Asian Americans: The Journey to Acceptance

             Almost every immigration group to the United States has at some time experienced discrimination on a large scale. Asian immigration has been the subject of discrimination within American society, most notably the Chinese and the Japanese diasporas. For a long time, both of these groups have been the "undesirables" of American society. Only with time did these two groups come to be accepted as Americans fully. Works of literature, particularly those of historical significance, are good indicators of American society's disdain for Asians, the Chinese in particular. In Maxine Hong Kingston's The Chinamen, the author's grandfather is described as typical of the Chinese immigrant workers who came to the United States to work on the railroad. They are underpaid and are disliked by their superiors. The Chinese face danger every second of every day, are not American citizens and are viewed as people who can labor in almost an inhuman way. The Chinese are pitted against other immigrant groups also working on the railroad to see who is fastest. Upon winning, the Chinese workers earn themselves a reputation that is viewed with envy and hatred by non-Chinese workers.
             In Jade Snow Wong's The Fifth Chinese Daughter, a true story about a Chinese girl named Jade Snow growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1930s and '40s, we are given a glimpse of what racism feels like to a young child. Jade's first encounter with racial discrimination comes while in public school when another classmate decides to tease her: " 'I've been waiting for a chance like this,' Richard said excitedly to Jade Snow. With malicious intent in his eyes, he burst forth, 'Chinky, Chinky, Chinaman.'" Throwing an eraser at Jade, Richard continued: " 'Look at the eraser mark on the Chinaman. Chinky, Chinky, no ticket, no washee, no shirt.'" For Jade Snow, the encounter is not at all new: "Remembering the earlier incident of the neighborhood boy who spits on her, and its...

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Asian Americans: The Journey to Acceptance. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 15:22, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/96133.html