Silent Strife: Chinese American Dissent of the Exclusion Acts



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Silent Strife: Chinese American Dissent of the Exclusion Acts

Stella Kim

Mentor: Alice Fahs

The Chinese Exclusion Acts, the first attempts by the United States government to prevent the entrance of immigrants through legal measures, were repealed by the Magnuson Act over a half century later. Passage of the Magnuson Act is credited to the fact that the Exclusion Acts were an embarrassment for the United States in their relations with China; the Chinese Americans themselves were never really a consideration. Asian Americans have always been portrayed in history as passive bystanders, and even today are stereotyped as the ‘model minority’ because of their supposed trait of ‘silently suffering.’ However, this portrayal is incorrect because, from the beginning, Chinese Americans did not passively accept the exclusion legislation, but actively dissented. Not only did the Chinese Americans dissent, they used fundamentally American methods to assert their rights through law and literature. Chinese Americans attempted to argue the legal validity of the Exclusion Acts by bringing several cases to local and federal courts. Chinese Americans also voiced their concerns directly to the American public by publishing articles and stories to dispel negative Chinese stereotypes and assert their rights as Americans. Though these Chinese Americans dissenters went unheeded at their time, the fact of their dissent still makes a strong statement. Far from being silent sufferers, these dissenters proved that Chinese Americans actively resisted being alienated and were truly active participants of American society.

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