As we prepare to write "fixes" to immigration law, I hope we review our history of immigration law in America.
"The Nation’s Worst Single Lynching A bloody Chinese massacre finds a new audience through The Jade Pendant."
February 2, 2018 by Henry C. Parke
https://truewestmagazine.com/nations-worst-single-lynching/
"You might guess that the worst single lynching in U.S. history took place in the Deep South and that the victims were black. But the remarkable truth is that it took place in the burgeoning California metropolis of Los Angeles in 1871, and its victims were 18 Chinese men and boys. That crime is the culmination of the story of The Jade Pendant, the Western film based on the novel by Hong Kong immigrant L.P. Leung. It’s a story he’s been wanting to tell for over 50 of his 80 years."
"The Grisly Story of America’s Largest Lynching"
Innocent Italian-Americans got caught in the crosshairs of a bigoted mob.
Author: Erin Blakemore 25 Oct 2017
https://www.history.com/news/the-grisly-story-of-americas-largest-lynching
"A mob of tens of thousands of angry men surrounded a New Orleans jail, shouting angry slurs and calling for blood. By the time they were done, 11 men would be dead—shot and mutilated in an act of brutal mob violence that took place in front of a cheering crowd. It was 1891, and the crowd was about to participate in the largest lynching in U.S. history.
Nearly 5,000 lynchings—vigilante murders that included shootings, hangings and other forms of mob “justice”—were recorded in the United States between 1882 and 1968. Most of their victims were African-American men. But though the New Orleans lynch mob was driven by bigotry, its targets weren’t black people.
They were Italian-Americans. March 14, 1891 would go down in history as one of the darkest moments in the United States’ long history of anti-Italian discrimination."
Italian Americans! Yes, whites hate all people of color with hesitation.
"It began with the murder of David Hennessy. A popular police chief, Hennessy was shot down by gunmen while walking home from work. As he lay dying, a witness asked him who did it. “Dagoes,” he reportedly whispered, using a slur for Italians."
America has lived a "trail of fears" (like Trail of Tears) to justify terrorizing people of color, and any people too different than them to tolerate.
"“Sicilians were viewed by many Americans as culturally backward and racially suspect,” writes historian Manfred Berg. Because of their dark skin, they were often treated with the same contempt as black people. They were also suspected of Mafia connections, and their family networks were closely watched by the New Orleans police."
"The Chinese Exclusion Act"
By Alan Ng May 28, 2018
http://filmthreat.com/reviews/the-chinese-exclusion-act/
". . . historical context, the United States was winding down from the Civil War and the ratification of the 14th amendment, which defined citizenship rules, established due process, and gave equal protection under the law. While this was happening, the U.S. and China ratified a trade agreement, which brought hundreds of Chinese men to the States to work during the Gold Rush and a crushing opioid addiction to China.
As things tend to happen, when a sudden increase in foreigners show up on your doorstep, and they don’t look like you or much less speak your language, fear and paranoia set in. The target of that fear were the Chinese immigrants coming to California. It didn’t take long for the beatings to start, then the racially-motivated thuggery and extortion, which all lead to the worst incident of mass lynchings in the United States in Los Angeles Chinatown."
Immigrant access comes later because of the cruelty and "unexpected" (I'd say everyone knew what would happen . . . like the many murders and general terrorism . . . it was EXPECTED AND PREDICTABLE) consequences of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
"Director Burns and Ye do more than just document the discrimination, beating, and killing that lead up to and were justified by the creation of the Exclusion Act. They go in depth into the psyche of American politicians (the old dogs so to speak), still coming to grips with the end of slavery and the subversive posturing that allowed this bill to pass the legislature and President Arthur backing down from his moral conviction.
Not willing to take discrimination sitting down, the act would be challenged in court. It was these challenges that would bolster and strengthen the language of the 14th amendment. It addressed whether the children of Chinese Immigrant born in the U.S. would receive U.S. citizenship and when laws could be written that would apply to whites only and not the Chinese (Equal Protection)."
Eureka, CA attack on Chinses - purging all Chinese for a murder that was not committed by a Chinese. Some of the Chinese were burned alive.
Atrocities of unbelievable proportions can be attributed to fear and hate of Chinese in the 1880s. The Los Angeles China Town slaughter, the 34 Chinese gold diggers murdered by a gang of white men,
"Chinese Exclusiopn Act"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act
"The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. Building on the 1875 Page Act, which banned Chinese women from immigrating to the United States, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law implemented to prevent all members of a specific ethnic or national group from immigrating.
The act followed the Angell Treaty of 1880, a set of revisions to the U.S.–China Burlingame Treaty of 1868 that allowed the U.S. to suspend Chinese immigration. The act was initially intended to last for 10 years, but was renewed in 1892 with the Geary Act and made permanent in 1902. It was repealed by the Magnuson Act on December 17, 1943, which allowed 105 Chinese to enter per year. Chinese immigration later increased with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which abolished direct racial barriers, and later by Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the National Origins Formula.[1]"
The Chines were feared for the competition for jobs, and not allowed to live outside their "compounds." This made assimilation impossible, creating a confirmation of what was a criticism in the first place. It was not safe to live separate from other Chinese. Violence and brutality prevailed against ALL people of color in 1882 onward.
"America's shameful Chinese Exclusion Act now largely forgotten"
Chinese Exclusion Act passed by US Congress in 1882 stayed on the books until 1943, while Australia and Canada had similar laws
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 30 November, 2014, 5:36am
UPDATED : Sunday, 30 November, 2014, 5:36am
"Most Americans know about the United States' history of slavery and the later internment of Japanese-Americans in special camps during the second world war.
But what is less well known is that for more than 60 years, the US officially excluded an entire ethnic group - Chinese immigrants, who were seen as a threat to native workers.
The Chinese Exclusion Act, as it came to be known, was passed by Congress in 1882 and was not lifted until 1943, when politicians acted partly out of embarrassment over the fact that China was a US ally in the second world war."
Immigration law was set forth in the 14th Amendment to save people's lives, and to show Americans are not killing animals, never forget the law.
In case you think lynching and killing Chinese doesn't show America's ugly soul, try the mass lynching in Arkansas to assess how you feel.
"Never Forget: America’s Forgotten Mass Lynching: When 237 Black Sharecroppers Were Murdered In Arkansas"
by BMS AdminMay 13, 2016June 26, 2018407 2013089
"In 1919, after the end of World War I, Black sharecroppers in Arkansas began to unionize. This attempt to form unions, triggered white vigilantism and mass killings, that left 237 Blacks dead."
You say you weren't there so why is this an issue for you? Because those who ignore history are destined to repeat it, as you are on a path to do so with "illegal immigrants" Donald Trump is demonizing.
