The history of ethnic Chinese immigration into California is a blemished and sullied record of ethnic and Chinese discrimination and anti-yellow racism.
At one time, a Chinese cannot testify in a court of law against a white criminal defendant, because he or she is not adjudged to be human.
In 1882, after much bashing from white settlers in the competition accompanying the Gold Rush, a Chinese Exclusion Act was passed effectively barring any new Chinese immigration into America, and California, with the exception of students, merchants and diplomats.
It was not until 1943, during World War II that Congress repealed the discriminatory exclusion laws against Chinese immigrants and to establish an immigration quota for China of around 105 visas per year.
The repeal was grounded by consideration of World War II, as Japanese propaganda made repeated reference to Chinese exclusion from the United States in order to weaken the ties between the United States and the KMT forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek and his military forces.
In addition to the general measures preventing Asian immigration, the Chinese were subject to their own, unique prohibition.
And this had long been a source of contention in Sino‑American relations. The Immigration Act of 1924 stated that aliens ineligible for U.S. citizenship were not permitted to enter the United States, and this included the Chinese.
Many white Americans have never owed up and 'fessed up to this sordid and disgustingly racist past. In fact, there is historical amnesia and moralizing which often distort and spin the story of a past.... blocked out and blockaded by the gatekeepers of mainstream American news media.
But for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the whole demographic landscape of California would have been wholly different today.
Well, thankfully, a Chinese-American legislator from a suburb of San Francisco, Paul Fong,of Mountain View, California, has not forgotten the past. He has introduced legislation in the California State Legislature seeking a formal official apology on behalf of many of our Chinese immigrant ancestors who were horrifically dissed, insulted, and banned from entering America all because of the color of their skin.
http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_12572795
California should apologize for persecution of Chinese immigrants, legislator says
By Jessie Mangaliman, Mercury News staff
California should formally "express regrets" to the Chinese immigrants who were historically persecuted and abused while they helped build the Golden State's railroads, mines and agricultural fields, said a state legislator who is promoting legislation that would lead to the first-ever government apology to Chinese-Americans.
Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Mountain View, the grandson of a Chinese immigrant who was interned at Angel Island, said his goal is to eventually convince the federal government to also issue an apology, and then legislate redress for the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which specifically barred Chinese immigrants from the U.S. It was repealed in 1943.
The first Chinese immigrants to California — who called it "gam saan," or Gold Mountain — faced discriminatory laws that prevented them from marrying or owning property. They were paid less and taxed more while children were denied access to public schools. They were forced out of towns, and in one case in San Jose's old Chinatown, burned out of their enclaves. And at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, the "Ellis Island of the West," tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants were detained for months, and sometimes years, separated from their families.
"Those who know history will know that those laws were discriminatory," Fong said. "Those who don't know will be informed of it for the first time."
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, joined by leaders from civil and immigrant rights groups, and historical associations, Fong said he's seeking public support for the resolution, ACR 42. Assemblyman Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, is a sponsor.
The resolution states: The "Legislature deeply regrets the enactment of past discriminatory laws and constitutional provisions which resulted in the persecution of Chinese living in California, which forced them to live in fear of unjust prosecutions on baseless charges, and which unfairly prevented from earning a living."
If he gets the state apology, Fong said, he will seek federal redress for the people interned in camps that operated from 1910 to 1942 at Angel Island. However, he did not say how much he wanted the government to pay.
When the U.S. government issued a 1988 apology for the World War II internment of 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens, it paid reparation of $20,000 for each individual who was interned.
"I was hoping that when the government apologized for the internment of Japanese-Americans, it would eventually apologize for the Chinese exclusion," he said.
Redress movements are rarely successful. Efforts for redress for the enslavement of African-Americans, and the massacre and displacement of Native Americans, have been in circulation for years.
For Eddie Wong, executive director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, it isn't reparation but public education that counts.
"It's a point of respect," he said. "I'm not discounting the need for redress, but if the history and contribution are acknowledged in textbooks and pop culture, that's the ultimate reward."
Fong's legislation is scheduled for a hearing June 26 before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
"Such recognition is long overdue," said Helen Zia, author of "American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People," a 2001 book that examines the history of Chinese and other Asian immigrants to the United States.
Many people think that the Chinese-Americans are recent immigrants, she said, and are unaware of their long history in the state and the country.
"A bill like this would recognize that history and acknowledge what happened," Zia said. "An apology is really symbolic," she said, but without it, the struggle of early Chinese immigrants would "go missing in history."
Contact Jessie Mangaliman at jmangaliman@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5794.
