Rise in Anti-Asian Sentiment
At the time, China was being partially colonized by Great Britain so there were large amounts of Chinese workers migrating to California for jobs, specifically in the mining, domestic, and manual labor industries according to SurveyLA. Once these workers completed their jobs on building railroads and as miners during the Goldrush, they migrated to different cities throughout California to fulfill different domestic and manual labor tasks. The rise in tension began once these Chinese workers started to infiltrate different industries. According to SurveyLA, the authors mentioned that many Chinese workers “turned to entrepreneurial work in industries that were undesirable to white Americans, including laundries, fishing, and vegetable peddling” and that people began to view Chinese workers as “exploitable, inexpensive workers” for their role in building the railroads (Moshier et al. 3).
These cities that Chinese workers migrated to include Old Chinatown, Los Angeles, which was positioned around North Spring Street, Caesar Chavez Avenue, and Arcadia Street (see map). These “ethnic enclaves” were formed to protect Chinese workers from “discrimination and violence from white residents” because there was a rise in anti-asian sentiment growing rapidly (Moshier et al. 4). Despite establishing their own neighborhood from other violent cultures, especially white residents, Chinese workers were still enduring different acts of violence through business, public health policy, legislation, and reputation.
Courtesy of The ChinaTown War.
Acts of physical violence towards Chinese immigrants:
Chinese Massacre of 1871
Acts of violence towards Chinese immigrants through business:
According to SurveyLA, the white government officials would allow illegal and dangerous activity like gambling, drug activity, prostitution among others to occur in Old Chinatown so this kind of activity would not occur in their neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the Chinese workers were finally trying to establish their identity with businesses and shops that were symbolic of their culture, but overshadowed by the dangerous activity that these illegal industries brought in.
Interestingly, after the massacre, and a fire that forced Old Chinatown to move a few streets over, the Chinese shops, markets, and theaters became popular for its “commercial identity” (Moshier et al. 9). Moreover, the authors mentioned that these Chinese businesses began “catering to people outside of the Chinatown community, including gift shops and restaurants serving uniquely Americanized entrees like chop suey, opened alongside existing shops serving Chinese residents” (Moshier et al. 9). This commercialization of Chinatown from using it as a place for illegal activity then as a place that can only express its Americanized version is one form of violence.
Acts of violence towards Chinese immigrants through legislation:
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: According to the National Archives, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act “provided an absolute 10-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating to the United States”.
1913 Alien Land Law: This law barred “Chinese from owning property in California” which made “the threat of relocation always present” (Moshier et al. 11). The rhetoric around anti-chinese and reconstructing Old Chinatown to house new railroads was prosperous in the newspapers and eventually was successful, leading to the creation of Union Station in 1934 (Moshier et al. 11).
Anti-Asian burial laws: Some public health laws preventing Chinese people from being buried in cemeteries around Los Angeles, according to SurveyLA.
Acts of violence towards Chinese immigrants through public perception:
The view towards Chinatown was an unsafe and dangerous place, which is ironic because the white government officials were the ones allowing this illegal activity to occur so it wouldn’t happen in their areas. Newspapers and other outlets would publicize this sentiment and further broaden this public perception and harm the reputation of this area. Specifically, the authors discussed “Descriptions of the area as “a scene of bloody race riots and tong wars” were not uncommon” (Moshier et al. 10). This negative public view and perception towards the Chinese settlers in Los Angeles only grew during this time period.
Works Cited:
“Chinese Exclusion Act (1882).” National Archives and Records Administration, National
Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act#:~:text=In%20the%20spring%20of%201882,immigrating%20to%20the%20United%20States.
Moshier, Marissa, et al. Chinese American Context . Chattel, Sept. 2013,
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/chinese%20american%20context%209_25_2013.pdf.
Zesch, Scott. The Chinatown War Chinese Los Angeles and the Massacre of 1871. Oxford
University Press, 2012.