# data[].attributes.body
Many challenges Asian people face stem from Chinese people's immigration to America and the events that followed. In the early 1850s, many Chinese people wanted to flee China because of the raging civil war. They were drawn to the West because of the numerous opportunities presented by the Gold Rush of 1849 and the transcontinental railroad construction; however, after the Gold Rush panned out and the railroad was complete, job competition between white settlers and Chinese immigrants became fierce because jobs outside these fields were hard to come by. Because of this, many white settlers in California and surrounding areas began to attack Asian immigrants' character and cultural practices. This racist rhetoric degrading the Chinese quickly spread from the West to the East coast and became the wide-reaching sentiment that questioned Asian peoples' ability to adapt to the American lifestyle. This national discrimination affected policies on all levels of politics, causing the path to citizenship and equal civil rights for Asians to be an increasingly difficult one. Many Asian people struggled to even enter the United States legally for decades because of many racially motivated immigration bans. Upon entering, they faced further challenges of being accepted into American society as they were often discriminated against and constantly berated for being different. As time went on and groups like Black Americans and women got the right to vote, legislation for Asian people followed. Although lots of social progress has been made and civil rights have been extended to Asian Americans, many Asian people or people of Asian descent still frequently face racism through microaggressions and hate crimes which leaves more work to be done.
- Reagan Schriver

# data[].attributes.body
On March 3, 1875, the United States established Page Law to end the danger of cheap Chinese labor and immoral Chinese women, the law prohibits the immigration of any East Asian women who will engage in prostitution and criminals. Defining Chinese labor as forced laborers, the Page Act strengthens the ban on forced labor, imposing fines of up to $2,000 and up to one year on anyone who attempts to bring people from China, Japan, or any East Asian country to the U.S. years in prison.
Most of the immigrants to the United States were attracted in 1848 as the California Gold Rush. Because the Chinese 'low incomes were extremely low, the California legislature assumes that Chinese men are forced to sign long-term labor service contracts however, in reality, immigrants borrow money from brokers for their travel and repay the money plus interest through work. At the same time, prostitution developed in the male Chinese immigrant community and became a serious problem for Americans living in San Francisco. Although prostitution is fairly common in the western United States, there are laws that specifically target Chinese female immigrants because of the potential spread of the virus.
As Chinese male "coolies" and prostitutes are inevitably associated with slavery, American hostility toward them has grown, and male cheap labor is at the heart of the anti-China movement, so lawmakers are expected to exclude men from immigration.
- Larry Wang

"Illegal Alien." In Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, edited by John Hartwell Moore, 143-146. Vol. 2. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 15, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2831200211/UHIC?u=pitt94721&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=cef0bf16.

# data[].attributes.body
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a product of widespread racial discrimination against Asian people primarily residing in western states and California. This discrimination was affirmed when Congress passed the act, and it was signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur in 1882. The act limited the number of Chinese immigrants entering the country and forbade those who left from returning. It initially lasted for ten years but was extended for another ten years by the 1892 Geary Act. The effects of this act were apparent over time in the US Census data. In 1880 there were 105,465 Chinese people in the United States, but by 1920 that number had dropped to 61,639¹. The effects were also seen in the amount of discrimination Asian people faced. The act spurred later movements for immigration restriction against other "undesirable" groups such as other Asian groups, including the East Indians and the Japanese.
- Reagan Schriver

1 Yuning Wu, "Chinese Exclusion Act," Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chinese-Exclusion-Act.

# data[].attributes.body
The author of this cartoon, Thomas Nast, created in the years prior to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, depicting Senator James G. Blaine of Maine kicking a Chinese immigrant off of the "corner-stone" of "equal rights" because he can not vote, while he pulls up an Irish immigrant who can vote. The image shows how the Chinese were discriminated against and did not receive the same rights as everyone else who had immigrated previously. The Irish only started immigrating in high volumes after the Irish potato famine a few decades earlier, but they were already considered citizens and had the right to vote, and while they experienced discrimination too, at the least, they had legislation to protect them, whereas the Chinese had none. The Chinese could not become citizens as per the Naturalization Act of 1870, so they were stranded in a foreign country without any hope of being treated fairly.
- Reagan Schriver

Source: Chris Bodenner, "Chinese Exclusion Act," Infobase, last modified 2006, accessed February 11, 2022, https://ich.infobase.com/ICH/LearningCenter/Icaharticle/18?mainarticleId=592554.

# data[].attributes.body
The Immigration Act of 1917 (also known as the Literacy Act) is an act established for restricting immigrants. To restrict immigration in the Asia-Pacific region, the Act requires immigrants to take literacy tests, creates new categories of unacceptable people, and prohibits immigration.

Various groups in the Coalition for Immigrant Restrictions have supported literacy as a prerequisite for immigration since its inception. In 1895, Henry Cabot Lodge introduced a bill to the U.S. Senate requiring immigrant literacy, using a test that required them to read the five lines of the Constitution. But the bill was vetoed by President Grover Cleveland in 1897. In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt supported the bill in his speech, but it was vetoed again in 1903. The proposal reappeared in the Senate Immigration Act of 1906, but the House disagreed with it and was struck down in the conference committee. Literacy was introduced again in 1912, and although it was passed, it was vetoed by President William Howard Taft. By 1915, another bill with literacy requirements was passed. It was vetoed by President Woodrow Wilson because he believed that literacy tests deprived those without equal opportunity for education.

On February 5, 1917, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed the Immigration Act of 1917,
"The bill increases and consolidates the list of bad people banned from entering the country, including alcoholics, anarchists, contract workers, criminals, criminals, epilepsy, "mentally handicapped," "illiterate," "incompetent," "people with mental or physical disabilities", "political radicals", polygamists, prostitutes and homeless."........ U.S. immigration law doesn't just affect East Asian immigrants, as its provisions prohibit all illiterate immigrants over the age of 16. Literacy is defined as the ability to read 30-40 words in their own language from ordinary text.
- Larry Wang

Higgins, Shawn M. "Orientalist Soundscapes, Barred Zones, and Irving Berlin's China." Chinese America: History and Perspectives, annual 2018, pp. 37+. Gale In Context: U.S. History,

# data[].attributes.body
The Immigration Act of 1924 primarily set quotas for the number of immigrants entering the US. These quotas were determined by the 1890 US census data, allowing only 2% of the population of foreign-born people of any nationality to enter¹. However, these quotas did not exist for many Asian countries because the act also prohibited the entry of primary residents of any Asian country. This act had a lasting impact on the overall population of Asian people in America and continued to affirm the racist beliefs many Americans had regarding Asian people by maintaining the pattern of racist immigration laws focused on white-only immigration.
- Reagan Schriver

1 "The Immigration Act of 1924," History, Art & Archives The House of Representatives, accessed February 15, 2022, https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Immigration-Act-of-1924/.

# data[].attributes.body
The Luce-Celler Act of 1946 was a bill proposed by Republican Clare Boothe Luce and Democrat Emanuel Celler in 1943 and signed into law by President Harry Truman on July 2, 1946. The act allowed a quota of 100 Indians to immigrate to the United States per annum. It also permitted Indian nationals already residing in the U.S. (of whom there were approximately 2,500-3,000 at the time) to become naturalized American citizens. The bill signaled an enormous political victory for Indians in the U.S. who had long been fighting for the right to naturalize in America. It has been even described in terms of the global struggle for racial equality, and it received support from diverse segments of American society, including colleges and universities, churches, writers and intellectuals, corporations, and, of course, Indian Americans themselves.

The Luce-Celler Act was inspired by the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943, which struck a blow to Japanese propaganda that pointed repeatedly to Chinese exclusion from the U.S. in order to weaken ties between America and China. It was in the U.S.’ interest to extend a similar gesture of goodwill to India to ensure the country would remain a stalwart against Japanese imperialism in Asia,  with the onset of WWII, the U.S. realized it needed to cement India’s friendship.

- Larry Wang

Hong, Jane. "Manila Prepares for Independence: Filipina/o Campaigns for US Citizenship and the Reorienting of American Ethnic Histories." Journal of American Ethnic History 38, no. 1 (2018): 5+. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 15, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A561522127/UHIC?u=pitt94721&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=2d5faf9f.

# data[].attributes.headline
Progression of Voting Rights: The McCarran-Walter Act 1952 & The Voting Rights Act of 1965

# data[].attributes.subject
Progression of Voting Rights: The McCarran-Walter Act 1952 & The Voting Rights Act of 1965

# data[].attributes.body
The McCarran-Walter Act 1952 granted all Asian Americans the right to become citizens and vote. Before this act, the federal government systematically denied Asian people citizenship and all the civil liberties accompanying citizenship. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 expanded Asian-American voting rights further by adding protections and accommodations for voters with a limited understanding of the English language. It provided means for translators to assist in voting and access to ballots in multiple languages, significantly improving the number of Asian people who were able to vote in elections.
- Reagan Schriver

# data[].attributes.headline
Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 

# data[].attributes.subject
Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 

# data[].attributes.body
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law abolished the National Origins Formula, which had been the basis of U.S. immigration policy since the 1920s.The act removed de facto discrimination against Southern and Eastern Europeans, Asians, as well as other non-Northwestern European ethnic groups from American immigration policy. The bill received wide support from both northern Democratic and Republican members of Congress, but strong opposition mostly from Southern Democrats.

Though proponents of the bill had argued that it would not have a significant effect on the total level of immigration or the demographic mix of the U.S, the act greatly increased the total number of immigrants as well as the share of immigrants from Asia and Africa.

Many of the bill's supporters believed that this future would outlaw racism and prejudice rhetoric that previous immigration quotas have caused; this prejudice has also caused other nations to feel like the United States did not respect them due to their low rating in the previous immigration quotas. Many also believed that this act would highly benefit the United States’ economy because the act focused on allowing skilled workers to enter the United States.

Many of the opposition believed that this bill would be against American welfare. The common argument that they used was that if the government allowed more immigrants into the United States, more employment opportunities would be taken away from the American workforce.

The history of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 has historically had its supporters and opponents, but its overall evolution has brought economic and racial equality to the United States an advantage that other countries do not have, and the change in this Act has also considering national security.

The history of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 has always had its supporters and opponents, however, its evolution has brought advantages to the US economy and racial equality, and also closely related to US national security.

- Larry Wang

Reimers, David M. "Refugee Policies." In Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, 2nd ed., edited by Richard Dean Burns, Alexander DeConde, and Fredrik Logevall, 357-369. Vol. 3. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 16, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3402300131/UHIC?u=pitt94721&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=90c1b094.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Protest gathering at Confucius Plaza, 1974. 

# data[].attributes.headline
Formation of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) 1974

# data[].attributes.subject
Formation of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) 1974

# data[].attributes.body
AAFE was formed in 1974 in Chinatown when many Asian people moved to action because of discrimination by a construction developer, DeMatteis Organization of Elmont, L.I., who refused to hire Asian workers for the Confucius Plaza project. Local activist leader Takashi Yanagida stood up for Asian American rights and helped stage month-long protests to fight back against the DeMatteis’s racial discrimination. DeMatteis stated they met the minority‐hiring requirements, but Yanagida thought otherwise, saying the company was only fulfilling its minority quota by importing workers from other job sites outside of the city—a practice known as checkerboarding. Others who were not keen on protesting tried to enact change through other methods. Some tried to negotiate with the DeMatteis Organization, requesting the company to hire over 40 Asian workers immediately¹. Eventually, the protesters and negotiators prevailed, and the Asian Americans for Equality group was formed to protect Asian Americans from similar issues in the future. Their primary focus in their early years was equal employment; however, a couple of years after forming, that changed their mission to a broader goal of equal rights for all Asian Americans.

- Reagan Schriver

1 "Our History," Asian Americans for Equality, last modified 2014, accessed February 15, 2022, https://www.aafe.org/who-we-are/our-history.

# data[].attributes.headline
Asian American Hate Crimes: Atlanta Spa Shootings 2021

# data[].attributes.subject
Asian American Hate Crimes: Atlanta Spa Shootings 2021

# data[].attributes.body
On March 16, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia, Robert Aaron Long opened fire in three spas, killing eight people, six of whom were Asian women. Long confessed to the murder of 8 people saying that his primary target was the women in the spas because he was a struggling sex addict, and he needed to remove the temptation. Vivian Truong, a historian and post-doctoral fellow in Asian studies at Vassar College, reacted negatively to the many comments in Long's defense that pushed the blame on the Asian women instead of the man perpetuating the crimes¹. She cites the history of Asian American women being associated with hyper-sexuality and a corrupt, immoral influence, referring to early discrimination in the Page Act, which banned Asian women originating from China or Japan because of fears that they would become prostitutes in America. After the Page Act, this view of Asian women persisted and is still a common delusion. This event shocked the nation and gave rise to fears of further hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. Recent data has shown a spike of Asian American-related hate crimes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rising over 75% compared to pre-pandemic years, creating a growing concern for many Asian people².
- Reagan Schriver

1 Holly Honderich, "Atlanta Spa Shootings: How We Talk about Violence," BBC, last modified March 19, 2021, accessed February 15, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56446820.
2 "8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias," The New York Times, last modified March 26, 2021, accessed February 15, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth.

# data[].attributes.body
Through the study of these events, we can see many common themes between the discrimination Asian people have faced in the past and the present. A lot of the discrimination originated from the general misunderstanding of Asian people and the ignorance that went along with refusing to learn about or accept others different from oneself. This grew until Asian people were being discriminated against in every aspect of their life. Some changes were made when Asian people pushed for the recognition of their civil rights; however, there is still more to that could be done to prevent further racism and give Asian people the fair and equal opportunities that have been denied to them for so long.
- Reagan Schriver

# data[].attributes.body
Bibliography for Events and Discriptions:

Bodenner, Chris. "Chinese Exclusion Act." Infobase. Last modified 2006. Accessed February 11, 2022. https://ich.infobase.com/ICH/LearningCenter/Icaharticle/18?mainarticleId=592554.

"8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias." The New York Times. Last modified March 26, 2021. Accessed February 15, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth.

Honderich, Holly. "Atlanta Spa Shootings: How We Talk about Violence." BBC. Last modified March 19, 2021. Accessed February 15, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56446820.

"The Immigration Act of 1924." History, Art & Archives The House of Representatives. Accessed February 15, 2022. https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Immigration-Act-of-1924/.

Montgomery, Paul L. "Asians Picket Building Site, Charging Bias." The New York Times. Last modified June 1, 1974. Accessed February 15, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/01/archives/asians-picket-building-site-charging-bias-city-sees-compliance.html.

"Our History." Asian Americans for Equality. Last modified 2014. Accessed February 15, 2022. https://www.aafe.org/who-we-are/our-history.

Wu, Yuning. "Chinese Exclusion Act." Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chinese-Exclusion-Act.

Bibliography for Images:

Lee, Corky. Confucius Plaza, 1974. Photograph. Asian American For Equality. Accessed February 15, 2022. https://www.aafe.org/who-we-are/our-history.

Lee, Corky. Protest in Chinatown. Photograph. Asian American For Equality.
Accessed February 15, 2022. https://www.aafe.org/who-we-are/our-history.

Nast, Thomas. Equal Rights to All Men the Corner-stone of Our Republic. Illustration. Infobase. 1879. Accessed February 15, 2022. https://ich.infobase.com/ICH/LearningCenter/Icaharticle/18?mainarticleId=592554.

President Chester A. Arthur 1883 A.D.. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Accessed Feb 15, 2022.https://quest.eb.com/search/300_348126/1/300_348126/cite.

#Stop Asian Hate Photo. Photograph. BBC. Accessed February 15, 2022.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56446820.

- Reagan Schriver

# data[].attributes.body
"Illegal Alien." In Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, edited by John Hartwell Moore, 143-146. Vol. 2. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 16, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2831200211/UHIC?u=pitt94721&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=cef0bf16.

Higgins, Shawn M. "Orientalist Soundscapes, Barred Zones, and Irving Berlin's China." Chinese America: History and Perspectives (2018): 37+. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 16, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A581024573/UHIC?u=pitt94721&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=bba7c6b5.

Hong, Jane. "Manila Prepares for Independence: Filipina/o Campaigns for US Citizenship and the Reorienting of American Ethnic Histories." Journal of American Ethnic History 38, no. 1 (2018): 5+. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 16, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A561522127/UHIC?u=pitt94721&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=2d5faf9f.

Reimers, David M. "Refugee Policies." In Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, 2nd ed., edited by Richard Dean Burns, Alexander DeConde, and Fredrik Logevall, 357-369. Vol. 3. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. Gale In Context: U.S. History (accessed February 16, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3402300131/UHIC?u=pitt94721&sid=bookmark-UHIC&xid=90c1b094.