History of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino Laborers in the Americas
Coolie trade, begins with Chinese in China getting tricked into doing contract work in Cuba due to a need for workers/slaves. Once in, there was basically no escape, contracts didn’t really mean anything and there was no one to call for help. Lots died and even when contracts were done, they were still forced back into work. Rebellions were futile, the only escape was death by suicide. Began in 1806 and ended in 1870s.
1920s began full anti-Chinese mode. Long history of treating Chinese living in Mexico like absolute shit. Anti-Chinese sentiment led to intense violence for the Chinese population (ex: Torres massacre). More Chinese kept coming in though to seek passage illegally into the USA. Era of Expulsions led to the Chinese population rapidly decreasing.
9/20 Julia Camacho. 2012. “We Want to Be in Mexico.”[EXPAND]
Chinese Coolies that came back to Hong Kong and Macao instead of China due to having Spanish wives; would integrate better in Spanish-speaking areas. Mexican women wanted to go back home but were stuck due to Mexico being uncooperative.
Raising Cane: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino laborers in Hawaiian sugar plantations, brought over as cheap labor. Established hierarchies where the white people pitted POC against each other to keep things in check. High levels of discrimination to keep everyone separate. Rebellion by pretending to work and leaving/running away. Japanese and Filipinos unite in protest and stop fighting against each other, some result came (but very late). Built lives in Hawaii, many did not want to return “home” as Hawaii was now their home. Generations built with children that were able to escape the fate of their parents.
Public Health and Mapping: Effectively the white people coming into Chinatown and saying “how do we portray this as the shittiest place in SF that houses the shittiest people?” Doctors and “health inspectors” came and made a complete map of the “underground” Chinatown with all the opium dens and shitty living conditions. Made claims that targeted Chinese as a population with inherently flawed methods. Blamed the air pollution on Chinatown (dude).
Contagious Divides: Specifically targeting Chinese women and marking them all as “suspected prostitutes”, which sadly funneled them into the job. Also blamed for living conditions sharing with lots of children and other women, slander made about not being the nuclear family and not having clear lines in the “families” that they live with. Labeled Chinese as disease carriers.
Refer back to notes.
JLA and their buried history, almost nothing left in the history other than some essays and 10 pages of a report that was just an afterthought. USA began the Americas hemisphere takeover under the guise that they need to protect themselves and the territory around them. Forced JLA to internment, later used in WW2 as hostages for a trade with Japan. Stripped of all human rights, awful. Great need for redress, forced internment but were also left out of the redress because they weren’t American.
Japanese really weren’t considered citizens in Mexico, treated as foreign even if they’ve lived there all their life. Internment messed everything up, forced evacuations and they had to pay for everything. Everyone was sent to Mexico City/Guadalajara. Overcrowded in new location, had crappy jobs and faced abuse. Discrimination of Korean people because officials thought they were Japanese.
Based on two folks, Ibrahim Choudry and Habib Ullah and their experiences in Bengali Harem. They were both ex-seamen that ran away for a better life somewhere between 1920s and 1935. Habib’s chapter was based around his life mixing in and blending with the community and raising his kid during that time. Choudry was an activist that needed to get his foundations before he started fighting for his rights.
Filipinos based in Stockton; 1930s onward. First highly successful union, the Filipino Agriculture Laborer’s Association (FALA). God-tier organizations that brought many great results such as wage increases, solidarity. Japanese and white growers used their union busting to force the Filipino workers into submission. Tides change during WW2, Filipinos become the model immigrant citizen and take over the majority of Japanese jobs, homes, and businesses. Post WW2 Filipinos felt robbed due to promises made when they joined the war effort. Last bit is on Larry Itliong and his last stand with Cesar Chavez, a damn shame that in the end Larry’s crew gets shafted and their history is buried under the success of Cesar Chavez.
Bigger reading: mainly talking about the moral geography of San Gabriel Valley. Blackness is defined as a method to combat systemic racism and Whiteness is advantages that come from discrimination (historically). 1950s-1960s was the start in the reading, basically how the “Asian” fought the good fight and slowly let non-white people in. Lots of issues with discrimination and who was “white” and fit in, white people passed the “honorary white status” as they see fit. Black people were the last to be able to move in. White flight once the immigrants came in and bought up a ton of house with cash. Issues with identity and who “belonged”/came first, this was between POC and not white people.
Smaller reading: Being mixed race. The lines became really mixed as all POC children became friends and hung out with each other, white people were receding. Tensions arose in between POC that were uncomfortable with friends/marriages outside of their respective culture. Mixed people often didn’t have a place that they felt was home, hard to make claims when they’re unsure of who they are. Being mixed Asian led to issues of being classified the same and cultural expectations that fall short.