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4฀ Cultural Citizenship in Diaspora: A Study of Chinese Australia Wenche Ommundsen I฀hav e฀m y฀passport ,฀an d฀n o฀doubt฀soo n฀I ฀shall฀hav e฀m y฀identit y฀card .฀I฀ have฀done฀jury฀service.฀I฀am฀sent฀my฀voting฀card฀at฀election฀time,฀and฀my฀ tax฀demand฀onc e฀a฀year.฀These฀rights฀and฀obligations฀confirm฀m y฀statu s฀ as฀a ฀membe r฀o f฀th e฀state .฀What฀mor e฀d o฀I ฀want฀t o฀know ?฀What' s฀th e฀ problem?฀ The฀problem,฀of฀course,฀is฀that฀this฀legal฀status฀as฀citizen฀does฀not฀feel฀as฀ though฀i t฀has฀anything฀much฀to฀do฀with฀m y฀sense฀of฀self.฀It฀tells฀me฀what฀ I฀am ,฀no t฀wh o฀I ฀am.฀(Jame s฀Donald ,฀"Th e฀Citize n฀an d฀th e฀Ma n฀Abou t฀ Town")฀ My฀dea r฀i n฀the฀beginnin g฀there฀was฀the฀Word!฀And฀ther e฀was฀me .฀An d฀ the฀Word฀wa s฀CHINAMAN.฀And฀there฀was฀m e฀.. .฀I฀lived฀the฀Word!฀The฀ Word฀i s฀m y฀heritag e฀.. .฀I ฀a m฀th e฀natura l฀bor n฀ragmout h฀speakin g฀th e฀ motherless฀blood y฀tongue .฀N o฀rea l฀languag e฀o f฀m y฀ow n฀t o฀mak e฀sens e฀ with,฀s o฀out฀come s฀everybod y฀else' s฀trash฀that฀don' t฀conceive... .฀Born ?฀ No!฀Crashed !฀No t฀born .฀Stamped!฀Not฀born !฀Created!฀.. .฀N o฀mor e฀bor n฀ than฀nylon฀or฀acrylic.฀For฀I฀am฀a฀Chinaman!฀A฀miracle฀synthetic!฀Drip฀dry฀ and฀machine฀washable.฀(Frank฀Chin,฀The ฀Ghickencoop฀Chinaman)฀ 78฀Wenche ฀Ommundsen฀ The two volumes of Eric Rolls's history of the Chinese in Australia are entitled Sojourners and Citizens (Rolls 1992 and 1996). The first volume concludes i n 1888 , the year th e Anti-Chinese Leagu e forced a n almos t total ba n o n Chines e immigratio n an d fou r ship s carryin g Chines e immigrants wer e refuse d entr y t o Sydney. "Th e da y o f th e sojourner s was almost over/' writes Rolls, "the aim of the Chinese in Australia fro m 1888 on was t o become whatever citizen s society would allow " (Roll s 1992: 508). His sojourner/citize n distinctio n i s potentially misleading , however. Measures to restrict Chinese immigration ha d been enforce d by th e Australia n colonie s fro m th e ver y beginnin g o f Europea n settlement, and particularly in the wake of the massive influx of Chinese during the 1850 s gold rush. At the same time, it was possible for som e early Chinese settlers to become citizens of the British colonies, whereas access to citizenship was virtually barred during the period of the White Australia policy , which remaine d i n place from 190 1 until 1973. 1 What sort o f citize n di d nineteenth-centur y Australi a allo w a Chines e t o become, ho w di d th e diminishin g number s o f Chines e i n Australi a negotiate citizenshi p a t a tim e o f legislate d discriminatio n i n th e firs t half o f th e twentiet h century , an d wha t i s th e positio n o f Chinese Australians today, after thirt y years of color-blind immigration policie s but i n a climat e o f socia l disquie t ove r level s of Asian immigration , a climate in which boatloads of nonwhite immigrants are once again being turned awa y fro m Australia n waters? 2 I n orde r t o teas e ou t th e implications of some of these questions, this chapter examines the concept of cultural citizenship, asking what sort of fit, if any, between the "what " of citizenship and the "who" of identity is conceivable, achievable, an d desirable in a world o f complex cultural allegiances. Mei Quon g Tart , who cam e t o Australia fro m Canto n a s a youn g boy durin g th e gol d rus h i n th e 1850s , ros e t o prominenc e a s a businessman an d spokesma n fo r hi s community . H e becam e a n Australian citizen in 1871, and his standing...

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