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Chinese Immigrants Essay

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Chinese Americans have arrived to the United States through three waves of immigration. The journey of immigrating to the United States consisted of many obstacles and hardships. Chinese Americans have been in this country for centuries, and still remain one of the smallest minority minorities. To this day, they are still perceived as foreigners in the eyes of other Americans, and have been victimized for their successes. To gain a deeper understanding of Chinese immigration, we must look at the Chinese American experience of immigrant jobs, exclusion and discrimination, and the model minority stereotype. The first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived during the gold rush era. These immigrants were mostly young men that found work as “ploughmen, laundrymen, placer miners, woolen spinners and weavers, domestic servants, cigar makers, shoe makers, and railroad builders” (Lee 71). Many immigrants came during this period because the United States provided economic opportunities these immigrants were seeking. For others, coming the United States meant achieving the “Gold Mountain Dream,” which was to earn money and return back home rich (Lee 66). Chinese workers also ran their own business. The two most common were laundries, and restaurants which were considered “women’s work” because these were typically tasks done by women at home (Lee 75). However, laundry owners faced harsh realities since they worked and slept in the same place and “rarely left the premises because

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