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Chinese Americans
    Good morning. We’ll continue with our introduction to American minorities. Today’s focus is on Chinese Americans.(1)For many years it was common in the United States to associate Chinese Americans with restaurants and laundries. People did not realize that the Chinese had been driven into these occupations by the prejudice and discrimination that used to face them in this country.
    The first group of Chinese came during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Like most of the other people, they had come to search for gold. In that largely unoccupied land, they stated a claim for themselves by placing markers in the ground.(2)However, either because the Chinese were so different from the others or because they worked so patiently that they sometimes succeeded in turning a seemingly worthless mining claim into a profitable one, they became the scapegoats of their envious competitors. They were harassed in many ways.(3)Often they were prevented from working on their claims: some localities even passed regulations for bidding them to own claims. Therefore, these Chinese had to seek out other ways of earning a living.(4)Some of them began to do the laundry for the white miners: others set up small restaurants. There were few women in California in those days, and the Chinese filled a real need by doing this " woman’s work". Some others went to work as farmhands or as fishermen.
    In the early 1860s, a second group of Chinese arrived in California.(5)This time, they were imported as work crews to construct the first transcontinental railroad. The work was so strenuous and dangerous, and it was carried on in such a remote part of the country, that the railroad company could not find other laborers for the job. As in the case of their predecessors, these Chinese were almost all males and they encountered a great deal of prejudice. The hostility grew especially strong after the railroad project was completed, and the imported laborers returned to California, all out of work. Because there were so many more of them this time, these Chinese drew even more attention than the earlier group did.(6)They were so different in every aspect: in their physical appearance, in their language, and in their religion. They were contemptuously called "heathen Chinese".
    When times were hard, they were blamed for working for lower wages and taking jobs away from white men. And these white men were actually recent immigrants themselves. Anti-Chinese riots broke out in many cities. Some even developed into arson and bloodshed.(7)The Chinese were not allowed to make legal appeals and they were not accepted as American citizens. Californians began to demand that no more Chinese be permitted to enter their state.(8)Finally,in 1882, the Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which stopped the immigration of Chinese laborers.(9)Many Chinese returned to their homeland, and their numbers declined sharply in the early part of the last century.
     (10/11)However, during WW II, when China was an ally of the United States, the Exclusion laws were ended: a small number of Chinese were allowed to immigrate each year, and Chinese could become American citizens. In 1965, in a general revision of immigration laws, many more Chinese were permitted to settle here.
     (12-1)From the start, the Chinese had lived apart in their own separate neighborhoods, which came to be known as " Chinatowns ". In each of them the residents organized an unofficial government to make rules for the community and to settle disputes.(12-2)Many people couldn’t find jods on the outside, and they went into business for themselves, primarily to serve their own neighborhood. As for laundries and restaurants, some of them soon spread in the city, since such services continued to be in demand among non-Chinese, too. To this day, certain Chinatowns, especially those of San Francisco and New York, are very busy, thriving communities. They have become great attractions for tourists and for those who enjoy Chinese food.
     (13)Most of today’s Chinese Americans are the descendants of some of the early miners and railroad workers. Those immigrants had been uneducated farm laborers in the vicinity of Canton in Southeast China before they came to America.
    Even after having lived here for several generations, Chinese Americans retain many aspects of their ancient culture. For example, their family ties continue to be remarkably strong. Members of the family lend each other moral support and also practical help when necessary. From a very young age children are taught with the old values and attitudes, including respect for their elders and a feeling of responsibility to the family. This helps to explain why there is so little juvenile delinquency among them.     (14)The high regard for education, and the willingness to work very hard to gain advancement, are another noteworthy characteristics of them. This explains why so many descendants of uneducated laborers have succeeded in becoming doctors, lawyers and other professionals. By the way, many of the most outstanding Chinese American scholars, scientists, and artists are more recent arrivals. They come from China’s former upper class and they represent its high cultural traditions.
    Chinese Americans make up only a tiny fraction of the American population. They live chiefly in California, New York, and Hawaii. As American attitudes toward minorities and toward ethnic differences have changed in recent years, the long-hated Chinese have gained wide acceptance. Today, they are generally admired for many remarkable characteristics, and are often held up as an example worth following.(15)And their numerous contributions to their adopted land are much appreciated.
    Now, we are coming to the end of our lecture. Today we’ve talked about what Chinese Americans have undergone since the California Gold Rush. Our focus for the next week will be on African Americans. Thank you for your attention.