Essay Example on Model Minority: 19th Century Chinese Immigration to US

Became the Model Minority. New Jersey: Princeton University Press makes a remarkable input into understanding the American immigration approach in the 19th century. For quite some time, Asian Americans were seen as "bad" immigrants in American society. The focal point of the author is Chinese students, immigrants, and asylum seekers. The American migration system was selective and restrictive, more so on Chinese low skilled workers. When it came to highly skilled professionals, the laws were quite lenient. They were exempted from exclusion and were seen to be easily assimilated to the society. The demand for highly skilled labor shot up during the Cold War era. Chinese immigrants who were economically beneficial to American society were allowed to be citizens. She also looks at the issues facing Indian immigrants and workers in the last chapter. It is vital to note that the book has a dip and broader conclusion which can be drawn from it with regards to immigration. The author's objective is to show how American immigration policy was hinged on individual achievement, political, and economic advantage the Chinese immigrants could offer.

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Asians' academic prowess had surpassed the other races, and the American immigration laws changed from restriction to selection. The selection process was seen as a way of aggrandizing the national economy. Merchants, students, tourists, and diplomats were given provisional residency in the country. The arms and space race was intensifying, and this meant more individuals with academic prowess were needed. Other professionals were seeking better working conditions and remuneration-places where their intellectual ability was appreciated and could be harnessed to be something bigger. The Hart-Celler Act of 1965 was instrumental in Making Asian Americans into a model minority group. The race was not used to determine who becomes an American citizen; rather, it was educational criteria.

Yung Kuai was an example of a Chinese student with exemplary education qualities and graduated from Yale University in 1884. Yung was the beneficiary of the Chinese Educational Mission. Their objective was to come and get knowledge from the US and later return to China and share what they have learned. Chinese students were deemed useful in passing western civilization to their mother country. Yung played an important role as a diplomat at the Chinese embassy. Missionaries and institutions of higher education facilitated the studies. The Chinese government determined which students went for training in the US. The US government saw this as an advantage because they had an ally in the western pacific.

World War 11 also played a significant role in compelling the US to revoke the exclusion laws against the Chinese. They wanted the Chinese to feel like an ally and not be seen as they are mistreating Chinese nationals. Madame Chiang was another Chinese citizen who had been assimilated into American society. She was a Christian and had an American education. She was proof that the efforts of the missionaries were paying off. Chinese could be assimilated and converted into Christians. The major undoing to the Chinese immigrants was the Chinese civil war in which the communist won. The state department saw it wise to accommodate the Chinese rather than send them back to a hostile country. Mc-Carran Walter Act of 1952 offered financial aid to the stranded students for them to become model immigrants. Other third world and European countries by now started accusing the US of brain drain as the best minds were being made into citizens with ease.

In the 21st century, the American government initiated policies whose intention was to further national development. Racial inequality against such bright minds reduced drastically, as seen by accomplishments made by immigrants such as I.M.Pei. The Asian Americans' chances of excelling in academic, economic, and entrepreneurship proved to be a major booster for Chinese immigrants to serve as the Asian American minority. The American effort had now moved from the Chinese to the South of the country, where the border was porous. The South had admitted millions of undocumented immigrants whose academic credentials had not been checked. Consequently, the model minorities have put a lot of emphasis on education, and this has been passed from generation to generation. The pressure to perform well academically has led to discrimination as higher standards of education are demanded from them at all times. Over the years, the population of Asian Americans has skyrocketed since 1965.

The author has used a different perspective to analyze racism on Asian immigrants. Rather than looking at how Chinese were barred and restricted into coming to the US, she looks at those Chinese who flourished and were seen as model citizens for the minority. To help her with the analysis, the writer employed the use of historical data from other scholars and scientific data from government agencies. Firstly, she used data from the Institute for International Education, which has highlighted the number of international students from 1923 to 2000. Secondly, she has touched on the works of Gary Gerstle, the American Crucible, to highlight the restrictions with regards to citizenship. The author has also incorporated the works of a great scholar by the name C.Y.Lee who has written the book Flower Drum Song. The book looks into the Chinese who fled the communist party to come to the US. All this information past and current are pivotal as they give strength to her work. One major setback with the book is that it looks more on the citizens who flourished, forgetting to mention anything about the immigrant from China who offered cheap labor. Contemporary historians should read this book as it looks at issues related to immigration from a unique viewpoint compared to other scholars. In conclusion, the model immigrant was replicated to other individuals from other countries. Any immigrant that had something to offer the country so that it can prosper nationally was made a citizen.

Bibliography

Hsu, Madeline Yuan-yin. 2015. Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.