On January 7Th, 2017, I Visited The Local New Chinatown

There are many Chinatown in this world, and the Chinatown of San Francisco has much historical significance; The Chinatown of San Francisco is the largest Chinatown in the United States, the largest community of Chinese Americans outside of China. Today I want to write about the of San Francisco base on my personal experience because there are many historic things I can illustrate. Before I started traveling this field trip, I did some researches carefully in San Francisco city guide, so I eager to travel as soon as possible. Finally I attended a free tour with San Francisco city guide, also they assigned a tour guide, Marann.

The intersection of dominant ideologies of race, class, and gender are important in shaping my social location and experiences. By exercising my sociological imagination (Mills, 1959), I will argue how my social location as an Asian American woman with a working class background has worked separately and together to influence how I behave, how others treat and view me, and how I understand the world. The sociological imagination has allowed me to understand my own “biography”, or life experiences by understanding the “history”, or larger social structures in which I grew up in (Mills, 1959). First, I will describe my family’s demographic characteristics in relation to California and the United States to put my analysis into context. I

What this novel does not touch on is the harsh levels of discrimination that some Asian-American families faced during the 20th centuries, some people telling at them to go back to Vietnam, Korea, or wherever they came from, some refusing service, perhaps throwing them out for being different, similarly to how African-Americans were treated during that time, and similar to how some Muslims are being treated today. However, more insidious than moments of outright hostility, and maybe more powerful, are the constant weak reminders that you’re different, that you’re not one of them. The “sign at the Peking Express” (Ng 193), the “little boys on the playground, stretching their eyes to slits with their fingers” (Ng 193), you even “saw it when waitresses and policemen and bus drivers spoke slowly to you, in simple words, as if you might not understand” (Ng 193). All these tiny things, these little reminders that you’re not the same as everyone else around you, may have more impact on the people being discriminated against than blatant in-your-face

Many new arrivals still struggle to survive and often Chinese Americans still encounter suspicion and hostility. Chinese Americans have achieved great success and now, like so many others, they are stitching together a new American identity. As Michelle Ling, a young Chinese American, tells Bill Moyers in Program 3, “I get to compose my life one piece at a time, however I feel like it. Not to say that it’s not difficult and that there isn’t challenge all the time, but more than material wealth, you get to choose what you are, who you are.” (www.pbs.org)

In the 1800s, after the Civil War (1861 to 1865), massive waves of new settlers migrated to the United States. May these were Chinese immigrants who sought to take advantage of the Gold Rush in California. Most of them were men, without family. Between that time, hundreds and hundreds of Chinese immigrants arrived, mostly in San Francisco, where they established a place called “Chinatown.” Establishing the place helped encouraged around four thousand Chinese women per year to immigrate to the United States, to be with their husband or father, helping Chinamen managing household. The gold attracted so many immigrants to California, and the desired for wealth attracted Southerners, who brought with them their racial attitude from the south. Work was well paying; a prejudice against Chinese was born. Hate and violence accompanied the competence against Chinese; and brutality against

“America the land of opportunity, to all” has always been a driving force for many people from poor, undeveloped societies far away from America. This simple saying has brought over millions and millions of people from they’re native countries, leaving behind families and friends. Some never to return. Once in America, reality sets in for most of these groups as that suffer thought unequal treatment, racism and discrimination. One such group involved similar treatments were the Chinese- Americans, in the documentary “Becoming American- the Chinese Experience” we are given a first hand looks and descriptions of the hate that Chinese- American suffered in America. This paper will discuss these events including the documentary and class notes, further it will also describe the difference treatment that Chinese- American face in present day compared to the past.

San Francisco today is not the same place it was hundreds of years ago. This is obvious in terms of the city’s modernization, but a change that is equally as important, is the huge amount of diversity in cultures. Chances are, if you were to ask a student at Skyline College if their parents were born in the United States, many of them would answer no. Every immigrant has their own story of how they ended up in San Francisco, but the most important are the stories of the very first groups. Most first generation Filipino Americans hear about the stories of how their families ended up in the United States, but never the stories of how the very first Filipinos got here. Why did the first group of Filipinos leave all that they had in the the

In Riley Mukavetz essay “Towards a cultural rhetorics methodology: making research matter with multi-generational women from the little Traverse Bay Band”, goes into details about her research study and also explains the results therein with regards to “thereness”. Mukavetz came upon the concept of “thereness” after listening and analyzing the talking circle of her study participants. Talking circles is defined as an effective way for individuals to express themselves, and solve issues. The main purpose of talking circles is for individuals to participate in a discussion without judgmental comments being given to one another. Chinatown is located in the Houston metropolitan area and has become a more diverse and international community. Chinatown is a community that has various ethnic groups living in the area. Question is, what participants can we use to represent the nationality within Chinatown community, Asian Americans? The focus of the talking circle would be to gather all Asian American cultures such as Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese to explain why they begin to immigrate to the Southwest area of Houston. Becky M. Nicolaides author of “Introduction: Asian American Suburban History”, explains how suburbanization has increased in recent years in history. Chi-Kan Richard Hung and Paul Ong are authors of “Sustainability of Asian American nonprofit organizations in the U.S. metropolitan area”, the article examines Asian-American

Although racism in the United States is perceived as a “white people” versus “black people” construct, these two texts have helped me understand that racism occurs and has occurred in a multitude of different contexts. This is because the foundation of racism has nothing to do with a person’s physical features, but more to do with the systematic grouping of people in a tower of class. Chinese immigration was initially encouraged in the mid-1800s to help build the transcontinental railroad. However, along with the finishing of the railroad, a huge financial crisis hit, which eliminated jobs across the country. This caused for hardworking Chinese people, receiving low wages, to become a threat to “white” people. Multiple ordinances, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, was put in place. City authorities reported that “long as it is inhabited by people of the Mongolian race” (Shah, 42), Chinatown is dangerous due to its threat of disease and sanitation. It was never an issue of safety, but an issue of race and economic benefits favored to meet the needs and wants of the “white” population: for example, the Chinese medical practices and laundromats. Multiple laws were made and a bad reputation was placed on Chinese businesses and people to ensure that competition was not taken away and that economical opportunities stayed within the “white” population. Here, we see the

According to the 2010 census, approximately seventy percent of the United states consisted of Caucasians. Although Caucasians are the most dominant people in the United States of America, ethnic enclaves especially those in overpopulated cities such as Manhattan, have clearly proved that even the minorities have a representation. For a historian, Chinatown would be a depiction of how far the nation has come. Just about a century ago, due to prejudice against Asians, the nation allowed the congress to approve the practice of an unfair quota system. America was considerably a safe haven, a sanctimony, or perhaps a better chance at life for many immigrants, these unfair quotas systems resulted in a national day dedicated to mourning. A history

As the immigrant population currently projected to overtake latinxs and hispanics as largest group of residents in the United States of America, Asian Americans have shown their will to survive in a way that many groups have not, and that is by banding together in order to achieve the life they deserve. Taking the overgeneralization of pan-ethnicity and using it as a device for increased numbers and support for the causes of a group of people who otherwise may not have much to do with each other, is a testament to how vulnerable they must have felt as well as how successful they have managed to be many aspects of progress. What I have gained from this course is the understanding that at the root of ethnic studies and the Asian American community is the “for us, by us” sentiment that contributed to the blurred lines between the different part of their communities as social, political and cultural, structures, collectives and groups which came out of an obligation and necessity to protect those immigrants and their future generations from a country which has always pushed European superiority in all aspects of society.

     The focus of our group project is on Chinese Americans. We studied various aspects of their lives and the preservation of their culture in America. The Chinese American population is continually growing. In fact, in 1990, they were the largest group of Asians in the United States (Min 58). But living in America and adjusting to a new way of life is not easy. Many Chinese Americans have faced and continue to face much conflict between their Chinese and American identities. But many times, as they adapt to this new life, they are also able to preserve their Chinese culture and identity through various ways. We studied these things through the viewing of a movie called Joy Luck Club,

When thousands of Chinese migrated to California after the gold rush the presence caused concern and debate from other Californians. This discussion, popularly called the “Chinese Question,” featured in many of the contemporary accounts of the time. In the American Memory Project’s “California: As I Saw It” online collection, which preserves books written in California from 1849-1900, this topic is debated, especially in conjunction with the Chinese Exclusion Act. The nine authors selected offer varying analyses on Chinese discrimination and this culminating act. Some give racist explanations, but the majority point towards the perceived economic competition between

Before we went to Chinatown, I didn’t expect much because I go there all the time. My family and I usually go there for our birthdays to eat out. I did expect a lot of people smoking and unusual scents. I also expect many, many signs that I can’t read. I expect different foods, many people speaking in Cantonese, and very different buildings.

In addition to the cultural conflicts and confusions with Chinese immigrants ethnic heritage , Amy also portrays how television shows during this era of American culture influences conflicts and confusions in the Chinese immigrant communities. In her attempt to