, 2007) Discrimination showed its presence when the Chinese were obligated to pay the Foreign Miner Tax. This piece of legislation required all foreign miners to pay certain tax for their participation in the industry. The tax measure was only applied to Chinese workers in spite of the predominance of European immigrants. When they resisted paying the tax due to unfair application, the Chinese were physically abused and even murdered without hope of retribution from the justice system due to the fact that the law prevented Chinese immigrants from testifying against Whites in court. In the PBS documentary entitled Becoming American – The Chinese Experience, we are informed how the Chinese also entered into being merchants, laundry workers, domestics, gardeners, farmers and as railroad workers in 1865 for the Transcontinental Railroad Project. Almost 12,000 Chinese labourers were employed to the dirtiest and hazardous work by the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific in constructing mile after mile of railroad track. An estimated 1,000 of them died as a result of poor working conditions such as rock avalanches and explosion accident. Their wages were also about 60% of what European immigrants were paid. The list of discriminatory practices does not stop there. When the Chinese went into strike to ask for equality in salary, management cut off their food supply and starved them into submission. They were also treated as if they only had a minor contribution in the project’s accomplishment as evidenced by their exclusion in the ceremony in Promontory Point, Utah celebrating the completion of the project. They were never mentioned in the speeches and were actually summarily fired and were forbidden to ride the train back to San Francisco. Seeing the Chinese as an economic threat due to the cheapness of their services in almost all trade, Americans embarked on a campaign of terror against them. There were several cases of lynching, murders and anti-riot practices ultimately resulting to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Chinese immigrants were prohibited from becoming US citizens and incoming immigration from China was effectively hindered. Living in a society which prevented them from being integrated into mainstream culture and discriminated upon them wit respect to rights in education and owning of lands, the Chinese established what is popularly known as China towns where they can conduct business among themselves thereby limiting the need to trade and deal with American whites. The establishment of China towns were a direct result of the prejudice, exclusion and institutional discrimination which still perpetuated itself into contemporary society. It is worthy to note that Chinese Americans were able to file thousands of lawsuits at all court levels. Although unsuccessful, this lawsuits only goes to show their desire to be recognized as US citizens in light of their contribution to what US is now today. 2.2 Japanese Immigration Other Asian nationalities soon followed in the steps of the Chinese immigrating to the United States. The reason for this is basically the same for all of them. Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, other Southeast Asian nationalities and Pacific Islanders immigrated into the United States in search for a better economic opportunities and be able to extricate themselves from the deplorable conditions their society has to offer them. (Lee, 1992) For the Japanese, the US experience can be mostly attributed to the point where they opened trade with the U.S. after having being threatened by Commodore Matthew Perry of war in 1853 if they did not. Soon thereafter, the Japanese found themselves very much in demand because they offered cheaper labor as compared to the Chinese. They found employment as agricultural workers in Hawaii in 1890 and skilled workers in mainland America. In spite of the efforts of their government to ensure that they were well, the Japanese immigrants were subjected to the same discriminatory practices as the Chinese. If the latter had the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the former had the 1907 Gentleman’s Agreement which stopped immigration by preventing the Japanese government from issuing passports. They were also prevented from becoming citizens, owning land, entering certain professions and intermarrying among whites. (hing, 1993) Like the Chinese, the Japanese also fought in courts against the discrimination against them. In addition, they went into strikes, demonstrations, enlisting of White sympathizers and publishing their cause in books and essays. While most of these efforts went largely unsuccessful in those times, it only goes to show how the Japanese fought for fair and equal treatment by being assimilated into US society. 2.3 Other Asian Groups If we were to discuss all the experiences of the Asian immigrants, we would be trying to compress voluminous documents in this paper. As such, I will only mention a little regarding other Asian immigrants. It was mentioned before that Filipinos actually immigrated in the United States as early as the 18th century. Nevertheless, mass immigration only occurred in the 19th and early 20th century where approximately 130,000 Filipinos were in America by 1935. US society were more accommodating of Filipinos and native Hawaiians because they were inhabitants of U.S. territories during that time though there are still discriminatory practices employed against them. Only 7,000 Koreans immigrated in America by 1951. Yet, immigration ballooned by the year 2000. There were little immigration coming from other Southeast nation such as Thais, Malaysians and Indonesians. (Gould, 1996) Perhaps the most salient similarity of the Asian immigrants was their desire to be treated equally and fairly. They wanted to make a decent living for themselves which was not possible in their own society. They wanted to be integrated into American life as much as possible. All their efforts, however, were mostly in vain. World War 2 would provide the impetus for the US treatment to become extreme for better or for worse. 3.0 World War 2 and the Asian Immigrants 3.1 Japanese Americans Despised As could be expected, Americans suspected Japanese immigrants from serving as spies for the Japan war effort. The bombing of Pearl Harbor led government and military officials to believe that this was the case. The attack sparked an overwhelming wave of hatred, racism and prejudice against the Japanese Americans. (Motomura, 2007) Even when prominent government and military officials such as J. Edgar Hoover downplayed the Japanese Americans being used as spies, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 calling for the revocation or rights of Japanese Americans (two thirds of which were already U.S. citizens). 112,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up and thrown into prison camps where they were under the close scrutiny of the Americans and made dependent for their basic needs on U.S. supplies. (Chan, 2003) To add insult to injury, every Japanese American was made to undergo a loyalty check where they had to answer two questions. The first one was if they were willing to be drafted in the army and serve as nurses. The second one was to evaluate their propensity to interfere with the war effort and whether they remain obedient to U.S. laws. Although there were an overwhelming number of people who said yes to both questions, what could someone expect in face of pressure and having everything you have worked for hanging in the balance? The order was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the famous Korematzu case in 1944 but was overturned in the 1980`s after it was discovered that government officials withheld important information from being scrutinized. (Parillo, 1990) 3.2 Treatment of other Asian Americans While the Japanese was being rounded up and thrown into prison, other Asian Americans were being accepted into American society mainly because the government portrayed them as hardworking, responsible and were the American`s equal. Their countries were allies in war. The Chinese Exclusion Act was abolished in 1943. Korean, Filipino, and South Asian Americans were portrayed in a more positive light. However, positive attitudes towards Chinese were short-lived as the Americans again portrayed the Chinese Communists as evil. (Chan, 1991) 4.0 Conclusion The discussion would reveal that the Asian American experience was a tale of struggle. Discrimination and racism pervaded American society and translated into legislations curtailing many basic human rights, physical abuses, murders and other abusive practices. One can also see that American society has the propensity to change their attitudes if it would benefit them as shown by their change of heart for the Chinese during the war and the building of the Transcotinental railroad project. References; Avakian, Monique (2002). Atlas of Asian-American History. Checkmark Books. Barkan, Elliott Robert (2007). From All Points: America's Immigrant West, 1870s-1952. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Chan, Sucheng (1991). Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. Boston: Twayne Publishers. Chan, Sucheng ed. (2003). Remapping Asian American History. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press. Gould, S.J. (1996). Three Centuries’ Perspectives on Race and Racism. From The Mismeasure of Man. New York: Norton. 391-424. Hing, Bill Ong (1993). Two Contrasting Schemes: Understanding Immigration Policies Affecting Asians Before and After 1965. In Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy, 1850-1990. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Lee, Joann Faung Jean. (1992). Asian Americans: Oral Histories of First to Fourth Generation Americans from China, the Philippines, Japan, India, the Pacific Islands, Vietnam and Cambodia. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Motomura, Hiroshi. (2007). Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States. London: Oxford University Press. Omi, M. & Winant, H. (1994). Racial Formation. From Racial Formation in the United States from the 1960s to the 1990s, 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge. 53-76. Parillo (1990). Theories of Minority Integration. From Strangers to These Shores. New York: MacMillan. 50-59. Pieterse, J.N. (1992). White Negroes. From White on Black: Images of Blacks in Western Popular Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press. Read More