(Gets up on Soap Box)
PBS recently blew my mind with an episode of American Experience. This
recent episode discussed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. An event in
American History conveniently left out of my history curriculum while a young
lad at school. It is an appalling
example of Immigration “Reform” run amok.
“The Chinese Exclusion Act was
the first major law restricting immigration to the United States. It was
enacted in response to economic fears, especially on the West Coast, where
native-born Americans attributed unemployment and declining wages to Chinese
workers whom they also viewed as racially inferior. The Chinese Exclusion Act,
signed into law on May 6, 1882, by President Chester A. Arthur, effectively halted
Chinese immigration for ten years and prohibited Chinese from becoming US
citizens. Through the Geary Act of 1892, the law was extended for another ten
years before becoming permanent in 1902.” -
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/exclusion.html
This Exclusion Act was law in
the United States of America until 1943. It wasn’t completely eliminated until
1965 with the passage of the Immigration Act. During the time the law was in
effect, it was determined that even American born children of Chinese
Immigrants were not guaranteed the same rights as other American born children
of other ethnicities, like the Irish, Polish, Italian or those of European
stock.
It was truly a shameful history
lesson. One that I honestly never heard of before until this PBS special. The
timeliness of this special was not lost on me as the United States once again
and continues to grapple with the issue of Immigration. It occurred to me that
Americans have short memories and frankly have failed to learn anything from
our mistakes. I’m not saying we have to be perfect, but when it comes to
Immigration issues, we’ve been there/done that. And we have apparently, not
learned anything.
The Chinese Immigrants looked
different, practiced a different religion, spoke a different language and had altogether
different ways of doing things. The Chinese were so reviled they were deemed to
be, “unassimilable” to American culture and values; it was thought that it would
be better to limit the amount of them here and flatly refuse to allow more into
the country. Frankly, White People didn’t
understand them, didn’t want to understand them, and we’re afraid of what they
didn’t understand. They decided to, figuratively, kill what they didn’t
understand. Sometimes literally.
It’s no surprise really that
this period in American History was not exactly taught to grammar school and
High School Students. We were always taught that America was the land of
opportunity in which all people, from all over the world were allowed to be who
they were and join into the “Melting Pot”.
We were taught the poem on the Statue of Liberty was American canon and
it was to be abided, and all peoples, “Yearning to breath free”, were to be
welcomed.
It’s a real shame how my classic
American Optimism was once again shattered by this story of blatant legislated
bigotry. I always try to believe that the United States of America is a place
where everyone should get a fair shake. I know in my heart of hearts it’s a myopic
optimism. I was always taught to believe in the good about America and to
ignore the mistakes of our past. Bigotry, forget it. Racism, forget it. Sexual Orientation
issues, forget it. Just go about paying your taxes and we’ll make sure the big
bad (Insert Non-Catholic Nation here) doesn’t bomb you in the night.
In fact, it would appear a blind
adherence to psudo-religion doctrine is the cause of a lot of issues for
Americans. It seems a lot of issues between Americans and immigrants, especially
the Chinese, stemmed from the fact that they did not practice some form of Catholicism.
I
would say the same applied to the Jewish, Buddhists, Hindus, what have you. Yet
it would appear it was the Chinese who suffered the most with having their very
existence in America legislated. Basically
told, you’re an undesirable and we hate you.
The Chinese persisted and
eventually, through an immense amount patience, hard work and political action,
managed to weave their way into the American fabric. And yet, there is still
residual mistrust and hatred residing in some parts of this nation. For the
Chinese, or anyone who is, “Different”. A mistrust I
find very difficult to fathom.
The same could be said for Latin
immigrants, ex-pats if you will, attempting to find for themselves a new life
in the United States of America. In fact, the rhetoric about this issue is so
perplexing, I’m not even actually sure what name I should refer to regarding
those new immigrants. Somehow, “Latin,” seems incorrect. Perhaps, “huddled masses,” is more apt. I’ll
just call them huddled masses.
These huddled masses, so reviled
for their different languages, customs, beliefs and general appearance; are
being treated by this current American government in much the same way
immigrants in the past were being treated. Our elected representatives enact
laws, create restrictions, barriers, and impossible hoop-jumping tricks to
limit the arrival of the new huddled masses. It is so reminiscent of the
political behaviors of the 1880’s I can’t believe no one has pointed this out
to anyone in power.
Or maybe it has been pointed out
to them and they just don’t care. Maybe
this concept of a Nation, built by immigrants, has been deemed undesirable, and
has been washed from history. Just like it was left out of my school boy days.
(Steps off soap box)
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-chinese-exclusion-act-eixnlw/
