Chinese

I am a Chinese Americans who first came to the Pacific Northwest in the 1800s, which my family was one of the first generation to bring Chinese Americans to Mexico. In 1863, my grandparents and few of their friends were one of the ones to desert the Spanish ship in New Orleans and first establish the first community in the United States in Louisiana bayou. I have four aunts and five uncles who were laborers that where brought to work in Hawaii sugar cane fields. After many years had passed the California gold rush brought thousands of my family members to California where many of my uncles faced restrictive laws and occasional violence. In the late 1870s our people were excluded from citizenship and the laws were repealed during World War II followed by further immigration law changes which it made it easier for Chinese Americans to enter the United States.

Most came with the intention of returning home to their families as soon as they made their fortunes. After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited further Chinese immigration, Japanese laborers began working the fields. The majority of Chinese immigrants came to America after 1890 while China was victim of depression and imperialism, which China was a modernizing nation and rising imperial power. Many of Chinese decided to emigrate to America which my sister and five brothers and I were among the one that ended up in America. Unfortunately those leading the expeditions would bring Chinese slaves to America promising freedom and wealth and instead bringing pain. Thousands of us Chinese workers helped construct the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Oregon Short Line and other railroads in the Columbia River Basin. By 1907, one of my uncle compromised about forty percent of Oregon's total railroad labor force which these workers commanded higher wages from the railroad companies as the sugar can industry began competing for their labor.

We ended up in the larger cities like Portland which provided...