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10 The Paradox of Ethnicization and Assimilation: The Development of Ethnic Organizations in the Chinese Immigrant Community in the United States Zhou Min and Rebecca Y. Kim The Chines e immigran t communit y ha s gon e throug h severa l significan t historical periods sinc e the lat e 1840s : unrestricted immigratio n (1848-81) , Chinese exclusion (1882-1943) , immigration o n restricted quotas (1944-67) , and immigratio n o n equa l basi s (1968-present) . Durin g eac h historica l period, uniqu e pattern s o f socio-economi c adaptatio n an d communit y development hav e affecte d th e preservatio n o f Chinesenes s an d th e construction o f Chinese-American ethnicity . This chapter aim s to illuminat e the processes of ethnicization and assimilation through the story of immigrant community developmen t i n th e United States. 1 We specifically examin e (1 ) how broad structura l forces shap e the formation an d development of ethni c organizations in each historical period of Chinese immigration, (2 ) what new ethnic organizations are like and how they align with traditional organization s to influence immigran t adaptation , an d (3 ) ho w ethnic organizations affec t identity an d assimilation . Drawin g on pas t studies and ou r ow n research o f the contemporar y Chines e immigran t communit y in th e United States, 2 w e focus on how internal community dynamics, intermixed with macro-structura l factors, influenc e th e mobility and identity of Chinese immigrants an d thei r offspring. I n s o doing , w e see k t o offe r a fres h approac h t o th e classi c sociological inquir y of ethnicity and assimilatio n i n American life . Immigration and Community Developmen t Unrestricted labor migration and restricted social life The process of community development has been shaped by macro-structural forces i n th e sendin g an d receivin g countrie s (Cha n 1986 ; McCunn 1979 ; Skinner 1971) . Chinese immigrants who arrived in the United State s durin g the perio d o f unrestricted migratio n (1848-81 ) wer e mostly peasants fro m the rura l Sz e Yap region o f sout h China. 3 Drive n b y overpopulation an d 232฀Zhou ฀Min ฀and ฀Rebecca ฀Y. ฀Kim฀ poverty at home, th e labo r deman d o f Western expansio n i n America, an d an ethni c network of overseas merchants, many Sze Yap villagers were lure d into th e contrac t labor, or "coolie " (whic h literally means "bitte r strength") , trade. Poverty-stricken an d illiterate , immigrants coul d barel y afford t o pa y trans-Pacific passag e fees , no r were the y able t o sign mutuall y agreed-upo n contracts, and so relied almost entirely on co-ethnic labor brokers and a tightly and exclusivel y organized credit-ticke t system to make it to the United State s (Barth 1964) . Under this credit system, emigrants could enter labor contract s with brokers , wh o deal t wit h Wester n sailin g vessel s t o arrang e fo r thei r journey. Th e contract s boun d th e laborers , who were expecte d t o repa y a certain proportio n o f their wages or t o work a certain lengt h o f time onc e they were i n th e Unite d States . Few emigrants realize d th e amoun t o f deb t they incurred fro m th e credit-ticke t system . This form o f contract labor was often describe d b y the Cantones e a s the "sellin g of pigs" or th e "pi g trade " (Kwong 1997; Zhou 1992) . About 41,000 Chinese arrived in the United State s in thi s way between 185lan d 1860 . Upon arrival , they were sen t t o work i n various gol d field s i n th e Sierr a Nevad a foothills . Th e 186 0 U S censu s recorded tha t almos t al l Chines e immigratio n t o th e Unite d State s wa s concentrated i n California , an d within th e state , eighty-four percen t settle d in minin g countie s (Cha n 1991) . I...

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