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REVIEWS
DRIVEN OUT: THE FORGOTTEN WAR AGAINST CHINESE AMERICANS
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by Jean Pfaelzer
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| Random House, New York, 2007. Illustrations, photographs, maps, notes, index. 424 pages. $27.95 cloth. |
| For over a century, the anti-Chinese movement was the most inquired subject in the study of Chinese Americans in the nineteenth-century West. Through immigration restriction and mob violence, the United States government and general public perceptively collaborated on the mission of denying this non-white group its equal opportunity in America. Legislation and terrorism often joined hands in such ethnic cleansing. Until Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans, few academic works have shown any interest in a general survey of white-Chinese animosity, with equal emphasis on all the aspects including legislative measures, ethnic riots, and Chinese resistance. This book makes the first attempt to give a more comprehensive treatment to the anti-Chinese campaign. |
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In spite of a comprehensive vision, Pfaelzer fully understands the impossible task of including all the incidents and regions in a single volume. While covering all the major anti-Chinese incidents across the West, the book judiciously selects California for a more thorough examination. Between 1849 and 1906, Californians conducted more than two hundred roundups of Chinese immigrants. In addition to its numerical prominence, California developed two effective methods of driving out Chinese. The town of Eureka favored violence as threat; arson, assault, lynching, and murder brought quick results. To avoid legal risks, and to take "higher moral" ground, residents in Truckee adopted an economic strangling strategy by boycotting all the businesses that employed cheap Chinese laborers. This kind of economic terrorism proved as effective as violent action in driving Chinese from the local community. Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, the Golden State demonstrated to the entire West its determination and innovation in expelling Chinese from the region, anxiously acclaiming the honor of a pacesetter. |
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The nature of a broad survey hardly prevents the author from telling a complex story. Downplaying a simple labor-conflict interpretation, Pfaelzer shows that America's general xenophobia heightened anti-Chinese sentiment from every sector of the society. As the leaders of riots often crossed class lines, the participants also included women, children, and Jews along with working-class white males. No single issue trumps the others. Race, class, gender, and ideology all contributed to the causes. Never losing sight of the big picture, the book properly places the anti-Chinese purge in the grand discussion of American race relations in the Gilded Age, when the nation was in the final phase of subjugating the peoples of color. Black codes, Chinese ordinances, and Indian reservations embraced the same principle of white supremacy. Although neither the federal nor local government openly advocated anti-Chinese violence, various discriminatory statutes undeniably encouraged racial hatred and emboldened malicious perpetrators. To delineate another dimension of the complexity, Pfaelzer also looks into the Chinese response to the ethnic cleansing. Almost from the very beginning, the Chinese bravely engaged in both court and street battles for their equal rights. Some never hesitated to use violence for self-defense. Even back in China, people with strong nationalism and racial sensitivity instigated anti-American riots in kind. The intricacy of the anti-Chinese movement presented in the book remind readers of the need for a broad approach to the topic. |
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In various aspects, including research, analysis, and structure, Driven Out has presented us a good piece of scholarship. Pfaelzer's specialty in both English and ethnic studies easily enables her to craft an engaging narrative with sensitivity. Accompanied by a significant number of historical illustrations, many gripping details possess a great attraction to a larger audience. A few areas, however, will draw further scholarly discussions and questions. Although covering a period of more than half a century, this study does not clearly show different stages of the anti-Chinese movement. Readers may like to know how the movement at the national level progressed over time. The author also labeled the 1885 Tacoma Riot a "massacre" (p. 229). Actually, no violent death occurred during the incident. In fact, the Denver Riot took place on October 31, 1880, instead of "December 31" (p. 256). Of course, a few minor errors have little impact on the overall value of the book. This much-needed survey of the anti-Chinese movement has broadened our vision in the comprehension of American race relations at large. |
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| Liping Zhu
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| Eastern Washington University |
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