Reflection Of American Negativism Chinese And Japanese Exclusion

Student’s Name
Instructor’s Name
Course
Date
Reflection of American Nativism
Introduction
Nativism refers to beliefs or policies that favor or protects the interests of a country’s native population and sidelines the interests of the immigrants. In the 19th century, immigrants from many parts of the globe and especially Asia rocketed in the United States in search of employment and improved standards of living. Nativism injected fear to the Native Americans because they perceived the immigrants as threats to the American economy and culture. The most notable act of nativism was the one directed towards the Asian immigrants who included the Chinese and the Japanese. Even though the Chinese and Japanese immigrants were feared for different reasons and treated in different ways, the two groups were both considered racially inferior and parts of the “Oriental invasion” to Americans. Nevertheless, these are people that have contributed to this country. America’s ideas of nativism and citizenship, which exclude these people, do not reflect the primary mission of its establishment.
Chinese and Japanese Exclusion
In as early as the 19th century, the historians, nativist organization and literature show that the Chinese people and the entire immigrants from Asia were greatly excluded by the Native American in the United States. There existed organizations and movements in America who aimed at isolating the Asians who were mainly composed of the Chinese and Japanese (Lee 32). Though the claims of these exclusions were not made clear to historians and contemporary intellectuals, the early sources indicate that the Native Americans treated the Chinese with fear as they viewed them as the American invaders.
The immigration restrictions instituted in the 20th century clearly showed that anti-Asian nativism was not only a political ideology which was agreed upon by the Americans, but it also represented the dominant American ideology. The idea here is that the Native Americans did not want the Chinese and the Japanese in the United States (Lee 32). They always treated the Asians as inferior and thought that they could not contribute anything meaningful as far as the country growth is concerned. All the political measures and the policies made ensured that the Chinese and the Japanese would be locked out of any opportunity that would lead to their success.
The whites also excluded the Chinese based on race. The whites described the Chinese as savage, depraved, lustful and inherently inferior (Lee 27). Others saw the Chinese as inassimilable and impossible to attain the civilization-state of the Caucasian (Lee 27). On these grounds, the white found a basis for which they could exclude the Chinese from American citizenship. In addition to the laws that excluded the Chinese, the excluders also used other social dynamics to achieve their objectives. The included alleged that Chinese women were potential prostitutes and their men were fraudulent citizens who would threaten the nation (Lee 76). The claim made it even hard for the Chinese to live peacefully in America.
During the arrival of the Chinese immigrants in the United States, they were highly inspected for the threatening and contagiou...