Survival

The social structure of early America clearly indicated to the Chinese that they were unwelcome within the borders. The first anti-Chinese club was formed in 1862, and Governor of California at that time considered the Chinese an inferior race and expressed that “Asia, with her numberless millions, sent to our shores the dregs of her population” (8). The Chinese, including the author’s ancestors, enter California where their hard work for little pay is appreciated but not their race. And while such discrimination was, to different degrees, taking place across the United States, the laws in California specifically targeted the Chinese immigrants and the types of labor they engaged in, like laundry and fishing. To most Chinese immigrants, coming to United States was a chance to save themselves and their families from starvation. But the political unrest they left behind in China was supplanted by political intolerance within the United...