As the 19th Century drew to a close, Chinese Americans in the United States have experienced a varying array of situations, which made their trials and tribulations unique when compared to other immigrants’ histories. However, when contrasted against other Asian populations and their experiences, a lot of similarities could be identified throughout the course of their stay in this nation of multi-nationals. Granted, Chinese American experiences may have differed a lot from that of Caucasian immigrants, but the history of Japanese Americans suggest a familiar path on which many Chinese have traveled upon.
Since their arrival in the Americas, the Chinese have been regarded with skepticism at best, and outright hostility at worst. Quite possibly the most prominent (and most historical) impact the Chinese Americans felt in the United States was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, when anti-Chinese sentiment had caused an uproar in California and caught the US Congress’s attention. It should be noted that the majority of the complaints were labor related, thus hinting that the ability of Chinese immigrants to pursue the American Dream far exceeded the fears of many, and threatened the stability of labor organizations and their goals to improve labor conditions . The passage of the act, and its implementation marked the first time in the United States that an entire race was restricted from entering the nation. No Caucasian immigrant group had ever faced discrimination of this magnitude, and only one other Asian group experienced anything close to resembling restrictions of this type, which will further be discussed in this essay. This unusual mark on the race would only be removed after World War II began, when the US was politically motivated to improve popular support of Chinese in America since it depended on China as a strong ally against the Japanese in the Pacific Theater of WWII.
The elation Chinese Americans felt over America’s attempt at appeasing them with the removal of immigration restrictions was only short-lived. When rebel forces in China overthrew the legitimate government after WWII and installed a communist regime, Americans were outraged . The immediate fallout from the drastic change of events was the simmering resentment and suspicion of the Chinese population throughout the states. When troops from communist China engaged in skirmishes and full-scale battles against American-led United Nations troops in Korea, Chinese Americans became even more cautious in their surroundings, especially with their non-Asian neighbors . The need to reassure and assuage Americans that “communism” did not equal “Chinese” became paramount, leading to efforts such as a declaration of the “official position of all patriotic Chinese in America” , which stated that the Chinese Americans were loyal to the United States and disavowed the legitimacy of the communist government in China. It also prompted the cessation of the US-China-dual-citizenship practice that many Chinese Americans had adopted when naturalization became available to them. The extraordinary measures with which Chinese Americans had to employ to prove their loyalty, or more in general the allegiance of their own race, was something non-Asian races never had to deal with. Yet, these tactics proved to be beneficial in the long run, as American sentiments in regards to the Chinese began to improve until public perception equated Chinese Americans to being “model citizens” .
Along with the attempt to revitalize their image as proper citizens (or eligibility as citizenship material) for the benefit of the doubting Americans, Chinese Americans began to form a voice for debating in the political arena to aid their quest for equality. The need to confront and establish racial equality, especially in light of past Caucasian discrimination and prejudice against Asian Americans in general, was the basic driving force in the bid for public awareness . In general, Asian American participation in politics had been nearly non-existent unless overzealous “patriots” in their respective communities threatened their basic rights. However, it became apparent that the lack of a permanent representative for Asian American interests in public offices was a major disadvantage for Asian American communities. For instance, for over a century the Chinese American interests in California were represented by the Six Companies, which were formed by geographical ties in China. This ethnic-minority association contacted sympathetic members of the government when the need arose , rather than relying on elected officials who understood the predicament the Chinese were going through and could have represented the Chinese Americans effectively. But as second and third generation Chinese Americans became better educated and informed about the political process, steps were taken to increase Chinese participation in politics as a mean to improve the quality of life for all Asian Americans. These steps included generous donations to favorable candidates and electing Asian Americans to public offices where Chinese American interests were in need of redress . All of these actions were necessary in the long run to ensure the proper assimilation of Chinese Americans into the American society, and to encourage American acceptance of these far eastern immigrants.
For the better part of two centuries Chinese Americans have had to endure extraordinary hostility generated from Caucasian resentment and misunderstandings, but in comparison the Japanese Americans have fared no better in their experiences here at, what many Chinese have called, the “Golden Mountain”. Since their arrival in America (including Hawaii) in the 1890s, Japanese immigrants were subject to the same, if not worse, prejudice and resentment from the Americans. Ironically their presence served as a diversion for the Chinese from being the focus of Caucasian hostility . However, as Dinnerstein & Reimers observed the non-Asian reaction to Japanese Americans, the causes for resentment and prejudice against Japanese Americans were not the same for the Chinese Americans: Japan was fast becoming a powerful force in the world order (economically and militarily) and caused fear in the majority of Americans, whereas China was still preoccupied with civil strife and foreign intervention to pose any sort of threat to American security. The public outrage that built up over the years as a result of mass hysteria fueled by political maneuverings (a lot which labor unions should claim credit for) and the visible success experienced by many Japanese Americans in pursuit of the American Dream was diffused by the Gentleman’s Agreement in 1907 between the United States and Japan, which allowed Japan the obligation to curtail emigration of their subjects, under the threat of American intervention much like the Chinese Exclusion Act which had severely restricted Chinese immigration into the United States. The similarity here cannot be lightly ignored, as both races have been made unwelcome in the states simply because they were able to, and in some cases succeeded, pursue wealth and happiness.
Unfortunately for Japanese Americans, their accumulation of wealth and prosperity were short lived, since they were subject to immense public scrutiny with the onset of World War II, much like the Chinese when China became Communist. When the Imperial Japanese Navy launched the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, it was not long before legislative measures were taken and Executive Order 9066 was implemented. This meant the immediate relocation of anyone of Japanese ancestry to makeshift internment camps, guarded by barbed wire fences and federal troops, for fear of possible espionage and sabotage carried out by said Japanese immigrants . The devastating implication of such a move was the rapid liquidation of Japanese belongings and holdings, most of which were sold at a loss. From the given historical context, where testimonies have been given that the fear of Japanese Americans committing treason were completely unfounded nor were there any evidence of Japanese spies in operation, it can be suggested that this served as a great equalizer for those who “envied [the Japanese Americans’] success” . While the Chinese Americans suffered mass suspicions of being Communists and resentment of possible betrayal from the Americans with the fall of the republic government after World War II, the Japanese Americans were the first to experience the extreme prejudice of a vengeful American public with the signing of Executive Order 9066 and the subsequent Supreme Court rulings in favor of it.
The internment period caused immense suffering and grief for the Japanese immigrants (except for Hawaii, ironically, where the Japanese consisted the majority of the population), and it was not long before Japanese Americans reached the same conclusion that the Chinese did: political participation was necessary to prevent further civil rights infringement. Japanese Americans were found to have donated even more than Chinese Americans when supporting a favorable candidate . Furthermore, it should be noted that there were several Japanese who held public offices, and even today the Hawaiian delegation to the US Congress consists of Japanese Americans. Yet their presence as public officials has the added burden of needing to represent the greater Asian population as a whole in addition to their constituents, as one politician testified in Yen Le Espiritu’s research . The amount of political participation which Japanese Americans contributed was equal to, if not greater than, their Chinese counterparts. Nonetheless the efforts from both groups benefit the Asian American population in general.
Despite minor differences in their experiences, Chinese and Japanese Americans have endured similar economic hardships and extreme prejudice from their non-Asian neighbors. Envious Caucasians brought on their economic hardships, while the extreme prejudice was founded on differences in culture and beliefs. Yet with each passing generation, Chinese and Japanese Americans became more informed of their legal and civil rights, which prompted greater participation in the democratic government. All of this equates to a circuitous route both had to travel through in order to reach the same American Dream, which many Caucasian immigrants came to seek, and found with ease.