Xenophobia, Racism, and the Virus:
A Contextual History of Sinophobia in the United States
The following is written and photographed by Ben Guggenheim, and was subsequently published in the Weatherhead East Asian Institute’s The Reed.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has revealed just how much the US needs to improve in its preparation for, and handling of, public health crises. At the same time, racially-charged assaults in response to the virus have exposed the level of Sinophobia in relation to both Chinese Americans and nationals still harbored in this country. This photo essay attempts to contextualize recent events within Chinese American history, and highlights recurring patterns of discrimination.
San Francisco’s Chinatown is the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. It was established during the early 1850s, as tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants flocked to Northern California to take part in the Gold Rush. From 1863 to 1869, the enclave’s population grew rapidly, when as many as 20,000 Chinese immigrants helped to build the western portion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Today, there are many Chinatowns across the country, with more historic ones located in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon), and New York.
China Camp Village, nestled by Marin County’s San Pablo Bay, is representative of the small Chinese immigrant communities that existed outside of cities. In the 1880s, this site was home to 500 Chinese immigrants, who made their living fishing and netting shrimp that were dried on the hillsides behind their homes. Today the village is a part of China Camp State Park.
With an increase in national unemployment in the 1870s, racial tensions in California escalated to full blown violence, as Chinese immigrants were blamed for the bad economy. The Chinese Massacre of 1871 was a race riot that occurred in Los Angeles on October 24, 1871, when a mob of around 500 people pillaged the city’s Chinatown, murdering an estimated 17 to 20 residents. Following national sentiment, the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which prevented Chinese laborers from immigrating to the US. In 1924, the policy was expanded to apply to all Chinese nationals, becoming the first US law implemented to ban all members of a specific ethnic or national group. Located in San Francisco Bay, Angel Island, pictured above, served as an immigration station from 1910 until 1940, and is where Chinese nationals seeking entry to the country were detained and interrogated. Prior to 1924, when wives and children of Chinese laborers already living in the US were allowed to enter, those seeking to immigrate were detained much longer than the Europeans entering through Ellis Island. One Chinese woman was detained for 22 months, from 1916-1918, while many others were denied entry and forced to return to China.
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, which is believed to have origin in Wuhan, China, Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans are once again subject to increased levels of discrimination and verbal and physical abuse. Even before any cases of the virus were reported in the US, while sports stadiums and music festivals were still in full operation, Chinese-run American restaurants and shops were losing business and being forced to layoff employees or close down. The above picture shows a normally crowded commercial street in San Francisco’s Chinatown entirely shutdown due to the virus. People of Chinese ancestry have been called names, criticized for spreading the virus, spat on, chased and beaten. The Asian American Pacific Islander Civil Rights Organization has recently recorded more than 100 such hate incidents each day.
Similarly, many Americans have been quick to blame China and the Chinese Communist Party for the destruction of American lives and the economy. While China should be criticized for the propagation of disinformation pertaining to the virus, including its initial cover-up of the virus and subsequent government-directed fake text messages and social media posts about its severity, it should be clear that many of those in leadership who seek to hold China responsible for the continued spread of COVID-19 are trying to avoid being blamed for their own inadequate responses. Additionally, US disapproval of China and the absence of cooperation between governments has disadvantaged both countries in the fight against the virus. There has been no shared effort in trying to develop a cure. Additionally, when US hospitals lacked sufficient quantities of personal protective equipment, and the federal government failed to coordinate the manufacturing of such equipment, state governments were forced to arrange for their own shipments of such equipment from China. Pictured above, the Port of Oakland, one of the main passageways for commerce between the US and China.
In addition to being a global health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a resurgence of long-standing Sinophobia, which also is sickening the country. Going forward, US-Sino relations must be improved, through both diplomatic dealings and the treatment of Chinese Americans and nationals on US soil. Significant progress in this regard will be necessary to redress both viruses. Above, a mosaic in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
