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Artifacts Found In Downtown San Jose Chinatown

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By studying different cultures, through artifacts found in their now desolate, but previously thriving communities, we can look at the details of their beliefs, ideas, attitudes and assumptions of a particular society at a given time. A common theme in this course has been the idea of knowledge and power and how they correlate to each other. As you grew up you may have heard the saying “Knowledge is Power” but during this semester we are looking at a number of different text and artifacts that suggest that Power produces knowledge. This means people in positions of power create a “truth” or master narrative that will unite the common people in order to fulfill the elite class’s agenda disregarding the common people’s well-being. By looking at these artifacts found in the Downtown San Jose Chinatown that was burned in the late 1800s, we can see how these Chinese immigrants lived and maybe even answers to how and why their home was torched. …show more content…

The immigrants thrived in their Chinese community. This San Jose Chinatown, the largest Chinatown south of San Francisco was mysterious and deliberately set ablaze on May 4, 1887 by anti-Chinese arsons. City officials scraped away the ruins and buried most evidence of the community for over 100 years. These Chinese pioneers were instrumental to the economic success of the Santa Clara county but the ignorant hate and greed for power out shined their beneficial attributes and led to their

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