Author: Liz Danielle Singson

The European perspective on Asians and Asia was to me, very intriguing.  The general European perspective saw Asia as the complete opposite of Europe. It was foreign, exotic, alluring and unlike anything they have ever seen or come across. Asia was abundant in jewels, silks, spices and other natural resources which attracted Europe immensely. In Lee’s passage, he mentions, “Western held understanding of a masculine, conquering Europe and a feminized Asia piped for conquest”. Which evidently showcases Europes’s fascination and lust for Asia and what she had to offer. Marco Polo and his enticing tales about his travels throughout Asia and the Middle East captivated Spain. Soon, Europe’s upper class prospered a great thirst for Asian goods. These imports were assured to create a 600% profit. All of which Europeans benefitted from. I was most surprised about the value of Asian imports and the horrible treatment of Asian crew members. I was unaware that Asian crew members were paid only half of what Spanish crew members were given. Asian workers on cargo ships were unequally treated and unappreciated despite of their vast skillsets. After reading, it was clear how much Europe had taken from Asia. Stole their natural resources, mistreated their men, abused their women and gave no credit not respect to the land and the culture. It is clear that Europe did not just conquer Asia. He savagely raped her.

Los Chinos are the first Asians to arrive to Acapulco around the 1580’s. These Asian pioneers forged a strong community and decided to migrate from the west coast to the Mexican east coast finally settling in Mexico City. These pioneers took professions as laborers, craftsmen, merchants, barbers and shoemakers to support the livelihood of themselves and their families. This ultimately meant freedom from the control of Europeans. The film revealed Great Britain colonizing majority of Asia and how the Chinese was negatively impacted by it. A wave of violence eventually washed over the Chinese which forced them to leave and create opportunities of their own.

After reading Gaiutra Bahadur’s piece on her search for her great grandmother’s history, it was evident that learning about these roots would  be an obstacle riddled mission. Upon the analyzation of Bahadur’s process of retracing these steps, I gained an understanding of just how difficult it is to find these answers without information. Much of these historical recordings are biased and written by white, racist, sexist men who control these women. At this point, it has become undoubtedly clear that not even official records can be 100% trusted by POC. Official historic archives are limited. Majority of these delicate sheets of memory are lost through time. Bahadur’s process has yet again found itself in a new predicament yet she triumphs over this issue with determination and some might even say, creativity. She addresses this problem by looking towards unofficial records like photographs, folk songs, oral histories and colonial era postcards to piece together the puzzle that is her family’s history. A construction of my family’s historic archive would include birth certificates, passports, doctor’s appointment, high school and college diplomas, photos, and a lot of oral history from a primary source. In my personal opinion, it is crucial to understand a person in order to understand their choices. Primary sources are important because they have come in contact with that specific person and can arguably convey that person’s journey better than any biased piece of paper. I would also look into Spain and Japan’s archives because I know my family had strong roots from both when the Philippines were under their jurisdiction.

Connie Young Yu is born in Los Angeles California to parents, John and Mary Young. Her great grandfather, Lee Wong Sang was a foreman for the central pacific railroad. Yu attended Mills College in pursuit of being a friction novelist when she decided to volunteer and contribute a piece to the Chinese Historical Society. She wrote about the Chinese pioneers of the great Chinese railroad and found her passion for non-friction writing. In her research through historic archives from Stanford, she discovered many useful quotes and recordings about the mistreatment towards the Chinese and the success of the railroads as a result of Chinese labor. She then goes in detail about her great grandfather’s journey as a Chinese laborer. She talked about his hardships as an immigrant Chinese laborer working on a dollar a day salary while supporting an entire family in China. Lee Wong Sang fortunately has a graceful ending. Yu’s great grandfather flew back and forth to China and America, after he sent his children to America, he finally settled down and built a house in China where he died of old age with his wife and childhood sweetheart. This interview confirmed the ideas I’ve had about Chinese railroad laborers. They were hardworking people willing to look past the discrimination and mistreatments for family and legacy. There wasn’t much missing from this interview. In my opinion Connie Young Yu did an amazing job with extensive research about her family’s history with the Chinese railroad. It was amazing to see how far they’ve come in terms of academic achievements and success.