Patrizia Barrera - Yellow Peril

Copyright Patrizia Barrera 2021

All Right Reserved

Translated, Adapted, and Edited

by

MAGDA PALA

To my mother, who never really loved me and is now forever lost, I devote this book.

Are you finally proud of me? Wherever you are, I sure hope so.

Let’s face it. United States have always been racist. In order to massacre Natives and enslaving Black People, one needs a huge sense of entitlement. Did someone mention superiority complex? Deep and unhealthy pleasure in abusing others, perhaps? Sure, between the Seventieth and Eightieth centuries pretty much every Western country behaved the same way. Only in the US, however, power over Diversity -both ethnicity and class- became institutionalized. Police and Government alike tolerated and encouraged lynching as a Tool Of Justice.

The Black Codes and, later, Jim Crow Laws are the ideal examples of how racist that society was. History does not lie. Afro-Americans were, and still are , the most criminalized class in the United States Of America. Still, few know -or, maybe, few comment - about the discrimination towards Chinese. Recruited on purpose as cheap labour between 1848 and 1880, they worked -underpaid- in the most inhumane and dangerous tasks.

The entire troubled, and toxic, relationship between the USA and China provides enough material for one -or three- Encyclopaedias. But it is a truth universally acknowledged that clarity lies in the simplicity of its expression and in the exposition of indisputable facts. Facts that speak volumes . Therefore, the chosen examples demonstrate -more than sufficiently- that the American Dream is marked with blood. History, as stated, does not lie . Ever.

Picture it. Natives were no longer a threat. If they ever were one, especially on their own land. Almost the whole territory was rich in mineral deposits. Consequently, railways started to pop up everywhere. The New Continent needed a makeover, in order to be Yankee Friendly. However, Southern States’ slavery began to tremble under the ideological impulse -and politics- of Abolitionism. Furthermore, the number of Northerners willing to face those arduous shifts of work imposed by the Companies were not many.

The real wave of Immigration, the one that would have brought millions of souls around the world to land in the US -all of them blinded by the mirage of a hypothetical wealth- was to happen only much later. Nonetheless, Uncle Sam needed that work force in the mid-1800s. It was clearly indispensable to make the Quantum Leap and being in a dominant position towards Europe. The Gold Rush , undoubtedly, attracted multitudes of people. It was, on the other hand, visible from the start that it was a temporary phenomenon. One destined to end, once the valuable resources expired. As indeed happened.

Thousands of cities, built in a day, did not last. Undeniably, the gold miners were tireless workers. For their own personal gain. Once obtained enough wealth, they left. After all, unlike the rough and tough New Continent, Europe was a civilised nest.

Desperate times, though, require desperate measures. As a result, with slavery abolished, the United States brought back serfdom by importing labour on purpose.

Figure 1 - Chinese Labourers On The North Railroads, 1850

Myriads of Chinese immigrants, starting 1848, worked on the transcontinental railroads. They were labourers , farmers who wanted to escape plagues and hunger, and their salaries were close to nothing. Far from home, they barely survive. Close to starvation, sleeping in the open. All in order to grab those few cents for their families.

With the forthcoming fall of the Qing Dynasty, China was going through a particularly troubled period. Internal unrest, wars, and uprisings drove people to flee their devastated Homeland. They turned to the USA only by chance and not by choice. The English controlled all the borders in Asia and, often, they closed them. The infamous Opium War, the one that took place between 1839 and 1842, concurred with the Yellow Wave of immigration to the United States.

The records clearly indicated that, between 1820 and 1840, Chinese in the US were eleven. In 1848, that number rose to two million. Between 1853 and 1873, it increased to fourteen million.

Chinese workers were, unquestionably, what made America great. Tireless, unpretentious, and able to live with -very- little. Against an average wage of $2, they earned only ¢40. Half of which went to their dear ones. Another point in favour, they emigrated alone. No dead weight, no distraction. Moreover, centuries of Imperial Dynasties had forged them to complete obedience and full submission. The Ultimate Slaves. Uncle Sam did not need much to oppress them, shamelessly, and to the fullest. Unsurprisingly.

Figure 2 - Young Rickshaw Workers. One Of The Most Menial Jobs In China Was That Of Rickshaw Runner. These Were Young Men Who Painfully And Prematurally Aged Because Of Such Practice. Ragged, Barefoot, Only A Bowl Of Rice Per Day, They Subdued To It Out Of Necessity. Alleys In China Were Narrow And It Was Not Possible To Enter Them With Carriages Pulled By Horses. Therefore Servants And Slaves Were Used As Beasts and Forced To Transport People From One Part Of The City To Another. Ten Hours, Every Day. The Vast Majority Of Them Died Of Heart Attack Before The Age Of Thirty-five.

In the beginning, Chinese formed a separate community. Later, between 1848 and 1860, the Mining Companies demanded them in high numbers. Mostly because they accepted thankless and dangerous jobs. In addition, their small size slipped smoothly into narrow tunnels where only a child could enter. Placing dynamite loads or propping up the unsafe tunnels became a routine. A risky one. And, since thousands died, it was crucial to have supplies . However, the flood of immigration seemed to have run out. The Government, at that point, decided to recruit them by coming to terms directly with China. The Burlingame Treaty, approved in 1868, drawn up one of the sneakiest and most hateful manoeuvres ever happened in the US. On paper, it states, “Chinese subjects in the United States shall enjoy entire liberty of conscience and shall be exempt from all disability or persecution on account of their religious faith or worship in either country.”

It was, in reality, a forced trade. Just as the introduction of Opium.

The entire ideology of Chinese Imperialism firmly declared the rejection of any border expansion to foreigners, who could only trade and travel. The idea of mixing with the Whites had always been unthinkable for them. China always had firm vetoes to national migration, preferring cruel demographic control systems to regulate its subjects. The motivations were political, hegemonic, and religious. The West was a cornucopia of perdition.

In a word, inferior .

What drove the sign of the Treaty was internal weakness and European massive interference. The consequence was selling off its own heritage of human flesh into enemy hands. The contract stood, in theory, balanced and bilateral. In practice, it forced millions of Chinese to move to the US. Willingly or, more often, unwillingly.