Chinese: Assimilation

Chinese Cultural Assimilation

In the 19th Century, Chinese immigrants flocked to America in in hope of the profit and riches the California Gold Rush could offer. They worked diligently alongside Americans as they constructed the Transcontinental Railroad, mined for gold, and worked to expand the nation. However, the Chinese laborers found themselves suffering racial discrimination for taking over the jobs of the white working class because of their willingness to work for longer hours and lower wages. Newspapers and tabloids criticized employers and the government for allowing the Chinese to dominate the laboring job market. Many American journalists created propaganda through political cartoons, and posters, and many drawings and pictures depicted the Chinese as sinister and ugly, with evil expressions, long nails, and the queue hairstyle. One caricature entitled “The Yellow Terror In All His Glory” portrays an evil Chinese man who is stepping on a women, and bears american weapons. Another political cartoon titled “ The Coming Man” displays a grotesque Chinese man maliciously stretching out his hand (stamped with the word “monopoly”) taking over numerous American jobs.

Already it had become apparent that the Chinese were not welcome in American society. This friction between races prompted America to issue their first quota that discriminated against a single ethnicity: the Chinese Exclusion Act. Although many Chinese resented this act, there were only a few rebellions; for the most part the Chinese remained quiet. In addition, the few Chinese that were allowed immigrate were treated awfully. Their customs and traditions were insulted, and many Chinese were imprisoned and beaten, and in the worst cases some were even killed. 60 years later, when World War II broke out, China became an important ally of America against the axis aggressions. During the war famous advertisement of a chinese man campaigned the slogan “This man is your friend : CHINESE : he fights for freedom.” As the war tensions between races relaxed, the Chinese Exclusion Act was finally repealed by President Roosevelt in 1943. However, the amity would soon come to an end when the Peoples’ Republic of China took over the Chinese government converted them to Communism. This brought even more hostility than there was originally. Assimilation was clearly not a feasible option for Chinese Americans. With very limited options, the Chinese began to band together and found villages in cities known as Chinatowns. At first, a Chinatown was a place where the Chinese could establish their cultural community among allies and band against outside discrimination. Soon after Chinatowns began to appear, Americans quickly began to market them as tourist attractions. As seen in the Museum of Chinese-Americans, images of Chinatown were altered to make the location seem more authentic. Non-Chinese residents were edited out of photos and any English text on signs would be replaced with rough Chinese translations. Chinatown transformed from strictly a safe Chinese cultural haven to a tourist enterprise, feeding the American need for something different and exotic. Although many Chinese-Americans have drastically adapted to American culture and society, those living in Chinatown still hold on to many of their own cultural traditions. While New York City takes one day to celebrate the Chinese New Year, celebrations and festivals carry on for an entire week in Chinatown. In addition, the New York Chinese Cultural Center is one of the many institutions in Chinatown that strives to preserve Chinese culture in younger Chinese-Americans through educational programs, dance workshops, and other culture-based activities. When we visited the NYCCC we met Judy, who shared her story of her parents’ journey to America from China and their adaptation to the American culture. Judy’s father worked as a delivery man and waiter at a Chinese restaurant when he first came here, a job commonly equated with Chinese-Americans. These Chinese work stereotypes came from Chinese immigrants isolating themselves in Chinatown from other work opportunities, because of their limited skill sets and language barriers. Along with skewing the portrayal of Chinatown, Americans began to shape other aspects of Chinese culture as well. Shawna, the tour guide in the Museum of Chinese American, described how films began to include “Chinese” characters who were really played by American actors made up to resemble the stereotypical Chinese man or woman.

Today, the Chinese still live somewhat isolated from their fellow New Yorkers, occupying Flushing, Chinatown, and other small neighborhoods. Their culture may have become more Americanized over the years, but it has become the norm to be a tourist in places such as Chinatown. Traditions may be somewhat different, but they are still Chinese in origin. The Chinese may live in their own neighborhoods, but they live united as a population.