Changes in the Treatment of Chinese Americans

Abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic is spreading worldwide, especially in the United States. Since the large-scale outbreak of the epidemic in the United States in March 2020, Asian Americans have also faced the secondary threat of "racism" and "Asian hatred" due to the COVID-19 virus. They have become the targets of persistent harassment and attacks by diehard Asian haters. Discriminatory words and deeds against Asian Americans have also spread in American society like the covid-19 virus and become an event sweeping across the United States. The rising anti-Asian incidents in the United States not only focused the attention of American society, but also attracted the worlds attention. At the same time, it is not difficult to recall the anti-Asian situation in the United States at the end of the 19th century. The Opium War broke out in China in 1840. Therefore, many Chinese citizens chose to make a living in the more developed United States. At first, Asian workers were welcomed by industrialists because of their low wages and hard-working characteristics. They were regarded as "exceptional cultures from a distant land". However, with the increasing number of Asian Americans during the gold rush, American citizens and officials gradually changed their attitudes towards Asian Americans. Finally, in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was established to restrict Asians from entering their territory. This article will analyze the changes in Americans' attitudes towards Asian Americans at the end of the 19th century to explore the reasons behind them, and take this opportunity to hopefully shed some light on how we should face racism today during the pandemic.