The Children of Chinatown: Growing Up Chinese American in San Francisco, 1850-1920

CONCLUSION: Constructing the Future

conclusion constructing the future This book chronicles the various ways that the children of early Chinatown found themselves caught in political and societal battles over immigration restriction, segregation, cultural identity, crime and violence, child labor, and other momentous personal and communal crises. Through it all, a medley of adults—ranging from Chinese parents and community leaders to white reformers , missionaries, politicians, journalists, and anti-Chinese activists— evaluated and framed the conditions of Chinese children in order to reach their own particular objectives, directly influencing the children’s day-to-day lives in the process. While the adults advocated, quarreled, and maneuvered, the children struggled with the consequences of constantly changing perceptions and daily confronted the harsh realities of life in a segregated urban, ethnic enclave. Over time, Chinese community leaders realized that their children (and middle-class Chinese families in particular) were crucial to the e√ort of creating a socially acceptable image of Chinese America.∞ Although the Chinese in America maintained strong ties to China and were proud of their Chinese heritage, by the early twentieth century some members of the Chinese American elite recognized the necessity of at least publicly emphasizing their Americanness over their Chineseness in conscious e√ort to gain acceptance in a hostile society. By emphasizing their shared class values, the Chinese merchant class hoped that their middle-class status and family values would stand up against the anti-Chinese claims regarding the general unassimilability of the Chinese. Especially by the 1920s, some local leaders 216 : Conclusion highlighted the Christianized and Americanized families of Chinatown and appealed to the shared middle-class values of their white counterparts. At the same time that parents pointed to the academic success and Americanization of their children as a defense against the attacks of anti-Chinese politicians, the children felt the pressure to live up to these images in an e√ort to legitimate their claim to American citizenship.≤ Children growing up in early Chinatown struggled to develop their own sense of American identity. Participation in organizations such as the Boy Scouts and the Bluebirds fostered a sense of belonging and community, even as the segregated structure of these groups mirrored the segregated boundaries of society. Chinese American children felt compelled to succeed in school, and many attempted to transcend economic barriers by pursuing higher education and/or professional occupations. These status-oriented goals reflected, in part, their desire to demonstrate their success as a means of legitimating their status as Americans. Although the second generation by birth was legally entitled to the privileges of American citizenship, decades of inequities in American policy toward the Chinese in America prevented the full realization of their rights as citizens. These problems plagued future generations of Chinatown’s children. San Francisco’s Chinese community witnessed the expansion of a second generation in the 1930s, even as Chinese exclusion continued to limit the number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States. The ratio of Chinese men to women in San Francisco fell dramatically, from approximately six to one in 1900 to three to one by 1930.≥ Although the 1924 National Origins Act prohibited ‘‘aliens ineligible for citizenship’’ from entering the country, the courts determined that wives of Chinese merchants could join their husbands in the United States. A 1930 amendment also allowed women married to American citizens before 1924 to reunite with their husbands.∂ By 1940, 51 percent of Chinese in the United States were American-born. However , Chinese families remained largely confined to the crowded and dilapidated tenements of San Francisco’s Chinatown throughout the Great Depression and the World War II era. Infant deaths in Chinatown were twice the city rate, and tuberculosis, pneumonia, and bronchitis debilitated many Chinatown residents. The e√orts of Chinese American social workers to improve conditions for families culminated in the construction of the Chinese Playground in 1927 and the opening of the Chinese Health Center in 1934. Community activists also lobbied for public-housing reforms. Legalized segregation prevented Chinese families and youth from moving out of Conclusion : 217 Chinatown and pursuing professional occupations. Some American-born Chinese children began to look to a future in China.∑ China’s role as an Allied power during World War II cast Chinese American families in a more favorable light, dismantled segregation, and hastened the repeal of Chinese exclusion in 1943. As families reunited and new families formed, the Chinese American community in...