Community Formation and Resistance

Question 1

Resistance

Answer 1

• struggles against structural constraints that limit their lives and create the forces of oppression and discrimination
• this agency to respond to structural constraints shows that oppression and domination are never fully complete
• oppression engenders resistance

Question 2

Asian American Resistance

Answer 2

• struggles come from racialization of Asians as perpetual foreigners
• struggle for participation and inclusion in America
• defining identities as ethnic Americans
• claiming America
• “We are America” – Bulosan
• multiple strategies and tactics of resistance bcs each group faced different kinds of oppression

Question 3

Litigation

Answer 3

• resisted exclusion from immigration
• citizenship and naturalization (Ozawa, Thind, Rodan vs. LA)
• resistance to economic discrimination (Yick Wo v. Hopkins)

Question 4

Chinese Laundry Ordinances in SF (1873-1885)

Answer 4

• laundry ordinances had to be written in “neutral” language because of Civil Rights of 1870
• every laundry business in wooden building w/in SF city limits required to obtain operating license from Board of Supervisors
• giving out licenses was discretionary, and Board rejected every application from the Chinese, while accepting every white application
• intent of the law was to discriminate against the Chinese

Question 5

Civil Rights Act of 1870

Answer 5

• during Reconstruction, wanted to live up to American ideals
• forbade imposition of discriminatory punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions
• prevented states from overtly discriminating against Af Ams (and by extension, the Ch bcs inclusive act) thru legislation
• this is why the Alien Land Law doesn’t say Japanese, just “aliens ineligible for citizenship”

Question 6

Chinese Response

Answer 6

• realized they were being targeted
• were acutely aware of US laws and used litigation to fight for their rights, using political armor from Reconstruction
• formed trade association of laundries to standardize rates, and hire lawyers for legal protection
• Chinese continued to run their laundries in violation of ordinances, often arrested; brought white lawyers in to fight for them

Question 7

Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)

Answer 7

• Supreme Court gave victory to Chinese because it ruled that laundry ordinances violated rights under US Constitution
• violated equal protection clause of 14th Amendment
• though ordinances were written in neutral language, could take into account “intent” of the law, not just “letter” of the law

Question 8

14th Amendment

Answer 8

• people born in the US are US citizens no matter their parents’ immigration status (what allowed the nisei to be US citizens)
• due process clause (citizens have right to due process by law)
• equal protection clause gives everyone under US jurisdiction (not just citizens) equal protection under the law

Question 9

Civic Nationalism

Answer 9

• what America stands for
• ideals of freedom, equality in Declaration of Independence
• Chinese could force US to live up to those ideals (acutely aware of US laws and used them to resist discrimination), especially during Reconstruction
• got Asians their rights

Question 10

Racial Nationalism

Answer 10

• certain groups are denied American rights because of race
• citizenship only allowed for free white persons initially
• comes back to that fundamentally conflicted America that Bulosan comments on
• these ideals denied Asians their rights

Question 11

Chinese Litigation

Answer 11

• number of cases involving Chinese defendants increased
• Asians had astute understanding of the workings of US political and legal system and used it to resist discrimination
• goes against the idea that they didn’t want to be Americans

Question 12

Legal Loopholes

Answer 12

• picture brides in GA
• registering land under the names of American citizen kids to go against 1913 Alien Land Laws

Question 13

Reconstruction (1865-1877)

Answer 13

• racially egalitarian laws passed
• 15th Amendment: right to vote regardless of race, religion, creed
• short-lived time period

Question 14

Timeline

Answer 14

• 1865-1877: Reconstruction
• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
• 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson (2nd-class citizenship of African Americans)
• 1907-1908 Gentlemen’s Agreement
• 1917 Immigration Act
• 1924 Immigration Act
• 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act
• color line was greatest problem of 20th century

Question 15

Japanese Resistance on Plantations

Answer 15

• foot drag
• falsely complying with orders
• deserting
• sabotaging work
• gambling
• getting drunk
• associated with immediate individual gains
• mechanisms of power are unaffected