Chinese in America

The Chinese had been denied the right to become naturalized citizens, ever since their initial entrance into the United States. Despite the immense hard work and intelligence of the Chinese in American gold mines, their help in building the trans-continental railroad, and their painstaking work in creating an agricultural California, the economic panics of the late 19th century of the created pressures that led eventually to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This was the legal beginning of racism towards Chinese Americans. This Act barred Chinese from entering the United States for over a decade. This was followed by a wave of anti-Chinese immigration laws and court cases that made their way to the Supreme Court of the United States over the next 25 years. What follows are a few highlights and lowlights of the period, including the Wong Kim Ark case, which has come under renewed pressure by white identity anti-immigrant groups to be reversed.