Images of the unwelcome immigrant: Chinese-Americans in American periodicals, 1900-1924

The history of Chinese Americans from 1900 to 1924 can be considered a kind of Dark Age: there have been very limited studies of the Chinese community in the years after a series of exclusionary immigration laws successfully stopped Chinese immigration, In addition, few sources describe accurately Chinese life in America during these years. Periodicals, which enjoyed a golden age during this period, can provide us with a channel to understand how Americans perceived Chinese residents and to explore further the life and status of Chinese community.; Periodicals during this period predominantly portrayed Chinese in a negative light. Unflattering representations continued to appear even as the Chinese segregated themselves by moving into Chinatowns and withdrew from competing for jobs in mainstream society. Although some historians argue that events in China determined Americans' opinions about Chinese in America, the consistently derogatory depiction of Chinese Americans in the periodicals suggests otherwise. Reform programs and the establishment of the first republic in China in the early twentieth century did not diminish the misconceptions and stereotypes prevalent in periodicals. The lingering shadowy image of Chinese immigrants in the popular imagination also challenges views of many historians of immigrants who emphasize the role of domestic circumstances, arguing that Americans were more tolerant of foreign settlers if they did not pose a threat to American self-confidence regarding national identity.; Through the examination and analysis of periodicals, I argue that white racism was responsible for this continuous negative portrayal of Chinese, because society at large needed to maintain a belief in its own perceived supremacy. Chinese, being nonwhites, were considered inferior and were portrayed as such in the periodicals irrespective of events in China or domestic happenings. Periodical contributors continued to employ biased descriptions current in the nineteenth century to portray early-twentieth-century Chinese settlers. Most sympathizers and exclusionists shared the same contempt towards Chinese immigrants. The desire to uphold and reaffirm white superiority, whether through exclusion or paternalism, was fully reflected and reinforced in the periodicals of the era.