Before the 20th century, most of the immigrants coming to America were Europeans. Most of those were western European Protestants, too. So not just white people, but a very specific kind of white people. As the country got a significant population of Catholics, there was a lot of friction. The United States didn't have a Catholic president until 1960, and even then, his religion was brought up in the opposition campaign as a negative.
Most Chinese laborers were way more different that what Americans were used to. They were generally not Christians. They spoke a language totally different and alien-sounding to American ears. They didn't look like white people, or Native Americans, African-Americans, or Latinos. They were, in short, the dreaded Other.*
*The above has been an attempted deep dive into the minds of 19th-century narrow-minded people.
Questions About Foreignness and "the Other"
- How much of the Chinese Exclusion Act was motivated by the vast differences between Chinese and American cultures at this time? Is this the reason that the Chinese were the first ethnic group to be discriminated in this fashion? How so?
- How did the Chinese Exclusion Act continue to promote a sense of otherness for Chinese immigrants?
- This act was considered important enough to modify an existing treaty. Would a more familiar culture be dealt with the same way? Why or why not? What was the important difference?
- How do xenophobia and racism relate with the concept of foreignness? Is this a human issue or a cultural one? Why and how so?
Chew on This
China's being seen as an extremely foreign country by the standards of 19th Century America made its immigrants vulnerable to this kind of legislation.
The Chinese Exclusion Act created a foreign population in the borders of the United States, and helped keep the Chinese-American population as the "other" within their own country.