The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White

The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black And White
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The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black And White
Whenever the issue of race is brought up in America, people immediately think about the whites versus the blacks. However, according to James Loewen, there is another group in the picture which always seems to be skipped or ignored by history pundits. In his book, The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White, Loewen provides his readers with a great account of a people who found themselves sandwiched between the African-Americans and the White Americans. In a system designed for only two, the Chinese found themselves striving to find their place while also confused about who they are or should identify with. What few know or understand is that during the Reconstruction period, the white plantation owners began to look for ways to replace the black laborers who were now considered free by law. Importation of Chinese sharecroppers was seen as the best option at the time and once in America, the Chinese were seen fit to belong to be classed with the African-Americans. However, as Loewen details in his book, the Chinese were comfortable for only but a moment and began to demand for more recognition and more say than their class allowed. In The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White, Loewen digs deep into history and provides a remarkable piece detailing how the Chinese transitioned from being classed as blacks to the white status. The book is quite informative and even though the Chinese in the Mississippi Delta are not many, Robert Blauner (486) believes it goes a long into suggesting that “numerical and sociological significance are two different things.”
First of all, Loewen’s focus on the Chinese is one of the things that sets the book apart. A brief and fast look at the history of America, especially on issues to do with race shows that a majority of authors ignore the obvious presence as well as the historical significance of the other minority groups. The truth is there is an evident lack of good research on Asian-American communities, but Loewen’s account seems to restore the belief that the history of this group is only but scratched by historians. The Reconstruction period was one that involved pain and a myriad of questions. It was not clear how the country would move forward or how the different groups or communities would co-exist. The Asian-Americans, found themselves in the middle of this quagmire and it was not clear where they would fit in the society. Loewen uniquely and aptly depicts how this group existed first as blacks, then as another race acting as a social mediator between the blacks and whites, and finally, as whites.
As already stated, the Reconstruction period brought with it a lot of uncertainties and it was unclear how the newly freed blacks would fit in the society. To replace the lost labor, the plantation owners opted to import Chinese sharecroppers who they believed would agree to lesser pay and would not seek autonomy like the African-Americans. Unlike the blacks who had become enlightened and now understood their place in America, the Chinese were seen as people who could be exploited and manipulated while also helping the white man’s...