For this comparative book review, I decided to check out the book At America’s Gates: Chinese Immigration During the Exclusion Era by Erika Lee. Written in 2003, this book describes the United States policies on Chinese Immigration from 1882-1943, spanning from the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 to its repeal in 1943 with the passage of the Magnuson Act. This book explains the causes of these Chinese exclusion policies and their effects on Chinese and Chinese-American citizens, finishing with describing the consequences and legacies of these policies in their aftermath. As a result, the information provided in this book comprises four distinct parts: Part I. Closing the Gates: Part II. At America’s Gates: Part III. Cracks in the
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She then details her family's experiences in the United States and how they built up their life in the land of opportunity. Lee's family entered the United States during a time when they welcomed immigrants from foreign countries with open arms. Before a time when gates and gatekeepers were intent on keeping them out of the country. She illustrates how growing anti-Chinese sentiments led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. In this section, she provides examples of her grandfather Lee Chi Yet. Lee Chi Yet entered during the height of Chinese exclusion, where Chinese immigrants were believed to be “contaminated with parasitic diseases and other ailments considered dangerous and contagious” (Lee, p. 4). While laborers were prohibited, merchants, teachers, students, diplomats, and travelers were exempt from exclusion, while court cases brought by Chinese-Americans secured the right of families of merchants and native-born citizens of the United States to apply for admission into the country as well. Since he was a farmer, Lee’s grandfather was considered a laborer and couldn’t enter the country. In order to combat this, he gave up his identity as Lee Chi Yet and became Yee Shew Ning, son of merchant Yee Yook …show more content…
“Ning” and “Haw” were interrogated by immigration officials separately, where after over a hundred questions they believed their false papers and allowed them entry. Erika Lee’s grandfather is just one of many immigrants from China hoping to enter the United States for greater opportunities not present in China. However, her grandfather was one of the lucky ones who was able to slip through U.S. immigration’s cracks on Angel Island. Most immigrants would be stopped by America’s iron-fist rule over Chinese immigration, the cause for this explained by Lee in the first part of this book, “Closing the Gates.” During the 1870s, anti-Chinese rhetoric began to take shape in California, where politicians and activists introduced the idea of closing American borders for the first time. Their strategies of “racializing Chinese immigrants as permanently alien and even inferior based on their race, class, culture, and gender relations” worked effectively in stoking the Jingoist fear of takeover from foreign interests (Lee, p. 20). Due to this fear of the Chinese destroying the United States from the inside through stealing jobs and weakening “American” culture, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion
She then details her family's experiences in the United States and how they built up their life in the land of opportunity. Lee's family entered the United States during a time when they welcomed immigrants from foreign countries with open arms. Before a time when gates and gatekeepers were intent on keeping them out of the country. She illustrates how growing anti-Chinese sentiments led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. In this section, she provides examples of her grandfather Lee Chi Yet. Lee Chi Yet entered during the height of Chinese exclusion, where Chinese immigrants were believed to be “contaminated with parasitic diseases and other ailments considered dangerous and contagious” (Lee, p. 4). While laborers were prohibited, merchants, teachers, students, diplomats, and travelers were exempt from exclusion, while court cases brought by Chinese-Americans secured the right of families of merchants and native-born citizens of the United States to apply for admission into the country as well. Since he was a farmer, Lee’s grandfather was considered a laborer and couldn’t enter the country. In order to combat this, he gave up his identity as Lee Chi Yet and became Yee Shew Ning, son of merchant Yee Yook …show more content…
“Ning” and “Haw” were interrogated by immigration officials separately, where after over a hundred questions they believed their false papers and allowed them entry. Erika Lee’s grandfather is just one of many immigrants from China hoping to enter the United States for greater opportunities not present in China. However, her grandfather was one of the lucky ones who was able to slip through U.S. immigration’s cracks on Angel Island. Most immigrants would be stopped by America’s iron-fist rule over Chinese immigration, the cause for this explained by Lee in the first part of this book, “Closing the Gates.” During the 1870s, anti-Chinese rhetoric began to take shape in California, where politicians and activists introduced the idea of closing American borders for the first time. Their strategies of “racializing Chinese immigrants as permanently alien and even inferior based on their race, class, culture, and gender relations” worked effectively in stoking the Jingoist fear of takeover from foreign interests (Lee, p. 20). Due to this fear of the Chinese destroying the United States from the inside through stealing jobs and weakening “American” culture, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion