Source: Dr. Siri Brown, UC Berkeley
Tags: Asian American history, Chinese exclusion, Japanese Americans, Filipino Americans, monoracial dynamic, yellow peril, unassimilable, 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, Ozawa v US, US v Thind, 1924 Immigration Act, Watsonville Riot, anti-miscegenation, Gentlemen's Agreement, Alien Land Act
Asian Americans encompass a wide variety of peoples, cultures, and national origins, yet the US has historically collapsed them into a single monoracial category. This lecture traces the experiences of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino Americans through immigration, labour exploitation, exclusionary laws, racial violence, and the legal construction of whiteness. Each successive Asian immigrant group believed they would be treated differently, but each ultimately encountered the same structures of exclusion.
Monoracial dynamic
The US tendency to treat all Asian peoples as a single racial group, regardless of their distinct national origins, cultures, and experiences.
Unassimilable
A construct developed specifically for Asian Americans: the idea that they can never truly assimilate, that they are permanently foreign and therefore always a threat.
Yellow Peril
A term coined by Kaiser Wilhelm II (reportedly after a dream of the Buddha on a dragon overrunning Europe). It blends Western anxieties about sexuality, racist fears of the "alien other," and the belief that the West will be outnumbered and enslaved by the East.
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
The culmination of anti-Chinese sentiment. Barred all Chinese immigrants from entering the US. The first federal law to target a specific racial group for immigration exclusion. Reflected the framework of keeping the US a white nation.
1907 Gentlemen's Agreement
An informal arrangement between the US and Japan brokered by Theodore Roosevelt. Japan agreed to stop issuing passports to labourers bound for the US. In exchange, Roosevelt pressured the San Francisco school board to reverse its segregation of Japanese students (motivated by keeping Japan as a geopolitical ally against Russian influence in the Far East).
1920 Alien Land Act
Aimed mainly at rural Japanese Americans. Restricted "aliens" (non-citizens) from buying land. Since Asian immigrants were barred from citizenship, this effectively prevented them from owning farmland.
Ozawa v. US (1922)
Takao Ozawa, born in Japan but a 22-year US resident (English-speaking, Christian, American lifestyle), applied for citizenship arguing he was "white" based on skin colour. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled he was not white (not Caucasian) and therefore could not become a citizen.
US v. Thind (1923)
Bhagat Singh Thind, an East Indian, applied for citizenship shortly after Ozawa, arguing he was Caucasian (from a region near the Caucasus mountains, supported by ethnological evidence). The same court ruled that although Indians and whites are both technically Caucasian, the concept of whiteness as understood by the "average white person" made them different. Whiteness was defined by popular perception rather than scientific classification.
1924 Immigration Act (Johnson-Reed Act)
Barred all Asians from the Asia-Pacific Triangle from immigration to the US. Extended existing restrictions far beyond the Chinese to encompass all Asian peoples.
Watsonville Riot of 1930
Anti-Filipino racial violence in Watsonville, California. Triggered by tensions over labour, interracial relationships (Filipino men dating white women), and racial hostility. Five days of rioting, organised attacks, beatings, and killings of Filipinos by white mobs.
Anti-miscegenation laws
Laws prohibiting interracial marriage. California's 1880 law barred "Negroes, Mulattoes or Mongolians" from marrying whites. When Filipino Salvador Roldan won a 1933 suit (Filipinos were "Malay," not listed), the legislature promptly added "Malay" to the restricted categories.
Chinese immigrants arrived during the 1800s, a period of westward imperialist expansion when the US needed cheap labour
The ban on the slave trade and the decline of indentured servitude created a labour gap
"Gold Mountains" drew early arrivals: 50 in 1850, 2,716 in 1851, 41,000 total by 1860
Mostly male immigrants
Restrictive laws: prohibited from mining, from testifying in court, from buying or renting housing
Legal pressure against cultural expression
Special licence fees and taxes
California: barred from public schools, denied citizenship
Racially motivated killings were widespread and rarely prosecuted
Asian labour built the most difficult sections (Rocky Mountains, high altitude)
90% of the workforce was Asian (approximately 12,000 workers)
One in ten died
Paid less than white counterparts
The 1869 completion ceremony photograph features only white men
Period of riots, lynchings, and murders targeting Chinese Americans
Anti-Chinese media fuelled public hostility
1870 Naturalization Act defined naturalization in terms of whiteness
Supreme Order of Caucasians: 64 chapters in California, dedicated to anti-POC laws, sentiments, and economic exclusions
First federal immigration law targeting a specific race
Barred all Chinese immigrants
Immigration policy operated under the framework of maintaining the US as a white nation
Asian Americans were labelled as permanently foreign, unable to assimilate, always a threat
Helen Zia ("An Elusive Dream"): after the gates closed for Chinese immigrants, American labour brokers introduced Japanese, Indian, Korean, and other workers in consecutive stages, pitting Asian groups against one another
Each successive group believed they would avoid the problems of their predecessors, but each found themselves within the same monoracial construct
1888: 75 Japanese in the US
Within two decades, 150,000 women and men immigrate
The Japanese government screened emigrants for literacy and sent families (not just labourers) to distinguish themselves from the earlier Chinese immigrant profile
By the 1920s: 220,596 Japanese Americans
1905: Japanese and Korean Exclusion League established, with four policies:
Extend the Chinese Exclusion Act to include Japanese and Koreans
League members boycott Japanese employees and firms employing Japanese workers
Pressure the school board to segregate Japanese students from white students
Launch a propaganda campaign targeting Congress and the President
1906: After the San Francisco earthquake, the school board sent 93 Japanese students to a Chinese school, renamed "Oriental School for Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans"
1907 Gentlemen's Agreement: Japan agreed to limit emigration to the US; Roosevelt pressured San Francisco to reverse school segregation to keep Japan as a geopolitical ally
Despite Japanese efforts to distinguish themselves, they faced the same monoracial treatment as Chinese Americans
Ozawa had lived in the US for 22 years, spoke English, was Christian, raised his children in American culture
He argued he was "white" based on skin colour
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that "white person" meant Caucasian, and since Japanese people were not popularly considered Caucasian, Ozawa was not eligible for citizenship
Thind, an East Indian, filed for citizenship shortly after Ozawa
He argued he was Caucasian, from a region near the Caucasus mountains, supported by scientific and ethnological authorities
The same court rejected this, ruling that although Indians and whites are both Caucasian, the "average white person" would not consider an Indian to be white
Whiteness was defined by popular perception, not scientific taxonomy
Together, Ozawa and Thind closed both possible legal routes to citizenship for Asian Americans: skin colour and ethnological classification
Targeted rural Japanese Americans
Barred non-citizens from purchasing land
Since Asian immigrants could not naturalise, they were permanently locked out of land ownership
Extended immigration exclusion to all Asians from the Asia-Pacific Triangle
Remained in effect until the 1965 Immigration Act
The Philippines became a US colony after the Spanish-American War
Filipinos were classified as US Nationals, so existing immigration acts did not apply to them
Recruited as cheap labour for hard agricultural work in central California
1907: 70,000 (predominantly men)
1920s: 51,875 coming to the mainland
Tensions over labour competition and interracial relationships (Filipino men dated white women because there were few Filipino women)
1929: Filipino men shot with rubber bands at a street carnival for being seen with white women; a white heckler was knifed; a mob of 300 white men led by the police chief burned down a ranch that employed Filipino labourers
Watsonville Riot (January 1930): 500 white men gathered outside a Filipino-owned dance club; five days of rioting followed, with organised military-style attacks, beatings, killings, and Filipinos dragged from homes and thrown from bridges
These events contributed to a decline in Filipino immigration
California's 1880 anti-miscegenation law barred "Negroes, Mulattoes or Mongolians" from marrying whites but did not mention Filipinos
1933: Filipino Salvador Roldan, classified as "Malay," won a court case allowing him to marry his white fiancée because "Malay" was not on the restricted list
The following year, the California legislature added "Malay" to the restricted categories
⚠️ The monoracial dynamic is central: know how the US collapsed diverse Asian peoples into a single category and how each successive immigrant group faced the same structures.
⚠️ Ozawa v. US and US v. Thind together closed both legal pathways to citizenship for Asian Americans (skin colour and ethnological classification). Be prepared to compare the two cases and their reasoning.
⚠️ The "unassimilable" construct is a key concept: permanently foreign, always a threat, regardless of how long someone has lived in the US or how "American" their lifestyle.
⚠️ The Transcontinental Railroad: Asian labour built the hardest sections, yet the completion photograph excluded them entirely. A concrete example of erasure.
⚠️ Anti-miscegenation law and the Roldan case show how racial categories were legally fluid and could be expanded whenever a loophole was found.
⚠️ The Helen Zia quote about successive Asian immigrant groups being pitted against one another is a key illustration of how ethnic hostilities were manufactured.
Q: What is the "monoracial dynamic" and how did it affect Asian Americans?
A: The monoracial dynamic refers to the US tendency to treat all Asian peoples as a single racial group despite their diverse national origins, cultures, and experiences. It meant that each successive Asian immigrant group (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Filipino) faced the same discriminatory structures, regardless of how they tried to distinguish themselves.
Q: Compare the arguments and rulings in Ozawa v. US (1922) and US v. Thind (1923).
A: Ozawa argued he was "white" based on skin colour. The Court ruled "white" meant Caucasian, and Japanese people were not Caucasian. Thind argued he was Caucasian, supported by ethnological evidence from his region near the Caucasus mountains. The Court ruled that although Indians might be technically Caucasian, the "average white person" would not consider them white. Together, the cases closed both legal routes to citizenship: skin colour and scientific classification.
Q: What was the significance of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act?
A: It was the first federal immigration law to target a specific racial group. It barred all Chinese immigrants and established the precedent that immigration policy would operate under the framework of maintaining the US as a white nation.
Q: How does the Watsonville Riot of 1930 illustrate anti-Filipino racism?
A: The riot was driven by tensions over labour competition and interracial relationships. Over five days, organised white mobs attacked, beat, killed, and displaced Filipino workers. The violence demonstrated the intersection of racial, economic, and sexual anxieties directed at Filipino immigrants.
Q: Why did the California legislature add "Malay" to the anti-miscegenation law after the Roldan case?
A: Salvador Roldan won a 1933 suit allowing him to marry his white fiancée because the existing law barred "Negroes, Mulattoes or Mongolians" but did not mention Filipinos (classified as "Malay"). The legislature immediately expanded the law to include "Malay," showing how racial categories were adjusted to close any loophole that might undermine white racial purity.
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