In Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California, Tomas Almaguer (2009) describes how race and racism coincides to facilitate the birth of white supremacy in California during the late nineteenth century. The idea of racial formation allowed groups to establish their power and privilege over defined racial lines. For each of the three racialized groups presented Chapter one combines the historical and sociological framework to describe the transformation of Mexican California. Through highlighting the historical accounts of racialized groups, fear of potential threats to white workers creates white supremacy. He continues by describing the peopling of Anglo-CA from 1848-1900 with the immigration of Irish, German, …show more content…
Chapter six examines the anti-Chinese sentiment with the emerging class antagonism and turmoil between white capitalists and workers. The unwelcomed arrival of Chinese immigrants brought along their own social organizations such as the huiguan, fongs, and tongs. These types of social organizations secured areas of employment and housing for Chinese immigrants in California. This social structure that was unknown to Anglos led them to also categorize Chinese on the same level as Indians by depicting them as lustful heathens whom were out to taint innocent white women. These images were also perpetuated onto Chinese women, thus, also sexualizing them as all prostitutes. The political status of Chinese immigrants were also heavily impacted as they could not serve as witnesses for one another and required a white man to vouch for their innocence or naturalization. The rising structure of capitalism brought more anti-Chinese sentiment from the white working class basis as they feared that the Chinese would monopolize their privilege of white free labor. The class nature of the anti-Chinese sentiment also generated hostility from white farmers as they also assumed that Chinese immigrants were out to take over their agricultural sector. These racialized class relations during the era of urban manufacturing reflected the racial segregation of labor that fostered white supremacy in California. The status of Chinese women also became affected as many were forced into prostitution to serve their patriarchal family. In order to protect the white working class, racial laws were created and directly targeted towards Chinese immigrants to protect their whiteness. Chapter seven explains the new threat of the arrival of Japanese immigrants in California. During the beginning of the anti-Chinese sentiment and white working-class racism, Japanese immigrants were also under the romanticized belief of
Susan Lee Johnson in her book, Roaring Camp: The Social World of the California Gold Rush, gives a collections of histories of the same event from multiple sources’ perspectives. She does not try to decipher which interpretation or version of events is the accurate one. Johnson believes that the multitude of versions is more telling of the actual themes that were bing played out in this area of the southern mines of California. Johnson tackles issues of labor in these mining camps throughout her book. She pays close attention to the Anglo-American migrants and their disgruntled claims against the system of peonage employed by Sonoran and other Latino patrons.
California and immigrants were blamed for a lot of the economic issues. Tensions where rising which led to violent outburst and riots (Ciment, J., & Radzilowsk, J., 2013). Tensions really started to rise when Union Pacific Coal Department changed its policy of paying Chinese miners lower wages than white miners. This policy caused the Chinese to be hired over the white miners.
Throughout the informative paper “Public Health and The Mapping of Chinatown,” author Nayan Shah is able to convey the struggles that Chinese immigrants faced while living in San Franciso’s Chinatown and the impact it had on society as a whole. Shah begins by explaining that as soon as there were enough Chinese immigrants to develop Chinatown, there was an immediate concern and many sought out an investigation to prove the Chinese lived in filth. News intel, like the Daily Alta California, frequently reported on the national cholera epidemic and associated the blame with the Chinese, warning others of the danger they possess in spreading diseases. At the time, members of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association worked hard to create
On May 6, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed a federal law prohibiting Chinese laborers to immigrate. This U.S. federal law was called The Chinese Exclusion Act. During the California Gold Rush, many Chinese immigrated to North America. As gold became harder to find, hostility built up towards Chinese immigrates. A combination of racism and misunderstanding of another culture cause fear that turned into hate.
Scott Kurashige’s The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles exposes its’ readers to the history of race and politics in the city of Los Angeles, California. In his research, the author describes the political history of Japanese and Black Americans in LA by discussing the interethnic cooperation and competition each group faced while dealing with bigoted and racist beliefs and challenges that white people threw their way. Kurashige’s research focuses most on how these two racial groups at Little Tokyo/Bronzeville produce entirely different responses to the political sphere around them after World War II. The author shows how the African Americans in this city were trapped in the lower
One of this week’s readings focused on Ch. 5, “Caged Birds,” in Professor Lytle Hernandez’s book City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771-1965, and this chapter was particularly interesting because it further explained the development of immigration control in the United States. As a continuation from the last chapter, there was a huge emphasis in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Geary Act of 1892. This essentially prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States, as well as eventually requiring these people to comply with regulations. “Caged Birds” encapsulates the events afterwards, as the book heads well into the early-1900’s. The disenfranchisement of immigrants develops towards further exclusivity because “[by] 1917, Congress had banned all Asian immigration to the Unites States and also categorically prohibited all prostitutes, convicts, anarchists, epileptics, ‘lunatics,’ ‘
For example, a citizen would say ‘eat too much’ and that would be phrased as “eaty too muchee” if a Chinese immigrant said it (Grimm). Many citizens were uncomfortable with the Chinese, even going to the extent that the Chinese “threatens our… prosperous society” (Workingmen of San Francisco). Both of these examples show that the public perceived the Chinese as a danger, and ‘alien’ to American culture, and this carried on to
In Steel Barrio, Michael Innis-Jiménez discusses how Mexican migrants through 1915-1940 traveled and transformed the industrial steel sector of South Chicago. Innis-Jiménez is an assistant professor of American Studies at the University of Alabama. The New York University Press published his book. Thus, this book is geared toward an academic audience seeking to understand Mexican immigration and how Mexicans have transformed industrial American cities such as Chicago.
Also talks about immigrants that were born in Ireland or elsewhere in Europe. They (immigrants) lured by the promises and high wages commanded by bosses. The problems increased, when the Chinese workers whom built the railroad that crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains in California had social conflicts with California and not only that. Furthermore they had conflicts in their relationship with their superior
A community against it formed and started lynching violators of their rules. The civic order being made in California became more and more difficult as it became more diverse. Anglo bigots wanted a stop to immigration. This Anglo-centric idea was especially directed at the Chinese nationality. Though Chinese leaders spoke out against the mistreatment, racial violence continued.
Chinese immigrants came to the U.S for the california gold rush, this event provided many jobs, hope for a good future, and hope to give a good life to their families. Nativists
Thus, during California’s gold rush, racial discrimination manifested through verbal and physical violence while characterizing non-whites as a criminal class exploited for the gain of anglo landowners. The lynching of non-whites shows the exclusion and elimination of competition and the prevailing hate rhetoric that quickly turned violent. This reality of hard labor, discrimination, and even murder shattered the dreams of many non-white
The California Gold Rush was amongst one of the many attractions that America offered. However, the Chinese immigrants had many difficulties on their way to following the American Dream. An obstacle they had to overcome was the laws of their imperial monarchy of the time, the Qing dynasty of China. Their rule, which lasted from 1875 to 1908, had opposing views on the working class of China migrating to America and is what postponed immigration for many Chinese people. Those who were able to immigrate were second and third class and often came without much wealth, enduring the poor living conditions on their transportation, with small cabins and terrible food.
The Chinese lived in “Chinatowns,” and they were often seen as a threat by other American
Another group was soon persecuted after the Chinese immigrants were deported: the Japanese, who had come to work in mines and agriculture on the West Coast. Just as Americans today treat Mexican immigrants, the Japanese were seen as threats to security. A “yellow peril” ensued, and governments proposed pieces of legislation to segregate the Japanese from other American citizens (Brown). The unfair treatment of Japanese-Americans parallels with the current decrees of politicians that immigrants are stealing jobs and are a threat to U.S.