Student spotlight: "Roots of Resilience”
"Roots of Resilience: The Rise of Chinatowns in Mid-19th Century America" by Scarlett Wilkinson, Natalee Wong, Valerie Xu
Beyond the gold rush frenzy that forever transformed the California landscape and culture lies a story based on resilience, racism, and the enduring spirits of the Chinese immigrants, whose journey redefined community and commerce across time and place. On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California by James W. Marshall, which incited what is now well known as the Gold Rush.
At its peak, over 20,000 Chinese immigrants immigrated to California. Resentment against Chinese immigrants grew as they were perceived to be “taking” away gold finding opportunities. To combat this, in 1850, the California legislature passed a Foreign Miners License Law, a law that charged all non-U.S. citizens $20 per month who were actively mining. Due to America’s growing resentment toward immigrants, specifically Chinese, for “taking” mining away opportunities during the gold rush, on May 6, 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, a law restricting the immigration of Chinese laborers until 1892 (Figure 1). After World War I, policies prohibiting immigration became stricter not only for Chinese immigrants but for a wide variety of countries, which in turn further restricted Chinese people from immigrating to America until 1943.
In 1943, any laws prohibiting Chinese immigration were repealed due to an alliance that was formed between the United States and China during World War II, leading to a wave of immigration from China. With a lingering stigma against Chinese immigrants, despite the nullification of immigration laws, racism against the Chinese was still prominent. Due to racism, Chinatowns became known as safe havens for immigrants, which then led to an influx of Chinese owned businesses, specifically restaurants and grocery stores, as there was racial discrimination in hiring processes elsewhere (Figure 3).
Amber Creighton’s journal, Chinese Restaurant Ware and Its Importance To Asian American Archaeology explains where F.S. Louie imported his wares from: F. S. Louie found that mass production made the wares cheaper to produce in the United States. Some of the dainty objects, like teacups and sauce dishes, are still cheaper to manufacture in Japan. Therefore, a set of F. S. Louie China may have come from several different places (Creighton 228). F.S. Louie imported his wares from Japan for a multitude of reasons. In the late 1950’s, China joined forces with Korea in the Korean War. In response, the United States placed a total trade embargo on Beijing. This embargo was in place until 1972, making it more expensive, and nearly impossible, for Louie to import any products from China. With World War II just ending, Japan’s economy was in a deep recession, meaning it was cheaper to get the wares from there as opposed to China.
Taking into account F.S. Louie’s Chinese heritage, it’s evident that it plays a large role in his success, as he sold porcelain primarily to Chinese restaurants as opposed to other cultures. Although immigration laws were lifted, the prevalent racism against Chinese people made it impossible for Chinese immigrants to make a living outside their own culture; survival was dependent on catering to their own culture and using it to their advantage. In Jonathan Kennedy’s journal, Fan and Tsai: Food, Identity, and Connections in the Market Street Chinatown, Kennedy explains that if Chinese immigrants wanted to succeed in America, the only way they could do so was through catering to their own culture (Kennedy 42). As a traveling salesman, it was likely he could’ve catered specifically toward Chinese clientele to protect himself, due to the prominent racism against Chinese at the time, similar to how the reason Chinatowns were formed was because Chinese people wanted to feel safe from racial discrimination.
Chen, Xin-zhu J. “China and the US Trade Embargo, 1950-1972.” American Journal of Chinese Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, 2006, pp. 169–86. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44288827. Accessed 16 Dec. 2024.
Creighton, Amber. JOURNAL OF NORTHWEST ANTHROPOLOGY: Chinese Restaurant Ware and Its Importance To Asian American Archaeology, vol. 36, no. 2, 2002.
History.com Editors. "Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." History, A&E Television Networks, 16 Aug. 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/chinese-exclusion-act-1882
Han, Christine. "The Photos Left Behind From the Chinese Exclusion Era." Hyperallergic, 26 Jan. 2022, https://hyperallergic.com/716228/the-photos-left-behind-from-the-chinese-exclusion-era/
Kennedy, Jonathan. "Fan and Tsai: Food, Identity, and Connections in the Market Street Chinatown." California History, vol. 65, no. 4, 1986, pp. 42–56. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288827
Moeller, Ellen Terrell. "Chinese Americans and the Gold Rush." Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business, Library of Congress, 26 Jan. 2021, https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2021/01/chinese-americans-gold-rush/#:~:text=At%20the%20peak%20of%20gold,tax%20of%20%244%20per%20month
"Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." Our Documents: Milestone Documents, National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act.
"Chinatowns in California." California Migration History Project, https://www.calmigration.org/chinatowns#:~:text=Early%20Chinatowns,banded%20together%20in%20San%20Francisco
Wu, Frank H. "How American Chinatowns Became a Refuge for Chinese Immigrants." History, A&E Television Networks, 15 May 2021, https://www.history.com/news/american-chinatowns-origins