Chinese Exclusion Act Essay Example

Erika Lee started this paper on "the Chinese are coming" and with this saying started a new history page (Lee 1). Lee's thesis was, without the Chinese exclusion, the U.S wouldn't have the answers for immigration laws over the years. The Chinese were a part of the first "significant restrictive immigration law" (Lee 1). Americans went out there to keep the Chinese out of the U.S. Americans have thought of many ways to make the Chinese feel unwelcome. First, they kept the Chinese from coming into America. Second, the ones who were already in the U.S were degraded as humans. In the 1900s, the word gatekeeping was created, delimiting information and activities from others. This method was used so much during the Chinese exclusion. They kept so much from the Chinese, so the Chinese feel unwelcomed. In the 1870s, California's "Anti-Chinese Activist[s]" wanted to close the American gates. The Chinese women were treated even more harshly. Some were looked at as walking diseases. Third, the Chinese were called "alien[s]," "threatening," and "inferior" (Lee 3). In addition, over time Chinese people weren't the only ones going through these hardships. Europeans, Asians, and Mexicans were facing the same hardships later in time. Race played a significant role in how you were treated. The U.S even came up with nicknames for certain people. Italians were called "guinea" (Lee 8). The U.S called Slavic immigrants "Hunky" (Lee 8). To tell the difference between white people from Asians was by their "yellowness" (Lee 8). However, the Chinese exclusion didn't affect African Americans a lot because the U.S used segregation. They also used Jim Crow laws to keep African Americans "in their place" (Lee 8). A group of Indians was called "Hindu Hordes" (Lee 10). They said Indians were "the worst type of immigrants" (Lee 10). Even African Americans weren't considered real Americans. However, Europeans didn't face as many hardships as the others. The U.S gave Europeans "more access to and opportunities of full participation in the larger American polity, economy, and society" (lee 16). The Europeans were still greatly restricted, but it wasn't bad as the Chinese or Asians. Europeans had a little more freedom because they were white but were restricted because they weren't American. Nevertheless, when U.S imperialism ended in the 1900s. The U.S still had military power and they used it. Moreover, the U.S started to use its newly gained territory to expand its influence. After the Spanish-American War, "the Chinese Exclusion laws were extended to both Hawaii and the Philippines" (Lee 6). Americans wanted to stay American no matter what. If you weren't American, you weren't welcomed kindly. This was because of the Chinese exclusion law. The law made Americans believe it was ok to gatekeep so many things and gave Americans a cocky mindset. Americans felt they were superior to everyone else. In addition, during the 1920s, Mexicans were facing Americans' wrath. Some Americans believed Mexicans coming to the U.S was worse than the Chinese coming. Americans looked at Mexicans as "the ideal human mule" (Lee 11). Americans compared Chinese and Mexicans to see which one was worse. Mexican immigrants were called replacements for Asians. Mexican immigrants were also classified as "racial inferiors" (Lee 10). Americans didn't care for either race but started using them for cheap labor. It wasn't just Mexicans being used for cheap labor. Indians were too victims of cheap labor. Asians were in the same boat as some Europeans. Asians tried to protest and refused to do cheap labor. Once this happened in 1870, the Asiatic Exclusion Act was passed. The 1900s were good for anyone who was in the U.S and wasn't "American". In 1921 and 1924, southern and eastern Europe weren't allowed in the U.S. Also, the Asian exclusion was perfected but Filipinos were still allowed to come to the U.S. Filipinos staying in the U.S didn't last long because of the great depression. The great depression caused "Both Filipinos and Mexicans [to] [face] massive deportation and repatriation programs" (Lee 17). When times were getting rough, they kicked the "non-Americans" out. However, the U.S was trying to do better with its immigration acts. In 1928 they issued "immigrant identification cards" and this was just to make things easier to tell the difference between people (Lee 20). For permanent residents in us, they made "green card[s]" (Lee 20). The green card wasn't the original name; it was "alien registration receipt cards" (Lee 20). Americans were still degrading them but started to accept some people more. Over time the U.S was allowing immigration, but you needed identification. If you didn't have identification while living in the U.S, you would be deported out. Lee believed this type of progress couldn't have happened without Chinese exclusion. Lee believed Americans reflected on the Chinese exclusion act and that they learned from their mistakes. She showed how the question "how can we stop immigrants?" didn't need to be asked anymore due to the Chinese exclusion act.