Chinese in America
Historical Study of Chinese Americans
For many people studying the Chinese in America, the history usually begins and ends with their participation in the building of the transcontinental railroad. Yet, the Chinese actually are one of the nation's oldest immigrant groups are they were already here as scholars, merchants, gamblers, doctors and cooks. The first big wave of immigration came with the discovery of gold in California. By the time the railroad was completed in 1869, a pattern had been set: The Chinese were willing to work harder than their white counterparts, under worse conditions and for less pay. They could not testify against white men in court, own property, become naturalized citizens or marry white women. In their immigration they were not allowed to bring their wives along the journey. The predominantly Irish laborers who headed West felt entitled to jobs the Chinese had held and set about systematically driving them out. Chinese men and boys were shot, killed and hanged in massacres and riots (Chinese Massacre of 1871); they were burned out of their homes and removed from towns and settlements.
Citizenship
Legally all ethnic Chinese born in the United States are American citizens as a result of the Fourteenth Amendment and the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark Supreme Court decision. Upon naturalization, immigrants are required to renounce their former citizenship. The People's Republic of China does not recognize dual citizenship and considers this a renunciation of PRC citizenship. The Republic of China in Taiwan not only recognizes dual citizenship, but also does not recognize the American naturalization oath as renouncing citizenship. 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.
Sinophobia
Sinophobia is a consistent hostility toward people of Chinese origin, and may also refer to hostility towards China's culture or history and government. The term describes the actions and attitudes of individuals as well as the policies and pronouncements of governments and other organizations.
Sinophobic attitudes often have Chinese minorities outside of China proper as their target. This is true both in Asia (historically and in the modern era) and in the West. In this sense, the term essentially denotes an ethnic bigotry, often complicated by the economic and political exigencies of immigration and majority-minority relations. Where it is directed at the country itself, anti-Chinese sentiment may or may not qualify as an ethnic or racial prejudice, as criticisms of the Communist Party of China are not necessarily meant to impugn the Chinese population per se. One obvious example is protests against the PRC government by supporters of Taiwan independence, who are themselves ethnic Chinese.
