Resettling China's Ecological Migrants Summary

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

The Chinese Experience records the history of the Chinese in the United States. The three-part documentary shows how the first arrivals from China, their descendants, and recent immigrants have “become American.” It is a story about identity and belonging that is relative to all Americans. The documentary is divided into three programs, each with a focus on a particular time in history. Program 1 describes the first arrivals from China, beginning in the early 1800’s and ending in 1882, the year Congress passed the first Chinese exclusion act. Program 2, which details the years of exclusion and the way they shaped and distorted Chinese American

Sui Sin Far’s short story, “In the Land of the Free” touches on the reality of being a Chinese immigrant in late-19th century America. The story revolves around a Chinese couple. The husband is ready for his wife, Lae Choo, to arrive from China with their new son, later named Kim. However, due to policies on immigration, the American government was forced to take possession of the child due to a lack of paperwork. However, Far’s short-story has a deeper meaning than just focusing on unfair immigration policies. She takes advantage of the story’s ending to symbolize a rejection of immigrant culture, most especially Chinese immigrant culture, by taking advantage of Kim’s change in behaviors, appearance, and dialect.

Even with her previous experiences at Beijing University and at Big Joy Farm, Wong still held some belief that the Chinese system wasn’t as bad as it was sometimes made out to be. This event proved to her that it was. “The enormity of the massacre hit home…Although it had been years since I was a Maoist, I still had harbored some small hope for China. Now even that was gone” (259). As a reporter Wong was able to view the progression of the protests in leading up to the massacre, and in viewing it understood that the Chinese people were much more independent than they had previously demonstrated over the past 50 years. She had continuously seen the Chinese people following what they were told between learning in school or with physical labor, yet this protest was one of the first large scale displays of the unacceptance of the regime by the people, and the government did not know what to do with it. But because of this, Wong was able to recognize that the people were not reliant on this way of life that they had previously been bound to, but truly could lead for themselves and take control. The massacre awakened Wong both to the reality that the government was not acting to benefit the people, and that the people were more than capable of acting for

“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.

Focusing on specific examples Chercover explicates that paper provides the ability leave a desperate life in China to come to a land of opportunity comes at a very high cost ending with limitations both financially and physically. The critic by Deborah Madsen provides insight into the generation of the major themes in Choy’s writing and focuses on the idea of unhomliness as the major problem that limits diasporic success. Chercover takes this analysis of unhomliness one step further concluding that paper acts as the underlying mechanism behind this problem. This feeling of belonging neither here nor there is are due to the falsified immigration document which force a new identity on immigrants, creating a confusion of identify and thus leads to the feeling of unbeloning. Both essays provide evidence on the restrictions created by paper on Chinese immigrants freedom as well as highlight its benefits, however I continue to argue that on paper is a negative force in limiting the diasporic movement of Chinese Canadians and ultimately leads to the other themes of resentment and not belonging. These feelings of unhomliness by new immigrants are still felt today however are a result of other forces instead of paper. However paper’s irreplaceable role is heightened in today’s society, both in its ability to generate positive opportunities but also in the negative consequence of its

In 1848, the first Chinese came and of course in the nest year participated in the gold rush. Like the Chilean in “Diario de un viaje a California”, Chinese also came here for mining. After, they also established Chinese school and churches and create their own lifestyle. In “The City That Was”, Will Irwin wrote, “The Chinese lived their own lives in their own way and settled their own quarrels with the revolvers of their highbinders”(453).

Each part of the book works well to answer Chang’s research question. Part 1 he discusses the struggle to maintain the land, slavery, privatization of land, the transforming practices of the people, and the lack of compromise of land and power. In part two he emphasizes the forced allotment, politics, racial issues, and the undeniable connection between property and identity. In part three, he writes about the outcome and effect of the allotment and the discrimination, the political movements, and the divide between the

Settler Colonialism is a constant social and political arrangement in which new comers/colonizers/settlers come to a place, claim it as their own, and do whatever it takes to vanish the Indigenous people who reside there.

When a central power comes in and dominates the surrounding land and people it is referred to as colonization. In some cases it can lead to a positive outcome but more so than not it has a negative repercussion. In “Heart of Darkness,” “The Powwow at the End of the World,” and “Heritage,” both the colonizer and the colonized experience negative consequences that force them to change their views on the world.

In the mid 19th century, America was viewed as a hotspot for freedom and wealth. When the noise of the gold rush flooded the world, immigrants started to see America more appetizing than ever. The Chinese saw America as a place to have a fresh start and as a place of refuge because of it’s generosity, so they immigrated to the west in great numbers. There was a large Chinese population in Virginia and all along the Pacific coast. Writers Mark Twain and Maxine Hong Kingston both wrote in great detail about the Chinese Immigrants. They went into detail about the immigrants and how they came over and why. Although Twain and Kingston both wrote about the immigrants in a positive light, Twain was sympathetic of the immigrants and Kingston focused more on their image and her ancestors.

Colonization in Brave New World Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a novel about how the world functions in a utopian society and focuses on how people are raised, their social status, and who they can be with and the idea that Ford society is the way of life. Critical lenses are important when analyzing a novel or any piece of literature, because it allows the reader to interpret the main plot and characters through a different perspective and learn to apply these lenses not only in literature, but in the real world. While Brave New World is a novel about Huxley’s perspective of how the world functions in the future in an utopian society, we are able to perceive through a postcolonial lenses that not only is this focused on the “rules” of

Colonialism is “a specific form of imperialism involving the establishment and maintenance, for an extended period of time, of rule over an alien people that is separate from and subordinate to the ruling power” (Jones slide). Three ideological tenets stand out as justifying and facilitating European colonialism and imperialism. The first tenet was a legal-utilitarian justification, according to which native peoples had no right to territories they inhabited, owing to their disappointment to exploit them adequately (Textbook, p 106). The second tenet was a religious ideology that justified invasion and conquest as a means of saving Indigenous souls (Textbook, p 106). One ideological tenet of imperialism and colonialism that stands out is its racial-eliminationist ideology.

Colonization has shaped the world to this day; due to colonization the world is globally imbalanced. Colonization is related to exploitation of another country, which can lead to cultural confusion. A perfect example would be Steven Spielberg’s movie “Empire of the Sun”, which shows colonization leading to exploitation and cultural confusion. In the movie Jamie Graham shows cultural confusion to England, his country of heritage, to China, the country of his birth, and to Japan, the country that Jamie admires the most. Although China is Jamie’s birthplace he is still somewhat disconnected and dismissive towards the country during its time of colonization.

Besides educational reason people leave china people they are feeling suffocated, metaphorically and physically, by the environment and communist government. Education is not the only reason people are feeling the need to flee. China has the worst air pollution mainly due to burning coal. Cancer is the number one killer in China and hundreds of thousands of deaths are occur just from the pollution in the air alone. Aside from that they water poses a major threat aswell, 500 million people have trouble accessing clean water. In some cities you can hardly see the sun and children are routinely dying from lead poisoning. While the suppression of communism is not nearly as deadly, people are still leaving becuase they simply don't agree with the communist ideals, and would rather not live under that rule.