Module 6

Learning Goals

Welcome to Week 6 of Asian American History 114!

This week, our goals include to

• Define race, racism, and racialization and begin to apply these concepts to Asian American histories.
• Discuss the terms “yellow peril” and “model minority”
• Study the histories of Asian Exclusion by learning about the Page Act + The Chinese Exclusion Act
• You can access the slides from our class session here

Read

• Excerpt of Luibheid, Entry Denied: Controlling Sexuality at the Border — focus on pages 31–37 AND 41–50 
  • Why did Chinese prostitution grow in the mid-1800s, and why did Chinese prostitution, in particular, attract negative attention? 
  • How did officials try to tell the difference between Chinese prostitutes and “real wives?” What was problematic about these efforts?

• Leon, “The first Mexican border was actually a wall to keep out Chinese people”
  • What role does Mexico play in Chinese exclusion? Why Mexico?

• Kamiya, “How early SF kept Chinese children out of the schoolhouse”
  • What arguments were used to exclude Chinese children from school in San Francisco in the mid-1800s? How did the Chinese community respond?

Watch

Carved in Silence: Inside Angel Island Immigration Station (on Kanopy) (46 minutes): This documentary looks at experiences of Chinese migrants who were detained at Angel Island during the period of Chinese Exclusion. As you watch the film, keep in mind the following questions:

• What do Chinese detainees experience in Angel Island Immigration Station? What are the conditions, what are the challenges?
• How do the detainees respond to these conditions?
• What types of questions or evaluation do the detainees go through at the hands of immigration enforcement? What does this show us about the ways that Chinese immigrants were seen by the U.S.?
• What does the title of the film mean?
• Any other impressions, questions, surprises, etc.?

Post and Comment on Discussion Board #6

• • THIS POST IS DUE  BY 11:59pm on Friday 10/9;
  • Comment due by 11:59 on Monday 10/12.
  • *Use the title format “[FirstName] [LastName] DB 6” 
• For your post this week, please reflect on the following questions:
  • What are some of the arguments that are made to exclude Chinese migrants from the U.S. or from participation in American life? Who makes these arguments? Be specific (and cite the reading/film as appropriate).
  • How do Chinese communities respond to these arguments? What strategies do they use (again, be specific).
  • What do these histories have to do with current events, if anything? Do you see any connections?
  • What comes up for you this week as you review the materials, what questions, feelings, discomforts, affirmations, etc.?

• COMMENT ON TWO POSTS. You can comment on the post of a classmate by selecting the title of the post > scroll down to where you leave a reply > type the comment > post comment.

Research/Writing Project: Test your Library Log-in

• The next step in this assignment is an Annotated Bibliography. We will go over the instructions in detail in next week’s class. To be prepared, make sure that you can access the BMCC library from home— all you need is your ID. There are instructions available here.