Hardships Revealed In Laurence Yep's Dragonwings '

In the mid 19th century, America was viewed as a hotspot for freedom and wealth. When the noise of the gold rush flooded the world, immigrants started to see America more appetizing than ever. The Chinese saw America as a place to have a fresh start and as a place of refuge because of it’s generosity, so they immigrated to the west in great numbers. There was a large Chinese population in Virginia and all along the Pacific coast. Writers Mark Twain and Maxine Hong Kingston both wrote in great detail about the Chinese Immigrants. They went into detail about the immigrants and how they came over and why. Although Twain and Kingston both wrote about the immigrants in a positive light, Twain was sympathetic of the immigrants and Kingston focused more on their image and her ancestors.

Her perspective and personal experiences can help to drive in the point that there are two different generations of Chinese people and how one looks down on the other because of their birth place. Liu’s article is reliable because it is a personal experience of growing up Chinese American and shows the different perspective on how growing up with two different generations of Chinese shaped her life. Maria Liu is also a reliable source because she is a student and writer for the

According to Alien Nation by Elliott Young, “Chinese migrants made history, but not under circumstances chosen by themselves.” Young’s book on Chinese migration reveals to the reader the often-nasty truth of their reason for coming to the States. In many public schools across the United States, children are taught that America is a melting pot of culture and that many migrated to the great country to find better opportunities in the vast and growing industries it had to

“America the land of opportunity, to all” has always been a driving force for many people from poor, undeveloped societies far away from America. This simple saying has brought over millions and millions of people from they’re native countries, leaving behind families and friends. Some never to return. Once in America, reality sets in for most of these groups as that suffer thought unequal treatment, racism and discrimination. One such group involved similar treatments were the Chinese- Americans, in the documentary “Becoming American- the Chinese Experience” we are given a first hand looks and descriptions of the hate that Chinese- American suffered in America. This paper will discuss these events including the documentary and class notes, further it will also describe the difference treatment that Chinese- American face in present day compared to the past.

Racism, the belief that one culture is superior to another by rite of birth or genetics, is at the heart of most cultural skirmishes. It is seen in all of the cultural interchanges covered in the two books Chinese San Francisco by Yong Chen, and The World They Made Together by Mechal Sobel. We see racism in two categories: conscious and unconscious. Together the books cover the history of multiple groups of people entering California. They talk about and the cultural interchanges that occurred as the Spanish continued their quest for domination in the new world by bringing settlers to create ranchos, then what happened as the Anglos moved in from eastern America to settle towns as the Chinese travelled across the pacific to find new economic

In 1848, the first Chinese came and of course in the nest year participated in the gold rush. Like the Chilean in “Diario de un viaje a California”, Chinese also came here for mining. After, they also established Chinese school and churches and create their own lifestyle. In “The City That Was”, Will Irwin wrote, “The Chinese lived their own lives in their own way and settled their own quarrels with the revolvers of their highbinders”(453).

This movie exploits many different avenues of sexism and the struggle of being a woman and transitioning to a new country. It is a warm story which gives hope to anyone having doubt about moving to a new place. I recommend this movie without reservation to anyone wanting to get insight on Chinese American women. The movie does not hold punches concerning the inferior roles of women but it shows that anyone can overcome adversities. The two theories most prevalent were the structural functional theory and the symbolic interaction theory. Both are thoroughly documented and used

The Chinese population of the United States used perseverance, resiliency and hard work to prove that they could succeed in a country that has blatantly discriminated against them and labeled them as “undesirable” and “ineligible for citizenship.”

They were babies, really-a teenage cousin, a brother of twenty-two, a childhood friend in his mid-twenties-all gone down in episodes of bravado played out in the streets. I came to doubt the virtues of intimidation early on. I chose, perhaps unconsciously, to remain a shadow-timid, but a survivor.” This allows us to understand the author’s point of view, understand his life, how he feels, and what he believes. This article contributes to a lot when understanding social perception and attributions in social interactions. His examples are great when showing how people form impressions and make inferences about other people, due to their race or what they look like. The article shows how people can be so quick to judge and stereotype others based on other things they’ve heard or seen from others of that race. I believe the main idea of the article is that white people have common misinterpretations about African Americans or people of a different race. They are more than often assuming their criminals or want to hurt them even though Brent, being an African American, has embellished himself as “one of the good

Most Chinese immigrants in the mid 1900’s moved to California, according to the US Census, in 1960 nearly eighty percent of Asians lived in the West. This is a massive increase when compared to the Midwest at the same time. James comes from a pair of Chinese immigrants who decided move to America in search for a better life and ended up settling in the predominantly white Midwest. Because of his racial differences he was continually subject to racial prejudice and exclusion during his entire life. Born around the end of WWII and the Japanese Internment, America’s hatred for any Asian was immense and James felt the full effect.

The Gold Rush brought many people from around the world to America, including China. In the year 1852, California’s governor, John Bigler, suggested restricting Chinese immigration. In a public letter, Norman Assing, a prominent San Francisco merchant, restaurant owner, and community leader opposed Bigler’s idea. The excerpt from the letter reads, “The effect of your late message has been… to prejudice the public mind against my people, to enable those who await the opportunity to hurt them down, and rob them of the rewards of their toil… ” Assing sees Bigler’s idea as a method of turning other people against the Chinese, but truly the idea of restricting immigration from China is the part that shows social inequalities.

When an earthquake destroyed the area in 1906, natives thought that they would be able to reclaim the area and kick the immigrants out. To their surprise, the old, run-down Chinatown was rebuilt in the exact same location but had an entirely different feel. The new Chinatown was bright, cheery, and characteristically oriental with “curved eaves, colorful street lanterns, recessed balconies, and gilded facades” (Bancroft). The new Chinatown brought to California exactly what it was intended to: more attraction, more people, and therefore more business. With filling the job spots that were difficult and grueling and then attracting tourism to California, the immigrants were now boosting our economy in more way than one.

The Joy Luck Club written by Amy Tan expounds on the first and second generation Chinese immigrant experience in the United States of America. Amy Tan gives the readers more insight about the academic success of the progeny of Chinese immigrants. The novel scrutinizes the day-to-day interactions between the parents and their children. The novel essentially highlights the stereotype in media of studious and high achieving Asian Americans. Chinese immigrants for most of US history have largely been viewed as perpetual foreigners that steal American jobs. During the 1960s US media had perpetuated the Asian “model minority” myth. Although the “model minority” myth is an overgeneralization, the academic

During the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, many Chinese and Japanese people immigrated to the United States, specifically to the West Coast, under the belief that they would be not only be welcomed and accepted but that they would also be able to start fresh with their lives and become successful. However, once they arrived on the coast, they experienced intense inhospitality, mistreatment, and great hardships. Many of them felt that they were misled by the United States promoting friendship and welcoming arms as well as claiming that all American citizens and immigrants alike could achieve the great “American Dream” with a little work.

Sui Sin Far’s short story, “In the Land of the Free” touches on the reality of being a Chinese immigrant in late-19th century America. The story revolves around a Chinese couple. The husband is ready for his wife, Lae Choo, to arrive from China with their new son, later named Kim. However, due to policies on immigration, the American government was forced to take possession of the child due to a lack of paperwork. However, Far’s short-story has a deeper meaning than just focusing on unfair immigration policies. She takes advantage of the story’s ending to symbolize a rejection of immigrant culture, most especially Chinese immigrant culture, by taking advantage of Kim’s change in behaviors, appearance, and dialect.