There is a long and brutal history of discrimination against Chinese immigrants as a race in the United States. This 1886 poster was an advertisement by a company to promote its laundry product, the Magic Washer. It was a typical depiction of how the Chinese were viewed and treated during that period of time. The poster showed Uncle Sam kicking out a group of Chinese, as they were no longer needed for washing clothes (see the wooden bucket nearby). The poster openly depicted the discriminatory anti-Chinese sentiments: the negative stereotype of the Chinese with an evil looking expression and animal-like fingers, Uncle Sam showing a “proclamation” and kicking the Chinese out, the gloatingly smiling sun at the horizon, the house looking like a guard outpost from afar with a United States flag flying, and of course the not so subtle words of “THE CHINESE MUST GO” at the bottom.
Chinese as a race was the first in the United States targeted to be excluded from immigration through federal legislation. [i] The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited Chinese laborers from coming into the United States for 10 years; and the Chinese were denied citizenship by naturalization. For those that previously entered legally, as a race group, they were required to obtain entry certificates if left and later returned, a requirement only applied to the Chinese.[ii] The Act provided federal legitimacy against Chinese immigrants, and a new chapter of persecution against them as a racial group commenced which lasted for more than 80 years. The race-based immigration system was finally reversed with the passing of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. The following is a brief chronology of legislative and judicial actions against the Chinese in the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century following the 1882 Act[iii]:
1884 – Chew Heong v. United States, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Exclusion Act
1888 – Scott Act, barring the reentry of Chinese laborers unless they had wives, children or parents in the US; or owned properties worth more than $1,000. Also, some 20,000 entry certificates previously granted were retroactively revoked
1892 – Geary Act, extended the Exclusion Act for another 10 years, and all Chinese were required to register with the federal government. Those legally entered were also required to obtain legal residence certificates, the “precursors of today’s Green Cards”
1902 – renewal of Exclusion Act
1904 – Exclusion Act became permanent
Not surprisingly, anti-Chinese sentiments were common among the general public, with many violent incidents against Chinese immigrants. It was especially brutal in the West, which the Chinese came in large numbers beginning in the 1850s. The influx of Chinese laborers started in California, with the onset of Gold Rush and the building of railways. In the next few decades, Chinese immigrants spread out to other states in the west. According to Doug Chin, the past President of the Greater Seattle Organization of Chinese Americans, the anti-Chinese sentiments grew throughout the time and reaching their peak in the 1870s and 80s[iv]. There were so many violent incidents against Chinese that local newspapers did not even bother to report them. Also, most of the lynchings were against Chinese.[v] On October 24, 1871, the largest lynching in US history occurred in Los Angeles, with 17 Chinese hanged by a large mob of nearly 500 that included women and children.[vi] During these times, the Chinese were also driven out of the towns and cities in large numbers, with sometimes the entire population.[vii]
The enforcement of immigration laws, with the establishment of the Bureau of Immigration in 1894, continued to target Chinese. The agency was led by a Presidential appointee, with the first two commissioners of immigration, Terence V. Powderly (1897 -1902) and Frank P. Sargent (1902- 1908) having strong ties to anti-Chinese labor unions. They instituted harsh regulations and enforcement procedures aimed at reducing the entry of Chinese and deporting those who were already in the country. [viii] They carried out rigorous enforcements of the Geary Act, with all Chinese being required to carry residence certificates. Also, Chinese women were targeted to limit entry and increase deportation, which would have the effect of reducing the Chinese population because of the lack of marriage prospects for the men. The effect was there were large groups of single aging males in Chinatowns across the country in the early twentieth century.[ix] A special Chinese Census also was carried out between 1902 and 1905. The census was not run by the Bureau of Census, and the purpose was to identify those who did not have the proper documents and be deported.[x] Not surprisingly, the Chinese population continued to decline between the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century; from 107,488 in 1890 to 61,639 in 1920, according to the Bureau of Census.[xi]
This 1886 poster is a reminder of the long history of racial discrimination against immigrants in the United States. The Chinese race as immigrants, unfortunately, has the distinction to be the first ethnic group federally legalized and judicially upheld by the Supreme Court to be discriminated against. The raw and demeaning depiction of the poster by a company selling a consumer product was a sign of the time of the general public’s attitude against the Chinese. The country has come a long way since then, especially with the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and the passing of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. However, the increasingly unfavorable climate against immigrants in the past several years reminds us that history can repeat itself, and we should be vigilant about not letting this happen again.
References
Chin, Doug. “The Chinese Exclusion Acts: A Racist Chapter in U.S. Civil Rights History.” Chinese American Forum 33, no. 1 (July 2017): 19–21. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=aph&AN=124123986&site=eds-live.
Chung, Sue Fawn. “Chinese Exclusion, the First Bureau of Immigration, and the 1905 Special Chinese Census: Registered, Counted, Arrested, Deported–1892-1906.” Chinese America: History & Perspectives, January 2018, 21–35.http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=fth&AN=135097367&site=eds-live.
Lee, Erika. “‘The Chinese Must Go!’” Reason 47, no. 10 (March 2016): 42–49. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=fth&AN=112460219&site=eds-live.
“The Chinese Must Go .” The Chinese Must Go . The George Dee Magic Washing Machine Company, 1886. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Chinese_Must_Go_-_Magic_Washer_-_1886_anti-Chinese_US_cartoon.jpg
[i] Lee, Erika, P. 42
[ii] Chin, Doug, P. 19
[iii] Lee, P. 44 – 45
[iv] Chin, P. 20
[v] Chin, P. 20
[vi] Lee, P. 44
[vii] Lee, P. 44
[viii] Chung, Sue Fawn, P. 30
[ix] Chung, P. 23
[x] Chung, P. 24
[xi] Chung, P. 31