Erasure and Reclamation: Centering Diasporic Chinese Populations in Oregon History

This essay provides an overview of early Chinese American history and introduces the key themes of the Oregon Historical Quarterly special issue on the Chinese diaspora in Oregon. It asserts that the history of Chinese people in Oregon should be centered within the state’s history because doing so compels a rethinking of Oregon’s earliest waves of colonization and economic, political, and social development. The articles in this special issue illustrate how Chinese people were transnational historical actors, navigating a social and cultural terrain that was often unwelcoming and oppressive. They humanize early Chinese settlers in ways that avoid reliance on, or reinforcement of, Orientalist stereotypes and Eurocentrist assumptions as well as a tendency to reduce Chinese immigrant experiences to either resistance or victimization. Each contribution in this special issue helps undo nearly two centuries of erasure and reclaims the place of Chinese people in the history of Oregon.

抹杀和复原：聚焦俄勒冈史上的离散华人群体

本文纵览早期在美华人历史，简要介绍《俄勒冈州历史季刊》(Oregon Historical Quarterly) 特刊围绕俄勒冈离散华人主题收录的专题文章。特刊主张俄勒冈州华人史应当成为俄勒冈历史的聚焦中心，因为这会迫使人们反思俄勒冈最早的殖民化以及经济、政治和社会发展浪潮。特刊文章详实论述了华人群体如何一步步成为跨国历史角色，在时常充斥着冷待压迫的社会文化环境下前行。行文着意避免依赖或强化东方主义刻板印象和欧洲中心主义假设，避开误区倾向，不将华人移民际遇简单归结为抵抗或受害，从而为早期华人定居者赋予人性化色彩。本期的每篇文章均有助于消除对华人近两个世纪的抹杀，复原华人在俄勒冈历史上的地位。