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The experience of Chinese immigrants, even compared to the experiences of the great diversity of groups immigrating to the United States, is an especially unique one. The foreign-born Chinese who arrived in America during the mid-18th Century were some of the first immigrants to originate from Asia, marking their experiences with deep historical significance. However, their historical experiences are marred by distinctive discriminations that have prevented integration into American society, in particular, the Chinese Exclusion Act that signaled foreign-born Chinese to be treated politically and socially separate. This website aims to use data to showcase the distinctive history, unique culture, and the changing opportunities of Chinese American immigrants.

In the mid-18th century, Chinese merchants, traders and sailors began their migration into the United States—all of whom were looking for their next big sale in a foreign country. This group of foreign-born Chinese were some of the first Asian immigrants to arrive to the United States. The population of this group remained relatively steady, with some Chinese immigrants settling in the west, while others started families in New York. However, with the Gold Rush and the building of the Central Pacific Railroad during the the 1840’s to 1850s, the Chinese were prompted to migrate to the United States in significant numbers, as seen in Graph 1 above. Like many other immigrant groups, the Chinese immigrated in hopes of striking rich like the fortunate few that they had heard stories about.

Yet, Chinese immigrants were not just any other immigrant group. Although it was founded on the basis of immigration and diversity, the United States did not welcome its Chinese immigrants with open arms. This is apparent through the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, whose main purpose was to prevent the Chinese from immigrating into the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act was unique because it was the first of the laws that targeted the immigration of specific ethnic groups. There were many events that led up to the resentment of the Chinese, namely urban and industrial reformation, the rise of anti-Catholic feelings, and social and economic instability.

The foundation of Chinese resentment lies within Chinese laborers. The Chinese were treated as impure and revolting diseases who immigrated to America to steal the jobs of American free laborers. The Americans not only wanted to prevent a large influx of Chinese laborers from stealing the jobs that were rightfully the Americans’, but also refused the potential assimilation of the Chinese. During periods of social and economic stability, the Chinese only instilled anger, misery, and fright in the Americans. Considered un-American and threats against racial harmony, the Chinese were essentially kicked out to enhance racial harmony and to prevent another civil war.

The devastating results of the law is depicted quite clearly in Graph 1, by the continual dip of in the foreign-born population of California, the epicenter of much of Chinese immigration. The Chinese Exclusion Act not only prohibited many Chinese from entering the United States to work, but also separated families such as the fathers who risked everything to come to a foreign land just to make more money to support their families. The Chinese Exclusion Act lasted approximately six decades and was finally abolished at the start of World War I; however, immigration quotas prevented the Chinese from reaching their peak once again. It’s apparent that this treatment has marred the Chinese-American immigrant experience. Although, in our more progressive times Chinese-Americans have been more greatly accepted into American society, Chinese-Americans still remain a greatly alienated and isolated group.

In our statistical analysis of Chinese Immigrants, we found examples of Chinese-American isolation in both rates of english proficiency and education attainment. According to the American Community Survey (2010), the english proficiency of Chinese American immigrants was among the lowest in New York City compared to other groups. This could be due to existence of the Ethnic enclave of Chinatown where most of these individuals reside because when participating in their local economy, English proficiency is not a necessity to thrive. As seen in the social-realist film, “Take Out,” (2004) the main character struggles as an illegal Chinese immigrant deliveryman when completing orders outside of the barriers of his enclave, but finds comfort in those in the restaurant who identify with the struggle of maintaining a life as a Chinese American in New York City. While 50% of the foreign born population can understand English, approximately 62% of Chinese immigrants cannot (Hooper et. al, 2015). A striking statistic, as seen in graph 2 below, is that 88% of Chinese immigrants that are above the age of 65 have a limited understanding of English (AAFCIC, 2013). Although Chinese Americans in New York City were just as likely to have a Bachelor’s degree compared to the National Average, this rate was lower than the citywide average. Only 30% of Chinese American immigrants obtained theirs while 34% of all other populations have the level of education of a Bachelor’s degree or higher (AAFCIC, 2013). The percentage obtaining these higher degrees most likely accounted for by the large numbers of immigrants going into the STEM field (Hooper et. al, 2015). Yet, these statistics are more telling in that there are still many Chinese Immigrants are being left behind by American society.

The Chinese-American immigrant experience both reflects and puts a twist on the concept of ethnic enclaves, or cultural and economic centers based around a concentrated ethnic population. These enclaves arise out of economic necessity and inability to integrate into and be accepted by wider society, an idea demonstrated by both their history of exclusion and present reality of low English-proficiency. These enclaves provide an isolated space for ethnic groups to be self-sustaining, grow in terms of economic success, and establish themselves. This is further confirmed by a report by the New York City Department of City Planning, which showed the neighborhoods traditionally thought of as the “Three Chinatowns” are still in the top-five for the neighborhoods with the highest foreign-born Chinese populations: Manhattan’s Chinatown, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, and Queen’s Flushing (Lobo & Salvo, 2013). This is illustrated in Graph 3 above. According to a New York Times article, Chinese immigrants specifically come to communities like Bensonhurst and Flushing for the same general reasons: “more space, affordable housing, safety, and good schools,” which reflects the principles surrounding the rise of ethnic enclaves (Robbins, 2015).

Surprisingly however, Manhattan’s Chinatown (New York’s, if not America’s, most notable ethnic enclave) is not the New York City neighborhood with the most foreign-born Chinese immigrants. In fact, Chinatown only has the fourth-most foreign-born Chinese (Lobo & Salvo, 2013). The lessening significance of Chinatown shows how ethnic enclaves may not necessarily be robust, especially in the presence of external pressures. Specifically, the growing real estate value of Lower Manhattan in general explains Chinatown’s downfall. According to a report by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the median home value in Chinatown skyrocketed from $167,917 in 2000 to $684,388 in the period of 2006-2010; the median rent saw a similar spike from $534 in 2000 to $851 in the period of 2006-2010. When put into context with the median home value for the rest of New York City being $504,500 in the period of 2006-2010, lower than that of Chinatown, it makes sense why foreign-born Chinese would look elsewhere in the city to live (Acoca et. al, 2013), ironically unable to buy into the areas who were created support them economically in the first place. Chinese Immigrants in New York do reflect the concepts of social and economic support provided by ethnic enclaves, but they also show the downfall of these enclaves.

Yet, despite the alienation that Chinese Immigrants experienced, this group has still been able to flourish economically, especially in the present. Chinese immigrants participated in the labor force at lower levels than other native and foreign born populations. As seen in graphs 4 and 5, although it is a common stereotype of Chinese immigrants to work in the food or garment industry, they are more likely to be involved in managerial or science-related occupations than the general population according to the Migration Policy Institute (Hooper et. al, 2015). This reflects the idea of the ethnic ladder, which states that immigrants, over time, are able to climb the so-called “ladder” to higher-paying, desirable jobs such the growing managerial and STEM careers. Another indicator of economic success is that the rate of Chinese-American immigrants who fall under the poverty line was around to the citywide rate (20.7% vs. 20.1%, respectively). Although the median income of Chinese immigrant family was below the citywide average ($47,404 vs. $55,434, respectively), Chinese-American immigrants also had a higher home ownership percentage at 45% while the citywide average was merely 32% (AAFCIC, 2013).

We can see the success of the Chinese-American immigrant on an individual basis. Janette interviewed her female Chinese-American boss. She owns a restaurant on Eldridge Street after immigrating to the states at age 14. The questions that were asked circled around the themes of immigration and how its impact had made a significant mark in her integration into the United States. For her interviewee, her choice in immigrating into the US wasn’t really her choice. At the age of 14, still under her parents’ wing, she knew that she had to oblige whether her parents wanted to come to the United States or head over to Canada. This choice falls underneath the other end of the spectrum of the “Why?” aspect of immigration. On one side, you have immigrants who come to the United States based on their own pursuit of an “American Dream”. However, the decision of the interviewee’s family falls on the other end of the spectrum which involved leaving her hometown in Hong Kong out of fear of the thought that Hong Kong would experience a cultural revolution under China’s control. When she told this story of her dad’s reason why leaving, she said “…and that really triggered him. That really drive him nuts. So he said “you know what we gotta go.” This portrays the idea of not only how fear was instilled into the minds of immigrants like the interviewees’ family but this fear is also present during their first stage in integrating into the United States. This includes the fear of not feeling included and the fear of not feeling like you belong in a society that bullies you based on the color of your skin. This idea of immigrating based on fear in their own hometown juxtaposes those who immigrate in pursuit of the American dream. Her family—especially her dad realized that the idea of even having a dream, even having a voice—based on the ability to think or speak without some little red book surpasses his dream that may only be available in Hong Kong.

To the interviewee, there is no such thing as the American dream. She said “But I guess if I, if I have to stay, I have to make the best out of it but really I never really dream of… because dreaming is dreaming but if you cannot make it happened, then what’s the point?” Her realistic views and unbreakable and persevering attitude on turning dreams into reality is mostly likely the mindset that paved the way into co-owning an extremely successful restaurant with her husband. This contradicts to many people’s perception of immigrants and their desire to come to America in order to pursue their American dreams. Instead, many people like my interviewee realized that her existence in America is not enough to pursue an “American dream”. Especially in Chinese culture, the Chinese are very inclined to handle any hardships within their own hands. They believe in the importance and efficiency of shaping their future and success based on the foundation of hard work and sacrifice without the aid from external resources. As an entrepreneur, she knows that the idea of immigrants “stealing” the jobs of Americans is a misconception. Not only is she able to create jobs but is capable of contributing to the economy of the United States while contributing to the overall culture of supporting start-up businesses. In fact, she makes more than the average Chinese-American immigrant but did not disclose her actual income per year according to statistics collected in 2013 by the Asian American Federation Census Information Center.

Overall, her experience and integration in the United States is generally a positive one. When asked about her most memorable story back in Hong Kong, she was quick in her response—eager to tell the story from the perspective of an 8-year old’s decision to bring a stray house cat into a bustling environment. This involved having prior knowledge on the interviewee’s decision to adopt two stray cats that were found abandoned in the streets a couple months ago. 34 years upon arrival to the United States, the interviewee is still currently and actively integrating into the United States. Day by day, she is still adapting and assimilating into the United States—although at a slower pace than when she arrived—it is still constant but steady. More importantly was about her choice in her anecdote about something as simple as accidentally releasing an adopted stray cat in a restaurant. This portrays the idea of how she is able to integrate her values and most memorable experience in Hong Kong and instill them into the American society. These values of taking in and caring for things that may not necessarily be “one of your own” are parts of a mindset that many Americans should learn from in relation to accepting foreigners.

This draws upon the idea of acculturation and assimilation that was discussed in class. In the interviewee’s case, this is evidently an example of acculturation in which both sides are able to mutually benefit the other. The United States is able to benefit from the interviewee’s perseverance in establishing a start-up business while contributing to the economy and the interviewee was able to benefit from the freedom to be able to initiate this business to turn her dreams into reality.

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