China Men: Lecture I

I. Introduction

A. US society is not black and white

1. Role of law in how different groups relate

2. Role of language and culture

B. Lecture I: How to read the book/role of law

C. Lecture II: Otherness/Language and Culture

D. Lecture III: Conclusion

E. Importance of reading for Kingston

II. "On Discovery"

A. Genre:

Discovery narrative

B. Gender:

Man or woman?

C. Oppression of women in China

or

Emasculation of Chinese men

in America?

D. Stereotypes

III. Book's structure

A. Myths and legends

B. Four generations of male ancestors

IV. Laws

A. Citizenship by naturalization.

1. Naturalization Act of 1790

2. Naturalization Act of 1870

B. Exclusion Acts (1882, 1892)

Why exclusion?

1. Fear of unknown

a. “Yellow Peril” (1892)

b. “A Statue for Our Harbor” (1881)

2. Religious difference

St. Paul: “For God hath made of one

blood all the nations of the earth and

hath determined the bounds of their

habitation.”

3. Lack of assimilation

"sojourners" (155)

4. Economics

C. US v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)

1. Birthright citizenship

2. Citizenship clause of the

14th Amendment:

"All persons born or naturalized in

the United States, and subject to

the jurisdiction thereof, are

citizens of the United States and

of the State wherein they reside."

3. How to define "jurisdiction

of the United States?"

4. Majority: jus soli:

by soil

5. Minority: jus sanguinis:

by blood

V. Citizenship

A. Citizenship judges (59)

B. Fire of 1906 (150)

C. Paper sons (46)

D. The father

1. Illegal: NYC (48-53)

2. Legal: Angel Island (53-60)

"Some people will condemn all restriction laws, because from the fatherhood-of-God and the brotherhood-of-man standpoint, all men being equal, all men should be permitted the same degree of freedom and liberty in the practice of their trades . . . and all laws that interfere with the individual man, restricting his opportunities, or denying him the right to enjoy life and liberty, must be condemned by humanitarians and Christians. But this beautiful sentiment finds no application in the exercise of governmental powers, because the first duty of governments is to their own citizens, and in securing to them the protection and the enjoyment of their life and liberty the consideration of the effect on other people is not of consequence."

"The Chinese laborer brings here no wife and children, and his wants are limited to the immediate necessities of the individual, while the American is compelled to earn income sufficient to maintain his wife and babies. There can be but one end to this. If this immigration is permitted to continue American labor must surely be reduced to the level of the Chinese competitor, the American's wants measured by his wants, the American's comforts no greater than the comforts of the Chinaman, and the American laborer not having been educated to maintain himself according to this standard, must either go down into a darkness too gloomy to contemplate, or else take up his pack and leave his native land. The protection of American labor is an essential duty of the American government." (Congressmen Geary, 1892).

Chinese-American lives may

have been determined by

American laws, but Chinese-

Americans also determined

the shape of those laws.