Chinese Exclusion Act: The Hidden Ingredient in your Chinese Food

It’s late at night, you’ve just finished doing a bunch of homework after coming home from a tiring work shift. You don’t want to cook dinner, so you pick up the phone and call the Chinese restaurant at the corner of your neighborhood. You order your food, pick it up, take it home and savor the sweet and decadent taste of your chicken balanced with the scrumptious garlic of the fried rice, along with subtle bitterness of 138 years of Anti-Chinese immigration history. Did that put a bad taste in your mouth? Well here’s an order you probably didn’t think about: The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first ethnically restrictive immigration law in the United States which affected those who came from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

In Winter of 2019, the New York Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) hosted an exhibit called Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaurant, wherein the museum’s historians and curators pointed out the correlation between the first ethnically led immigration law in American history and the rise of Chinese restaurants across the country, because of an exception in an immigration law.

The first major wave of Chinese immigration came during the mid-1800’s at the start of the Gold Rush. During this time, California was known as “Gam Saan,” the “Gold Mountain” in Cantonese. Here was the site of the first Chinese community in America, which according to MOFAD, grew from 25,000 in 1851 to 100,000 in 1880. But as the gold grew more and more scarce, Chinese immigrants needed to find a new way to make money and survive, so they turned to building the transcontinental railroad. Once the railroad was finished in 1869, they went to work on jobs no white American wanted to do, at much lower rates than was offered to white men. Some of the jobs archived by “The American Experience” on PBS included: laundry services, domestic help and factory work in the garment industry. During this period, animosity towards Chinese immigrants grew. According to the State Department’s Office of the Historian, white Americans started seeing Chinese immigrants as job stealers, taking opportunities from the white man, spreading diseases and tearing down the moral fabric of America. As noted by the Office of the Historian, they were seen as the reason for the downfall of the American economy, despite it being due to the lack of gold in a state known for providing gold mining jobs. Soon hate crimes rose and propaganda was rolled out to convince all Americans that the Chinese needed to go. Does that taste familiar?

The heat continued to rise with the passing of the Page Act of 1875, which was meant to limit East Asian immigration, particularly of women, under the guise of prohibiting slave labor and prostitution, as well as the apparent diseases Chinese people spread. In 1882, the simmering antagonism towards the Chinese American community came to a boil when the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed, prohibiting all people who ethnically defined themselves as Chinese from entering the country. It was the first law in American history to forbid immigration based on ethnicity, setting the precedent for all ethnically led immigration laws in America.

Christina Khan, Director of UCF Global, made note of the connections between the current acts of xenophobia to the legal acts created in the past. “I think what’s really fascinating to me is that when we think about these different acts, we see that it was really in response to this fear that still, I think, exists towards the Asian-American community. Asian-Americans are considered perpetual outsiders or perpetual foreigners, because of the U.S. being based in white supremacy. Some of the same xenophobic and racists ideas that were rampant in the 1800s are still prevalent today and are on display especially in regards to COVID-19. The reference to COVID-19 as the “Wuhan Virus” and the “Chinese Virus” play into the same xenophobic sentiments that led to the Page Act and Chinese Exclusion Act passing. We also see this reflected in the quick move by the US government to ban all entry of individuals from China following the outbreak of COVID-19.”

The first documented Chinese restaurant in America, Canton Restaurant, opened in San Francisco in 1849. Four more Chinese restaurants opened a year later. For many immigrants, working in the food industry was a way to make money and survive. It was a skill that they already possessed which was seen as valuable in the economic market, unlike many degrees achieved outside of the country that aren’t seen as valid in America.

“A lot of the time it is very difficult for you to do the same kind of job as you did in your home country,” said Anne Tsoi, former restaurateur and current President of AsiaTrend, a site dedicated to Asian American culture and events. “If you are a nurse in Hong Kong, you have to spend a lot of time and money to study and recertify as a nurse again, so a lot of people start working in the restaurant business because it’s an easier way for them to adapt.”

UCF Student Jessie He, whose family runs He’s Kitchen in the West Oaks Mall in Ocoee, shared how the American Dream came true for her parents through the restaurant industry. “My parents immigrated to America in hopes of a better lifestyle,” said He. “They never had any aspirations to pursue the restaurant industry. Their foray into the restaurant business was, rather, out of necessity. I would say that the restaurant industry did give my family the opportunity to gain a lot of experience and form a career out of it. I would also say that my parents did fulfill their original wishes for coming to America. Oftentimes, my parents would talk to me and reflect on how proud they are of how far we came as a family.”

The numbers of Chinese restaurants flourished after 1915 when a Federal Court case created exceptions to the immigration ban. These exceptions allowed for the entrance of students, teachers, diplomats and merchants, the latter of which included restaurateurs. This exception gave Chinese immigrants a way in. According to MOFAD, Chinese restaurants doubled across America from 1920-1930; in New York City, the number of Chinese restaurants quadrupled. Although there was finally a way many Chinese people could immigrate to America, the process was still complicated enough to limit the ability of those who qualified to apply. For one, white Americans had to affirm a Chinese person applying for immigration in order to prove that they were in fact an intellectual or a professional. Because of this, many Chinese restaurateurs had white business partners. Their restaurants also had to be considered high grade in order to qualify as a professional, so that the immigrant is an addition to society instead of being considered a “public charge.”

“A lot of the laws were designed back then so that you get people who can really support themselves, and don’t become what’s called a “public charge,” meaning you have to demonstrate that you have the money and resources to support yourself, that you’re not going to require government assistance. This still exists today. This is probably the reason why certain professions, like restaurateurs, were given the exception, because they were less likely to become public charges,” said Khan.

Today, these policies are still seen in Employee Based visas, wherein American employers can sponsor an immigrant for permanent residency if they have extraordinary abilities, skills or degrees that current employers can’t find within the naturalized American society.

Food can serve multiple purposes outside of being a way to get your nutrition. As we saw earlier, food was one way many Chinese immigrants could succeed within American society. However, food could also serve as a way to learn about a culture, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. “Food has strongly connected me with my Chinese side of the culture, because with every dish that my parents cook, they have a story behind it. Being a child of immigrants and growing up absorbing mainly American culture, the Chinese food built up the Chinese part of me being Chinese-American,” said UCF student Benny Zhang, whose family owns Super Orient Buffet in Orlando.

Similarly, by the turn of the century, white Americans started connecting to Chinese culture by going to Chinatowns and getting a taste of the delicacies offered within the many restaurants. According to MOFAD, chop suey was a food brought to America by Chinese immigrants, possibly coming from Taishan in Guangdong Province. Offal was replaced with beef, Chinese vegetables replaced with American vegetables, and a gravy-like sauce was added, thus creating the first documented Chinese-American dish, combining traditional cooking methods and American tastes. Chinese restaurateurs needed to make money in order to survive and keep their doors open, so it was natural for them to adapt their cooking styles to please a wider, and in this case, whiter, audience. In 1900, the New York Times proclaimed that New York was “chop suey mad,” as the dish became a go-to dinner and a part of popular culture. American realist painter Edward Hopper depicts this craze in his painting “Chop Suey” where white Americans were getting dinner in Chop Suey palaces in the ‘20s. However, adapting to taste also comes with a price.

“The food served in Chinese take out spots are often Americanized, in my opinion. I would say that working in the industry has helped me define authentic vs Americanized Chinese food. In a way, I guess, I can say that it has helped me develop a greater appreciation of the types of foods I eat at home or at a restaurant that sells traditional Chinese foods,” said He.

Although compromises are made when it comes to the food, the Chinese restaurant industry could still act as a gateway, a paifang, to learning about other cultures and accepting diversity. Vincent Chan, a student at UCF whose family owns Hong Kong Dim Sum in Coral Springs said, “I think food is a great way of bridging the gap, because food always helps bring people together. Specific foods correlate with different parts of our culture, like the Zong Zi and the moon cakes. With food, we can eat and discuss why the food was made or the history behind it.”

After 68 years of prohibiting Chinese people from immigrating to American, Congress passed the Magnuson Act in 1943, which repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act and gave citizenship to all Chinese Americans as a way of getting China as an ally during World War 2. But while those of Chinese descent can finally immigrate to the U.S., only 105 visas were granted each year. It wasn’t until the Hart Cellar Act of 1965 when the U.S. finally gave an equal quota to every country. Unfortunately, these limits have still created a backlog of thousands of immigrants looking to move to the U.S. for a better life.

Khan noted that, “the path to permanent residence is often very lengthy, especially for citizens of China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. For example, if you are a U.S. citizen and want to sponsor your unmarried child who is over the age of 21 for a green card, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is currently reviewing applications dated from August 2014 for individuals from China, September 2011 for individuals from the Philippines, and December 1997 for individuals from Mexico! That is a long time to wait to be reunified with loved ones and it’s even longer if you don’t have that connection!”

The proliferation of Chinese restaurants in America was due to the rise of xenophobia, but now the parameters have flipped. Chinese restaurants around the country are suffering because of COVID-19 and not only because of the health and safety regulations that limited restaurant capacities, but because of the racist imagery coming from American citizens labeling the disease as “The Chinese Virus” or “The Wuhan Virus.”

“With the economy on pause for those couple months and a virus that originated from China, life was a bit stressful for our family,” recounted Zhang. “The economy part, I am sure everyone can understand that, but when it comes to the racial aspect, we were strongly targeted. We were like sitting ducks. Many people would come in to make Coronavirus jokes, then leave. People were scared to even come in, because we were a Chinese Buffet.”

Some immigrants have tried to lay low and distance themselves from their Chinese identity in order to deflect attention and racist comments. UCF Student Landon Lai recounted his experience immigrating to America in March, at the cusp of America’s acknowledgment of the virus: “We landed in Seattle from Hong Kong and I told my mom, ‘You can’t speak English,’ because my mom doesn’t speak English as fluently as I do. She has a very distinctive accent. So I was like, ‘don’t speak English, don’t speak Cantonese, let me do the talking.’ To be safe, I was very eloquent and mindful of my accent and presentation of myself, to not be too Chinese. My mom was very upset after I told her not to say anything, but she knew that it was something necessary just so that we don’t draw attention to ourselves.”

Now more than ever, the community needs to band together to support the Chinese American community from racist attitudes and beliefs, lest the current immigration ban against those from China due to COVID-19, becomes a permanent fixture in American law, in the way that the Chinese Exclusion Act was for so long.

“This is where our loyal customers and just nice people who heard our stories came to help us during this crisis. They were there as witnesses and intervened in situations,” recounted Zhang. “Some would come up after and give us praise such as ‘You did well dealing with people like that.’ These are the kinds of support that helped pull us through this hardship, because we still have the majority community that supports us!”

Chinese exclusion and xenophobia may have put a bitter taste to your American melting pot, but it doesn’t have to stay this unappetizing forever. Here’s a recipe on how to be a good ally to immigrants: first take one cup of empathy and understanding and gently fold it into your daily interactions. Next, do some self-reflection on your biases and counteract those flavors by doing research on the plight of immigrants and learning from their stories. Add balance in your friend and workgroups by mixing in different points of view and making sure every voice has a chance to be the star ingredient. Finally, don’t just simmer and marinate, take action by volunteering at local organizations, such as UCF Global, that aim to help immigrants navigate American society, and by protesting or speaking with representatives to help reduce political barriers targeted towards immigrants. Then kick back and enjoy the taste of your hard work, with a side of Chinese takeout from the shop down the street.