Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Socioeconomic inequalities in the USA
History of Racism in America
Racial profiling today in America
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Socioeconomic inequalities in the USA
It is no secret that the United States has a long-standing history of discrimination. Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, Women, Jews, Muslims, Handicapped, Homosexuals, and even people who are just old have all suffered prejudice from the general public. Ranging from preferential treatment in society to actual laws banning certain rights, these groups have grown accustomed to fighting for equal rights. Over the years, there have been many laws passed toward that end; greatly improving civil rights in this country. It is very easy as a white male to think “you have equal rights, what more do you want?” in regards to these minority groups. In searching for solutions to problems of discrimination it can be easy to overlook a very simple, yet very symbolic gesture; an apology. While many old discriminatory laws have been repealed, and new laws to grant more rights have passed, these only look ahead, to change the future. Many people seem to forget about those who were harmed in the past. The current event which I have chosen to write about is an article from Time Magazine, and talks about the importance of an official apology, made by the State Legislature of California, for its past wrongdoing, as well as many examples of former mistreatment of Chinese-Americans. In this paper I will show how “California Apologizes to Chinese-Americans,” demonstrates issues related to socioeconomic status and labor, citizenship status, and immigration at work, and thus illuminates government-imposed discrimination and the legal mistreatment of Chinese-Americans.
This article, by Ling Woo Liu on July 22nd, 2009, was written just days after the California Legislature approved a bill to apologize to the Chinese-American community for h...
... middle of paper ...
... WWII (Liu, 2009).
The State of California has made a substantial effort to right the wrongs suffered by Chinese Americans. It is a horrible fact that people who played such a vital role in the formation of the state were treated so poorly for over a century. Stripped of rights which most people take for granted, and treated as second-class citizens, they clung together for support in Chinatowns throughout the state. While nothing can undo the injustices of the past, the State Legislature has made an attempt to make things right. This is a very important step in the continuing fight for equality and fair treatment of all groups in the US. While it may not eliminate discrimination, it is a very significant gesture. They have said, “We were wrong, and we are sorry.” Hopefully, the United States Congress will see fit to follow their example on a National level.
The English immigrants are given a brief introduction as the first ethnic group to settle in America. The group has defined the culture and society throughout centuries of American history. The African Americans are viewed as a minority group that were introduced into the country as slaves. The author depicts the struggle endured by African Americans with special emphasis on the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. The entry of Asian Americans evoked suspicion from other ethnic groups that started with the settlement of the Chinese. The Asian community faced several challenges such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the mistreatment of Americans of Japanese origin during World War II. The Chicanos were the largest group of Hispanic peoples to settle in the United States. They were perceived as a minority group. Initially they were inhabitants of Mexico, but after the Westward expansion found themselves being foreigners in their native land (...
At the very beginning, “The Chinese were welcome in California in the mid 1800’s because there was a lot of work and not enough workers, but Chinese people had to live separately from Americans. When the economic conditions got worse, discrimination against the Chinese increased” (The History of Chinese Immigration to the United States). Yes the Chinese were welcomed at first, but the Nativists only used them for a little and wanted the Chinese gone. Once they saw things getting worse within the country and started calling them exorcist and demonic because they worked really hard and put up The Chinese Exclusion act so they could stop them from going into the
As gold discoveries slowed down and the Civil War gradually came to an end, the First Transcontinental Railroad was finally completed between Omaha and Sacramento. Over time, unemployment began rising across the country, especially in California, where a vast majority of Chinese immigrants resided in. The welcoming of Chinese immigrants slowly began to wear off as the white working class perceived a threat to their livelihood that these immigrants could potentially cause, leading to an increase in racial tensions. These growing tensions culminated in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and eventually closed U.S. borders to all Chinese laborers, with the exception of ethnic Chinese individuals. This paper highlights the significant impact of large-scale Chinese immigration to California during the Gold Rush, the lasting contributions made by the Chinese towards Western ...
Wu, Ellen D. "Asian Americans and the 'model Minority' Myth." Los Angeles Times. 23 Jan. 2014. Los Angeles Times. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. .
The United States of America is the place of opportunity and fortune. “Many immigrants hoped to achieve this in the United States and similar to other immigrants many people from the Asian Pacific region hoped to make their fortune. They planned to either return to their homelands or build a home in their new country (Spring, 2013).” For this reason, life became very complicated for these people. They faced many challenges in this new country, such as: classifying them in terms of race and ethnicity, denying them the right to become naturalized citizens, and rejecting them the right of equal educational opportunities within the school systems. “This combination of racism and economic exploitation resulted in the educational policies to deny Asians schooling or provide them with segregated schooling (Spring, 2013).”This was not the country of opportunity and fortune as many believed. It was the country of struggle and hardship. Similarly, like many other immigrants, Asian Americans had the determination to overcome these obstacles that they faced to prove that the United States was indeed their home too.
When the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law in May 1882, it was followed by a rapidly decreasing amount of new immigrants to the United States. Regardless of problems that the United States attempted to solve with the Act, violent massacre and persecution of Chinese people in the United States continued. Because of this, many Chinese immigrants that did stay in America continued on for years to receive prejudice and racism in the labor market and cultural society. This then continued to force many Chinese immigrants further and further down the path of segregation and into the protection of Chinatowns and poverty, counteracting the great American idea of the “melting pot.”
I also researched instances of counter actions taken by Asian Americans to protest against these negative images. My research also has examples of Asians that have succeeded in breaking through the racial barriers in the media. The results show that even though racial stereotyping still exists in various forms of mass media, there are signs that show noticeable improvement in allowing a more balanced image of Asian Americans. Statement of the Problem There are close to 12 million Asian Americans living in the United States (U.S. Asian, 2000). Asian Americans are considered one of the fastest growing minorities (Pimentel, 2001).
In chapter thirty five, author Shelley Sang-Hee Lee explains that “Immigration is an important part of our understanding of U.S. social experience” (Hee 128). Asian immigrants bring their diverse culture, language and custom from various Asian countries. They help improve American economic development. Also, they play an important role in American society. The first Asian immigration flow is the Chinese Immigration in the mid-19th century to work in the gold mines and railroads. The Asian immigrant population grew rapidly between 1890 and 1910 (Hee 130). The increasing of population of Asian immigrants have brought a lot of problems. Many of them were facing the issue of ethnicity, discrimination, and the process of assimilation. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which banned the immigration of Chinese laborers and proscribed foreign-born Chinese from naturalized citizenship and the Asian Exclusion Act League in 1907 which limited the entry of Asian immigrants have reshaped the demographic of Asian immigrants in the U.S (Hing 45). With the rise of anti-Asian movements, many Asian immigrants were rejected from entering America or deported to their homeland. In the early history of immigration in America, the issue of deportation is an important part of the Asian American experience in the
For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and discrimination by other racial groups, they have succeeded socially, economically, and educationally without resorting to political or violent disagreements with the majority race. The “success” of the minority is offered as proof that the American dream of equal opportunity is capable to those who conform and who are willing to work hard. Therefore, the term ...
They served subpoenas for documents that would prove the illegitimacy of Chinese citizenship. The Six Companies, which represented the interests of the community, fought back claiming “the subpoena was being used for the ‘obvious purpose of oppressing and intimidating the entire Chinese American community…” Delivering mass subpoenas proved jurisdictionally unsuccessful. Yet, the INS Chinese Confession Program in 1956 birthed a second opportunity to dispute Chinese legal
It is seen from the moment you get here, to the moment you leave, and I believe that that is the reason why California is so memorable. The diversity that is seen is in our history as well, which can allow outsiders to understand where we our diversity rooted from. In the lecture named “Space, Identity, and Public Power in Nineteenth-Century Los Angeles”, Dr. Daniel Torred- Rouff defined race as a “system of power”, which can mean that race is man-made divider of people, and it has affected each and every state, but California has been moving in a progressive way to end or lower the risk of any racial altercations. The largest groups of race have some sort of history here, from Latinos to Asian, and these races have helped built California from the ground up, which can be seen in the rail roads and the agriculture. This cultural diversity has built and sustained this state afloat, and that diversity will continue to grow, because of the progressive mind set of
Millions of immigrants over the previous centuries have shaped the United States of America into what it is today. America is known as a “melting pot”, a multicultural country that welcomes and is home to an array of every ethnic and cultural background imaginable. We are a place of opportunity, offering homes and jobs and new economic gains to anyone who should want it. However, America was not always such a “come one, come all” kind of country. The large numbers of immigrants that came during the nineteenth century angered many of the American natives and lead to them to blame the lack of jobs and low wages on the immigrants, especially the Asian communities. This resentment lead to the discrimination and legal exclusion of immigrants, with the first and most important law passed being the Chinese Exclusion Act. However, the discrimination the Chinese immigrants so harshly received was not rightly justified or deserved. With all of their contributions and accomplishments in opening up the West, they were not so much harming our country but rather helping it.
In today’s age it can be difficult for many to imagine a world in which applicants were denied employment for factors such as their gender, race, religion or national origin. We have grown accustomed to living in a country that provides legislative protection in the case of discrimination in and outside the workforce. Yet, this was not always the case. It has been a mere 52 years since the illegalization of “discrimination in education, employment, public accommodations and the receipt of federal funds on the basis on race, color, gender, national origin and religion.”(BL pg.98) This new set of legislation is known as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although it did not make amends for year of abuse and discrimination,
Hyung-Chan Kim, ed., Asian Americans and the Supreme Court: A Documentary History (New York: Greenwood Press, 1992), 405,
It is as though Asian Americans are succumbing to the thought that America is the only place to be and that they should be grateful to live here. On the other hand, keeping silent due to pressures from the white population means being shunned by the members of the Asian American population. I disagree with Chin’s assertion that “years of apparent silence have made us accomplices” to the makers of stereotypes (Chin 1991, xxxix). I agree with Hongo’s argument that the Chin viewpoint “limits artistic freedom” (Hongo 4). Declaring that those writers who do not argue stereotypes of the good, loyal, and feminine Chinese man or the submissive female, are in any way contributing to or disagreeing with them is ridiculous.