Reflection

Nicki Nario Professor Dong Asian American Studies 20A-FPF 1 September 2008 Reflection #1 – Strangers from a Different Shore Question: What exactly allowed Asian immigrants to endure the trials and tribulations they faced in America? Early on in the history of the young nation of the United States of America, founders had already decided on the path America was to take. It was expected to be a homogeneous nation of Caucasian people: French, English, Irish, and so on. Asian Americans have long been excluded as part of the country’s history despite the fact that immigrants from Asia have been in America as early as the 1800s. For instance, Chinese immigrants had a great role in being a part of the labor force that constructed the transcontinental railroad to travel from one coast to another. Yet, the majority of the credit is given to the white “pioneers” (Takaki 6). Not only were Asian Americans hardly mentioned, but they were also discriminated against even more so than other European immigrants such as the Polish, German, and Italian. Although the other European immigrants also had a difficult time dealing with the discrimination and prejudice in America, the fact that they appeared “white” and learned a bit more English greatly enhanced their assimilation to the American culture. In contrast, Asian Americans’ appearance of black hair, different skin complexion, and oddly shaped eyes stood as evidence of their distinct dissimilarities from the other populations. As a result, Asian Americans withstood many injustices and unreasonable laws. An example would be the Naturalization Law of 1790, which specifically stated that citizenship was only to be granted to “whites” (Takaki 14). There is no doubt that the Asian Americans had a hard time immigrating to an unknown territory, only to be treated unfairly. However, they would not have gone through so many hardships if they did not have any hope of things getting better. For the majority of them, America simply...