Our Work is Not Done: Fighting Anti-Asian Racism 80 Years After the Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act
Lessons from the past show us how we can we can avoid repeating history amidst an alarming rise in xenophobic rhetoric towards Asian Americans
Just over eighty years ago, the United States’ stance on Chinese immigration was clear: you are not allowed, and for those of you who toiled to help usher in our industrial revolution, we will not recognize you as citizens. And while the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed on December 17, 1943, we now stand at the precipice of sliding backwards on much of the progress we have made since.
Over the years, Asian Americans have served as scapegoats, villains, and enemies in the collective American imagination. The targeting and violence against South Asian and Muslim communities following the September 11th attacks encapsulates the irony of how “inclusive” anti-Asian racism informs the American experience. All of this has resulted in very real consequences for our communities, ranging from psychological distress to death.
In 2023, we continue to face virulent strains of anti-Asian racism driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing tensions with the Chinese government, as well as a wave of Islamophobia stemming from the horrific, disproportionate violence happening in Gaza. Palestinians are being collectively held accountable for Hamas’ actions, and Palestinian Americans now face physical harm for simply existing.
While it is rooted in the same themes of xenophobia, othering, and orientalism, anti-Asian racism has not always looked the same. Earlier in United States history, especially during the Gold Rush, racism often came in the form of local leaders and labor unions taking advantage of anti-Chinese fears to turn workers against one another. In 1871, 20 Chinese Americans died in a Los Angeles massacre organized by 500 White and Latino workers, and many of them went on to loot Chinatown. Ultimately, no one was charged or held accountable for the deaths of these Chinese workers. 59 years later, during the Great Depression, this pattern manifested itself in the scapegoating of Filipino farm workers for ‘stealing’ U.S. jobs: during the Watsonville riots, local white residents violently assaulted dozens of Filipino farm workers. More recently, anti-Asian racism has been significantly influenced by geopolitical and domestic security concerns. Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, violence, community surveillance, and vitriolic, racist verbal and physical assaults on South Asian and Arab Americans have intensified.
Sinophobic sentiment had already become widely pervasive — particularly in California — nearly 30 years before the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed on May 6, 1882. Editorial pages even opined about the morality and type of “class” of people Chinese people were, viewing them through a lens of suspicion. Yet, after the act was signed into law, it fomented increased violence, and many felt emboldened to begin taking matters into their own hands. In just one instance in 1885, white mobs in Rock Springs, Wyoming wounded 15 and killed 28 Chinese coal miners.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943; 61 years after it went into effect. Nevertheless, the language used to justify the passage of the law, as well as the racist and xenophobic rhetoric that paints individuals of Chinese descent as distrustful — people to be seen as enemies and and perpetual foreigners — persists to this day. What’s more, many witnessed and experienced firsthand how the law could be used as a cudgel to silence and oppress Asian Americans.
One need only look at recent state laws preventing Chinese nationals from owning land in various states, wrongfully accusing Chinese American professors of espionage, or U.S. leaders repeatedly categorizing U.S.-China tensions as a black and white battle to see how this can be dangerous to see how the law continues to be a tool of suppression against Asian Americans. When geopolitical conflict is framed as being between an in-group that always values and protects freedom, and an out-group that is only repressive and backwards, entire communities are dehumanized.
Fears about China’s ascent on the geopolitical stage have direct repercussions for Asian Americans. Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, noted that “we’re seeing a real shift in the US,” as intensifying fears about China being “out to replace the US” are “infecting local and state governments.”
American elected officials directly contribute to this dynamic when they dangerously conflate Chinese and Chinese American individuals with the Chinese government. Blaming Chinese Americans for the actions of Chinese officials is not only unjust, it results in Asian Americans experiencing real harm.
The Asian American community continues to be one of the most diverse in the country. We trace our roots to countries all over the globe, and our lived experiences add to the wonderfully eclectic tapestry of America. While the languages of our elders, our cultural practices, and our connection to global events may be different, we share much in common, and that includes how our lives are shaped by deep-rooted racism and xenophobia.
Over a century ago, the Chinese Exclusion Act put Chinese immigrants’ lives at risk while denying them a chance to even become Americans. Today, racism and discrimination towards Asian Americans may take on different forms, such as dangerous conflations of individuals with their governments; but the result is the same: definitively racist and exclusionary policies that put us on the path to repeating history.
We cannot stand by idly. We demand our elected officials and leaders unequivocally denounce anti-Asian racism and Islamophobia, rather than stoke fears to score political points. Asian Americans and our allies must continue organizing and advocating for a future where all Asian Americans can feel safe and fully seen for our humanity.
Gregg Orton is the National Director of NCAPA, where he leads a coalition of 47 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander organizations developing policy and communications strategy and advancing a joint agenda to create a more just and equitable future for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities.
