The “Life of a Chinese Immigrant” was writing in 1903 by Lee Chew. This article is from Chew’s perspective on the harsh environment he has witnessed and experienced during his time living in the United State. Chew’s purpose was to inform his audiences the trails of hardship in a foreign country. Well the Chinese immigrated in the exact time when the European started to explore the West Coast. The most of railway and transportation systems were constructed by them, they contributed a lot to the US development. Nowadays, billions of Chinese investments contribute the great part of US economy. To me, the people who have Chinese heritage should have the same right to be American. This article is significant because Chew was the first Chinese immigrant to encounter experience.
Many things have changed, the older generation of Chinese, Viet, Japanese, Pilipino, Korean’s that came here for a better life and truly believed that they could become Americans, and did, they have become smart business people that have made big money and sent it back to their families in their countries, the US has made China a rich country and now is a rival economic nation, my gripe is that China is buying up business’s, land and properties, and the people that are doing it are not citizens of the US. Chew was born in a valley on a situated province of Canton. Throughout his lifetime he has heard many stories about the successful life of the people who had left to America. After many years, Chew finally set his mind to travel to America with the expectation of success and wealth. The Chinese wanted to earn more money to send back to their families in China because the economy was dramatically decreasing. In the article, Chew stated that he only made 3.50 dollars and used only 50 cents of that just to live off on. The rest of the money he sent money home to “comfort” his parent. For chew and other Chinese immigrants; they believed the hostility arose from jealousy in the labor market due to cheap wages and the large number of immigrants. The immigrants were to acquire the American language and their culture to make their life much easier. Throughout Chew’s time working for the American family, he had learned many English and something about their god—Jesus (Chew 1903).
However, another man by the name of Jacob Riis, a police reporter, has witnessed the horrific condition of the immigrants. Riis was torn apart after witnessing how the immigrants was going throughout many have died from diseases and unsanitary environments. Lucky, “The invention of flash powder in 1887 inspired Riis to embark on a series of nighttime photographic expeditions that would. . . reveal crowded tenement rooms and unkempt hallways, startled occupants of cheap lodging houses, sodden drinkers, crowded sweatshops, and whole families toiling at piecework” (Stange 1890). Riis wrote “How the Other Half Lives” explaining the struggles of immigrants and letting people see what is happening. “…many of the miners …carried revolvers and after drinking would come into our place to shoot and steal shirts…One of these men hit his head hard against a flat iron and all the miners came and broke our laundry, chasing us out of town. They were going to hang us” stating that the white men usually cause trouble for the foreigners and would threaten them (Chew 1903).
I’m an American Born Chinese. I now have more understanding to our past in America as my father and mother who was born in China never shared much detail of the past. Thus, clarity of our past has enlightened me with greater respect for the present. God bless those who struggle and paid the price for our current day and future, such as my family.
