Chinese and Japanese Americans have been and still are being stereotyped through American culture and norms. In the 1800s, Chinese immigrants were brought into the U.S. to work on agriculture and on the railroads in the West Coast. Many also worked in laundry services or worked in restaurants. Some were also …show more content…
For example, the Chinese Massacre of 1871. On October 24, 1871, a gunfight broke out in the city of Los Angeles between five or six Chinese men shooting at each other. The gunfight was the result of a dispute between two rival Chinese groups over the kidnapping of a Chinese women (Peterson). In the middle of this gunfight, a man named Robert Thompson was killed. This resulted in the death on many Chinese Americans when a mob of around 500 white men entered Chinatown to rob, attack and murder Chinese residents in the city of Los Angeles. About 17 to 20 Chinese immigrants were tortured and then hanged (Chinese). The hatred towards Chinese Americans grew to other places besides California. In Oregon on May of 1877, about 34 Chinese were murdered by a gang which consisted of seven men. The murder took place at the cove of Deep Creek. The cove of Deep Creek also housed the miners who were working to find gold. The angry gang members attacked the miners as they worked in spite of their hatred towards the Chinese and the lust for gold (Nove). Both Chinese and Japanese Americans experienced some form of hatred whether it being physically or mentally abusive. The Yellow Peril was a racial name against anyone of an Asian descent which paved the way for racism (Yellow). The Yellow Peril became an issue when white working class men feared of losing their jobs to Asian Americans. This only …show more content…
With the rise of the many Chinese laborers coming to America also caused the rise of hatred in the form of various laws. In the 1800s, California passed many laws towards Chinese residents. In 1879, advocates of restricting immigration succeeded in introducing and passing legislation in limiting the number arriving to fifteen people per ship or vessel. This law did not pass because of the treaty with China until 1882 when Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese Exclusion Act suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for about ten years. In 1888, Congress passed another law which made reentry after a visit to China impossible even for long term legal residents (Chinese Immigration). Japanese immigrants started to arrive in small number in the late 1800s. The U.S. passed an official exclusion which prohibited any all Japanese immigrants in 1924. Throughout the years, Americans created anti-Japanese groups. These groups succeeded in pressuring the Board of Education in San Francisco to force Japanese Children to go to school in a segregated Oriental School. Later on, President Roosevelt signed the Gentlemen’s Agreement Act which prohibited Japanese workers from immigrating to Hawaii or other parts of the U.S. but women with children were allowed to rejoin with their families