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23 Big Milestones in Asian American History

Some key events that helped Asian Americans establish ourselves as an integral part of American society.

by H Y Nahm

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23 BIG MILESTONES IN ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY

n choosing events for inclusion we focused on those that represented steps forward — the events that enabled, liberated and inspired Asian Americans to grow, prosper, excel and dream. As between unheralded but seminal events (e.g. invention of the magnetic core memory by An Wang) and those public events that had an immediate impact on our perception of our place in American society, we chose the latter.

     We didn't include the boulders rolled into our paths (e.g. Chinese Exclusion Act) or those social earthquakes that remind us of the deep faultlines that continue to divide American society (e.g. Koreatown Riots) or those events that bespeak such racist abuses of authority as to galvanize the Asian American community into outraged action (e.g. letting off Vincent Chin's murderers with small fines).

     Ultimately, milestones are just markers. They serve to remind us of the nameless daily struggles by countless Asian Americans on the road to winning fair and dignified treatment and establishing ourselves as valuable and essential components of American society.

April 12, 1847: First Asians arrive in the United States
     A group of three Chinese students arrived in New York City, becoming the first Asians officially entering the United States. However, Chinese records show that Chinese Buddhist priests traveled along the West Coast from present-day Brtish Columbia down to Baja California in 450 A.D. Spanish records show the existence of Chinese shipbuilders in present-day southern California between 1541 and 1746. Chinese shopkeepers were already in Los Angeles when the first Anglo Americans arrived.

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Chinese railroad workers proved their ability to handle the grueling work of laying track and eventually made up over 90% of Central Pacific workers.

     The discovery of gold at Sutter's Creek, California on January 24, 1848 would bring the first significant influx of Chinese to the United States. That wave was led by two men and a woman arriving in San Francisco on February 2, 1948 on the brig Eagle. The next significant wave of Chinese immigrants were laborers recruited from Amoy by 94 Hawaiian sugar companies in January of 1852.

June 24, 1867: Chinese workers earn respect.
     Between five and seven thousand Chinese laborers working on the Transcontinental Railroad staged a strike in the Sierras to protest overseers who whipped and restrained them from seeking other work. They won the right not to be whipped or beaten. A second strike in the Nevada desert won the Chinese the right to receive the same pay as Whites, $35 a month. But the Chinese were still required to buy their own supplies while Whites got free room, board and supplies.
     The Chinese were smaller than the Whites, averaging 4'-10" and 120 pounds, but they handled the 80-pound ties and 560-pound rail sections so well that by the time the last rails were joined at Promontory Summit, Utah, 11,000 Chinese comprised over nine of ten Central Pacific workers. To recognize their diligence, an all-Chinese crew of eight were given the honor of bringing up and placing the last section of rail on May 10, 1869.

February 8, 1885: Japanese immigration begins.
     The first shipload of Japanese contract laborers arrived in Hawaii aboard The City of Tokio. It brought 676 men, 158 women and 110 children. Among them was Katsu Goto, who would become a successful storekeeper after his three-year contract expired, then be murdered by Whites who resented his influence over Japanese laborers. It would become the most sensational murder case in the history of Asian immigration to Hawaii.

March 28, 1898: Citizenship for U.S.-born Asians.
     The U.S. Supreme Court established that to deny citizenship to any person born in the United States would be in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment in U.S. vs. Wong Kim Ark. Wong Kim Ark had been born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants who had been denied citizenship under the Chinese Exclusion Act. At the age of 21 Wong left to visit his parents who had returned to China. On his return he was denied entry on the ground that he was not a citizen.
     This case was of critical importance to the eventual establishment of Asians in America, especially in the context of the era's frequent anti-Asian legislation and racism. On Oct 11, 1988 the Scott Act had prohibited the return of the over 20,000 Chinese laborers who had temporarily left the U.S. with the expectation of returning. On May 15, 1892 the Geary Act not only allowed the deportation of Chinese who were caught without a certificate of residence but extended the Chinese Exclusion act by a decade. The Chinese community had raised money to finance the case of Fong Yue-Ting vs U.S. to test the constutionality of the Geary Act only to have it upheld.
     The lack of full legal rights encouraged acts of violence against Chinese immigrants and hindered legal protection. On February 2, 1886 anti-Chinese riots drove many residents from Seattle. The brutal two-day massacre of three Chinese miners in Snake River, Oregon on May 27, 1887 was covered up by officials. It finally came to light in 1995.

April 4, 1900: The fight for humane working conditions.
     Japanese sugar plantation workers on Lahaina went on strike and won a 9-hour workday and most of their other demands. Just two months later on June 14, the Organic Act made U.S. laws applicable in the islands, effectively ending contract labor. It also gave native Hawaiians the right to vote, but expressly excluded persons of Asian origin. The state of affairs were no better on the mainland. On March 18, 1901 the Supreme Court ruled in Sung vs. U.S. that the prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, cruel and unusual punishment and the right to a jury trial didn't apply to deportation hearings.
     The fight for better working conditions took another major step forward on February 11, 1903 when Japanese and Mexican farmworkers joined forces in Oxnard, CA to form the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association. It sponsored a strike by 1,500 sugar beet workers. But U.S. laws remained mostly anti-Asian. On April 6, 1903 the Supreme Court held in Kaoru vs Fisher that immigrants who were likely to become public charges could be taken into custody.
     It wasn't until November 9, 1909 that Asian immigrant farm workers were able to win the right to be paid on an equal footing with other nationalities following a four-month strike that began on May 9 with several hundred Japanese plantation workers and expanded to include 7,000 Hawaiian workers.

January 13, 1903: Corean immigration begins.
     The first large group of Corean immigrants arrived in Hawaii on the S. S. Gaelic to work on sugar plantations. This first wave brought a total of 7,226 men, women and children. It ended when Corea was formally annexed by Japan in 1905.

November 3, 1903: Filipino immigration begins.
     The 103 young scholars (“pensionados”) who arrived in California marked the beginning of official Filipino immigration to the United States. However, they were by no means the first Filipinos on the North American continent. In the late 16th century a party of Filipino sailors set down from a galleon to claim Morro Bay, California for the Spanish king. The first permanent Filipino settlements were established in the bayous of Louisiana in 1763 by Manilamen, Spanish-speaking Filipino sailors who had jumped ship to escape the brutality of the Spaniards who had pressed them into service. They lived along the gulf on houses built on stilts and introduced the technique of sun-drying shrimp.
     The first wave of Filipino immigration comprised students and unskilled workers and lasted until 1934. They were followed by a second wave (1945-1965) comprising mostly soldiers who had fought with the U.S. during World War II. The third wave, which began in 1966 and continues to the present, is characterized by professionals. PAGE 2

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