Patrizia Barrera - Yellow Peril

Constitutional Racism deprived Chinese people of any human rights. Accusing them to be the Devil Incarnate, in order to manipulate the General Public, was a very easy step.

Figure 11 - The Chinese Massacre, 1871. There Were Nineteen -Official- Victims. The Entire Area Was Looted And Burned. The Injured Were Countless.

It all began in 1869.

Flagship of a giant reconstruction was the First Transcontinental Railroad. Planned to boost American economy after the Civil War disaster, embodied hopes and dreams of Uncle Sam himself.

Pacific Railroad meant trade. Trade meant expansion. Expansion meant wealth. Especially when railways were shyly beginning to spread in Europe. United States, always competitively Avant-Garde , engineered the scheme that it would become model for nowadays Capitalism.

Such gargantuan deal required an equal amount of money. In order to create prosperity, the US Government doubled the Public Debt. Bold move, but not like the idea of covering all the expenses with the New York Gold Exchange. That system task was not only to favour the Market but also to maintain stable the price of gold.

It was not long, before speculators gathered up. Among them, James Fisk and Jay Gould. Nonchalantly tinkered around the then President of the United States, Ulysses Grant, they wanted him to buy and sell the metal to one of their associates -one General Daniel Butterfield- who would became USA Treasurer. He managed to convince Grant that it was necessary to buy gold, in order to keep the economy steady. However, Butterfield did not sell it. He bought it in Gould and Fisk's name, causing a sharp rise of prices and a dangerous inflation.

Realizing the fraud, the Government sold $4 million of gold in the next 24 hours. Consequently, its value plummeted. That outrageous mechanism generated a tremendous economic crisis, aggravated by scandal. Speculation on State Aid, inflating budget and reports, shutting out the State. Everything, rather than fair competition.

The crisis forced thousands of companies to close down. California, which had just finished its railroad and increased the ranks of unemployed souls, was one of the worst affected. The majority of the workers were Chinese, hired en masse to work on the railways and dismissed like broken dolls once they finished the job. Pour into Chinatown was the next obvious and single move. There, almost everyone was a foreigner. Almost. The very few White businesses, however, did not last long. Working fifteen hours per day and paid only few pennies, Chinese -once again- were the only ones who not only survived but thrived . ...

( About the Pacific Railroad: Was A Joint Venture, Involving Two Major Companies Created With That Sole Purpose -Union Pacific And Central Pacific- Also Involving The United States Government. Its Construction Connected Two Strategic Points For American Economy -The East Coast And The West Coast- And Represented The Beginning Of A New Era For Both USA And The Rest Of The World. That Railroad System Was A Colossal Quest, But Budget Scandals, Huge Subsidies, And The Involvement Of POTUS Ulysses Grant Almost Crashed The Country).

Pacific Railroad 1869

It was not all hunky-dory, though. Three fires surrounded them. The United States, China, and the Triad. Together working as one to exploit them. The prosperity of Chinatown's shops was often fictitious. Very few of them made an actual profit. The incomes from gambling, Opium houses, and liquor went directly into the hands of the Mobsters, who dispensed a good amount into local authorities.

The US flourished with the trade of Chinese products -included fruit, vegetables, fish, and necessities acquired overseas at very low cost- and local businesses went bankrupt, because they could not compete with such low prices.

By 1880, the entire national economy depended entirely on import-export with China. The Empire, on the other hand, imposed a Commission to verify the conditions of its subjects in that foreign country . Consequently, the Triad had complete control of Chinese immigration in the US. Keeping Uncle Sam in a sort of hidden subjugation. But hidden does not mean unknown. Hence, the scandalous Racial Laws and an overabundance of Fake News regarding the Yellow Peril were promulgated and spread on a massive scale .

Figure 13 – Thomas Nast’s Illustration “Go West – Go East” Exposing Jim Crow Laws. The Father Of The American Cartoon Openly Criticized American Political System In The Magazine, Harper’s Weekly.

Trusting in the innate racism of Americans, the Government described Chinese as undesirable . Therefore, it deprived them of any legal personality. Every time they suffered an injustice at the hands of someone White, full immunity was granted to that individual. And every time Chinese -allegedly- broke the rules, an example was made out of them. In short, every Yankee felt legitimated to take matters into their own hands .

The Los Angeles Massacre was a direct consequence of that perverse mechanism. As usual, in order to justify the crisis and its own flaws, the Government creates a perfect scapegoat.

Figure 14 – John Chapin’s Great Chicago Fire. $222 Million, 17.500 Buildings Destroyed, 300 Deaths.

The fire in Chicago on the 8 thof October, 1871, was the final act. It registered three hundred victims, one hundred and ten thousand homeless people, and eighteen thousand houses destroyed by the fire. One single wall survived. The ensuing investigation determined that it was a nefarious event, unleashed - wait for it- by the wrath of God. Such anger, according to rumours, occurred when an Irish cow – Irish, hence, foreigner- kicked a lamp and set the whole city on fire. It was but so absurd that nobody believed it. Rightly so.

Anyway, the case was closed in less than a minute.

In reality, many whispered that the culprit was not Destiny nor God. The hand that killed was very much human. The reasons? Money, power, glory.

Many things did not add up, about that event. First, the Chicago Fire Department was an example of unity and awareness. It was committed to defend a city, entirely made of wood, by fires that spread twice a day. It was, accordingly, very well armed and active. Eleven complete trucks, two manual fire-extinguishing systems, thirteen hoses, a forklift truck with a ladder, one hundred and twenty firefighters, one hundred and twenty-five volunteers and fifty-three horses. By 1871, it was also equipped with the unique Knocke-Pattent Hose Elevator, a water tower capable of generating and directing a high-pressure water jet.

How is it possible that such team found itself to quell the flames on the night of the 8 thof October? Easy. The Department made two unforgivable mistakes.