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Yellow Peril, yellow danger
The Origins

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.

The Empire decided those Chosen Ones. Young, healthy, strong men. In order to guarantee the conduct of the individual, their families were held as hostages. It was a threat, which kept them docile and obedient.

From that to the establishment of a Chinese Mafia, which controlled human trafficking at the submerged request of China itself, the step was short. It introduced workers, Opium, and prostitution. Fuelled by the suffered wrongs, it even managed to control them at the expense of the United States. What goes around comes around.

No wonder, they all lose out. Even if, as always, the weakest ones were the main victims.

But Double Standard does exist in misery as well. If the men worked fifteen hours a day and in dreadful surroundings, it was nothing compared to the heartbreakingly conditions of the unluckiest of them all. Females and very, very, young. Only seven years old and forced into sexual slavery, they died before reaching the age of twenty.

Regardless, Chinese were unmistakably efficient. The entirety of their activities, in 1880, widespread and hit the exposed nerve of USA economy. Their trade was flourishing and, as nowadays, they were able to charge incredibly competitive prices. Fashion, herbs, perfumes, fruit, vegetables, all at derisory prices. Their skills extended to every single area. From artisanship and manufacturing to private services. They even took the wind out of the circus’ sails. Their spectacular acrobatics were impossible to reproduce for the massive All-American Americans. In addition, they did not use animals. Therefore, they had no further expenses. As labourers, they were impeccable. No liberal ideas, no half-assed demands for reduced working hours or more dignified living conditions. Nossir. They kept their mouths shut and earned half the price of their White colleagues, who gritted their teeth and ranted against those who were stealing their job. Some things never change.

Furthermore, as long as these evils concerned foreigners, nobody had anything to say. They could have slaughter each other and employers could care less. After all, they were perfectly replaceable.

Figure 3 – Young Woman In Traditional Hong Kong Clothes, 1860.

However, when the phenomenon exploded amongst Americans -both traders and workers- trouble began. By 1850, Chinese had gathered in the area of old Portsmouth Square. After the Gold Rush, they set up independent laundry businesses. It was a dirty job, no pun intended, which no one at that time wanted to do. Except for them. Soon, there were florist shops, greengrocers, stores meant to meet the day-to-day needs of a growing town. In two years, Little Canton had expanded enormously and offered thirty-three retail shops, five restaurants, fifteen herbalists, and several pharmacies. The complete area was in full development. Even the local authorities appreciated it. They often praised it publicly and presented it as a model of diligent industriousness. For Chinese, it was almost like being at home. Almost being the operative word. Systematically, that small town became a recreational core. Being the new San Francisco was the target. By popular fury, that area became Chinatown. It was a Press idea. Something innocent, created to simplify a banal concept. Yet, Americans saw -or wanted to see- an act of arrogance. One that would, bitterly and inexorably, led to resentment towards the entire Chinese community. Any excuse to go after Non-Whites.

Nevertheless, Chinatown grew and developed into the symbol of a city within a city. Only a dusted memory remained of the twelve wooden houses of those first years. By 1880, the entire area had grown into an elegant neighbourhood that housed twenty-two thousand people. Rich White Broken Hearts could forget their sorrows in the depth of gambling halls and Opium houses, not to mention the brothels. Chinoiserie was synonym of colourful, fashionable, and luxurious. Porcelains, mirrors, spices, love tinsels were what Americans -especially women- wanted.

Soon, a crescendo of feelings undermined the US Government. Main one being the terror of a future Capitalism made in China. And God have mercy, if someone other than White People could speculate on Market Economy.

An obvious question arises. What is the US reaction, every time something or someone Non-American makes it tremble? Easy. It starts questioning the morality, real or imagined, of their foreign customs.

Hence, ‘The Yellow Peril’ invaded the United States.

Figure 4 - Chinatown, 1860. A Few Wooden Houses And Some stores. In Thirty Years, It Thrived And Became The Core Of American Economy. Not To Mention, The Favourite Option Of The Rich And Famous' Night Life.

The country, due to the Civil War, was experiencing a difficult historical situation. The economic destabilization of the South, the alternating political trends, the hunger for change, the eagerness to dominate Europe produced a devastating knock-on effect . A large part of the population had suffered negatively from the consequences of the Restoration Of The System . Thousands were doomed. Children starved. Traders bankrupted daily. Immigrants died in the streets, of natural causes or -more often- killed. The prisons overcrowded. Violence was everywhere. Surviving was close to impossible but imperative.

On the other hand, the Organized Crime thrived. First in line was the Irish Mob. It functioned as a complement of the Government, coercing les protégés to vote. In addition, it supported all the illegal activities bound to alcohol and drugs.

Then, the Triad. Always on the very edge of legality, it addressed its own fellow citizens and operated exclusively according to the directives of Chinese ideology. One must fight enemies with their own weapons. Tirelessly. In order, one day, to take their place.

Said Yellow Peril was a direct consequence of US behaviour. As always, they exploited labourers to the point of being overwhelmed. Chinese-Americans could not help but express only their imperialistic nature, dominated by honour and an exacerbated feeling of redemption. Adapting to the worst conditions of life, they aspired to improve their own existence. That Social Rise would put them on the same level as the Westerners.

It was an innate sense that cannot disappeared by mere deportation to another country. Forced chastity, loneliness, and oppression sublimated it. Behind that indelible smile, Chinese hid a tragic strength and an impressive stubbornness.

Their everyday motto? Survive At All Costs. Then, Prosper.

Figure 5 - San Francisco's Chinatown, 1906.

One could talk hours about the difference between intelligence and cunning, without ever coming to terms with it. The truth is simple. Some misconduct, producing a temporary advantage, is -over time- harmful and detrimental. Selfishness and lack of empathy cause an inevitable damage. If the victim is not prone to forgiveness, the echo of it will widen immeasurably and with certain destructive results. Simply put, an action leads to a reaction. That was the relationship between Uncle Sam and Chinese. That is why the whole New Continent cried out to the Yellow Peril.

Between 1880 and 1882, finding a scapegoat was quite easy. Americans accused Chinese of unfair competition, job theft, and social rivalry. After the first Immigrants Regulation And Restriction, approved in 1861, which banned interracial marriages -even if Chinese abhorred the very thought of connecting with Westerners- there were others. All of them with the purpose of increasingly restraining both human and legal liberties. The Civil Right Act of 1866 declared that, “All persons born in the United States are citizens, without regard to race, colour, or previous condition”. In defiance of it, the legislators excluded Chinese from the regulation, appealing to a subtle legal loop.

The sole issue? Not all Asians are Chinese and one cannot simply classify them. The Civil Rights Act of 1875, in fact, defined the obvious difference between European and African descent. However, it was not able to make a substantial separation between White and Yellow.

Officially, and it is appalling, it was because Asians had more heterogeneous chromaticity than Black People and less salient somatic traits. As stated, appalling. They were simply Non-White and therefore excluded from any right of citizenship. Hence, any naturalized Chinese-American remained a foreigner.

Previously, other regulations had already limited their freedom in the United States.

In 1858, California enacted a law prohibiting them any access to state careers. Later, in 1879, a new Constitution passed. It declared that the Government had the absolute right to determine the fundamental requirements for residence in the State. Sticking to the quibble of Indeterminacy Of The Race, it denied residence to every single Chinese. Already in 1875, the Congress had blocked the immigration of workers and prostitutes for 10 years. The official reason was, curbing the Underworld and restoring US territory. Between 1856 and 1880, thirty different rulings limited or denied the fundamental rights of Chinese immigrants in the US. It was an evident violation of the Burlingame Treaty, but both Press and General Public did not even blink. Disappointing, but not surprising.

Frustration due to recession drove a wedge, another, between them. The motive? Meagre envy. Chinese people continued to prosper. The audacity.

Targeted by Government and Society alike. Closed in their own communities. Attached to their ancient customs. Last but not least, their disdain of mixing with Whites. They were the perfect Fall Guy. Threats, looting, pranks, tonsuring. They endured everything. Stoically. However, the ice was getting thinner and thinner. Until it degenerated in one of the biggest mass lynching ever happened in the United States. The Chinese Massacre Of 1871.

Figure 6 – Young Mother And Her Two children.

The Chinese massacre of 1871
The Beginning Of The End

The year, 1871. The set, Calle De Los Negros. What happened, one of the darkest episodes ever occurred in Chinatown.

The Ghetto Of All Ghettos would have be remembered also as Negro Alley. A pitiless mirror of that age and time, home of United States’ favourite culprits -Mexicans and Chinese- it casted a terrible shadow on the growing City Of Angels. George Morrow Mayo described it as, “ a dreadful thoroughfare, forty feet wide, running one whole block, filled entirely with saloons, gambling-houses, dance-halls, and cribs.”

The whole area was, basically, drowning in vice.

The residents were predominantly males, due to the laws restricting immigration of Chinese women. However, the Triad achieved to bring worthy representatives of the Fairer Sex in. With a little help of local authorities, of course. In doing so, the number of Chinese in Calle De Los Negros had grown about two hundred times. In just ten years, it prospered wonderfully. Thereby, discontent among Whites was unbearable. Afflicted by the Post-War recession, they were well aware that they could not compete with the low prices and strenuous working hours of Chinese traders. That dissatisfaction soon turned into rage toward those outsiders who have the nerve to be bold enough to have it better than them. Classic.

It is astounding that tragedy broke out only on the 24 ^th of October, 1871, and not earlier.

Figure 7 - Calle De Los Negros , 1880. Until 1882, The District Remained Unaltered. Then, Some Of The Buildings Were Demolished.

The official cause of that lynching was, in fact, the regular A-Foreigner-Dared-To-Lay-A-Finger-On-A-White-Person excuse. Dying was a regular and unsurprising event, in Chinatown. The week before the accident, for instance, forty-four people passed away in those alleys. Four of them were police officers, as the victim of that infamous night.

Why such fury, then? What was the difference? Easy. The first victims’ killers were Legal White Residents. Whereas Officer Robert Thompson -owner of the notorious Blue Wings, loan shark, no saint- died in a gunfight with some Asian Mobsters.

That death was the perfect excuse to unleash ghastly wrath of the crowd towards twenty random innocent Chinese.

Kidnapped. Tortured. Mutilated. Hanged. Those were their fate.

Eight people prosecuted, initially accused of manslaughter - which is plain ridiculous- were then fully acquitted. However, many a witness indicated those and thirty more as responsible for that massacre. And Police heard none of them. Typical. Unexpected is not the correct word one should associate to that event. As stated in Scott Zesch’s The Chinatown War, a specific episode happened. A few days earlier, Yo Hing -boss of one of the various clans of Chinese Mob- had ordered the kidnapping and subsequent ransom of one of the very few married women in Chinatown. A great beauty called Yut Ho.

Yo Hing had close relationships with local administrations, who were more than glad to ignore the misdeeds. For a profit.

The rival faction, led by merchant Sam Yuen, did not take it well. Therefore, together with a heavily armed gang of Tong warriors, landed in San Francisco.

On the night of the 23 rd of October, said gang -headed by Ah Choy, the kidnapped woman's brother- opened fire on Yuen. Still, Ah Choy ended up mortally wounded and left to die in one of the alleys.

Figure 8 - Chinatown,1870. Tea Houses, Stores, And Brothels Made It Into A Little San Francisco.

With solid support of local Police, and that of whoever was behind it , Yo Hing reported Yuen as the instigator of that attempted murder.

With bail set at $2000 -an abnormal amount, both for that time and for a Chinese- Yo Hing aimed to let his rival rotting in jail for the time necessary to butter up judges and lawyers. Soon after, he would have him sentenced to death and finally took over his territory. Yuen, on the other hand, realised the setup right away and declared that he was able to pay. Some police officers, at that point, accompanied him home and found out money hidden in the trunk of a tree. A lot of money. An enormous wealth resulting from clandestine trafficking. Something that involved many constables as well.

One of them was Jesus Bilderrain, known for being racist and rapacious. There have been several complaints against him for stealing and gambling. Together with his brother Ignacio, he had controlled and organized -on behalf of the, then conservative, Democratic Party- several election blocks against Los Angeles’ Latin Community. Precluding, on purpose, the minority from voting.

Judge, Jury, and Press considered such a man a key witness.

He stated that, late on the 24th of October, he had gone to Negro Alley because he had heard gunshots. Later, he entered a backstreet. Wounded, he called for Officer Thompson. Who was then killed by Yuen. That cold-blooded murder was the drop that made Whites riot. Soon, it turned into lynching. Although atrocious, the Press talked about it in terms of common madness generated by a climate of discontent against Chinese and dismissed it. Not without a plethora of Fake News to condone every All-American Americans’ action. No matter how cruel and inhuman.

Figure 9 - An Opium Den, 1890. Opium, In China, was Used For Therapeutic And Religious Purposes. It Was Only After The Fall Of The Qing Empire And The Anglo-Chinese Wars That It Was Deliberately Distributed By English Among Chinese. The Reason was, Mainly, To Increase The Monopoly. Field Were Needed For It, Field That Were Used For Agricolture And Sustainment. China, Of Course, Tried To Stop This Madness. To No Avail. Such Vice And The Trade That Followed Were Approved -And Managed- By Both The Triad And The US Government.

Apparently, Chinese plunged the city into depravity. They did it oh-so terribly, that even fantastic figures stepped into the scene. The Mandarin himself requested all that hidden money, in order to take over California. Legit.

It was, somehow, the very same hoax used at the Gold Rush time. A Let-Them-Eat-Cake kind of situation. Better known as, One-That-Never-Happened. Unfortunately, no Chinese could testify in a trial against a White person. No wonder it ended very quickly.

H.M. Mitchell, reporter of LA Star, absolved the whole city as, “ Victim of a horrendous trade and the climate of violence perpetrated by Chinese Mob.”

There is no doubt that various Political Powers influenced and determined the dismissal. The same ones that later used the bloodbath to impose the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act, approved in 1882.

The truth, as usual, is much bitterer. Even trivial, if compared to such slaughter. Scraping deep into the narrow-minded racist soul of that time false moralists, there is only greedy larceny and nothing more. The outrage that followed it highlighted how cruel the instigators were. The evidence proved the frequent sharing of favours between Hing, the Mobs, and the local Police. Immediately afterwards, oddly, all the documentation was archived and the whole affair swept under the carpet. They would only come out many years later, thanks to the strenuous research of historians and some favourable condition known as, China-Is-Now-A-Great-Economic-Power-And-We-Gotta-Behave. But that is another story and shall be told another time.

Figure 10 - Back Of A Store In Chinatown, 1880. American Police Has Always Had Close And Ambiguous Liasons With The Triad. An Exclusive Control Was Exercised Not Only On Opium And Spices, But Also On Labourers And Commodities (Both Official And Illegal) That Were Imported At Very Low Cost. It Obviously Affected The Economy, Which Collapsed Soon After. Entrepreneurs, Especially Those Who Dealt Whith Railroads That Received Huge Government Subsidies, Were Deeply Interested. Chinese Were Preferred To Americans And Europeans Because Of Their Low Cost -Of Course- And Worked Twice As Hard. During The Era Of The First Trade Unions, Chinese Were Used As Strikebreakers By The Very Same Employers To Block The Claims Of The Working Class. Such Smear Campaign Ruined Chinese Reputation With Disastrous Consequences.

No need to clarify, Bilderrain went to Negro Alley to steal the gold. It was an errand requested by Hing himself, in order to retaliate for Yuen’s hostilities. Hing alliance and protection, however, were not enough to save him from the gunfire of the other one’s henchmen. Bilderrain was, in fact, not a certified Sheriff. He was a Vigilante , authorized by Police itself to maintain order in the Ghetto. That explains why they ignored the private agreements between them and Chinese Mob, while encouraging illegal traffics and assassinations. On the other hand, Law Enforcement perceived a large part of every income. They controlled all the events, due to a large network of informers, knowing everything in advance. Including what was about to happen that night. Their only task was to observe, let them act and -if necessary- clear the field of possible obstacles. The same Marshal Frances Baker, chief of Police, dealt regularly with the Mob. His specialty was to retrieve Chinese slaves who managed to escape and embark illegally to Europe. The motivation? Mere greed. The one driving force who tied every Crooked Cop to a gang or the other. Usually, the one who paid the most.

According to Yuen’s statements, Bilderrain and Hing were together in that alley. The two factions headed for a reckoning. Remain neutral was everything officers had to do.

For that to happen, Emil Harris and George Garde were the experts on field. They had already distinguished themselves in difficult actions during many Mexican riots, such as the capture and killing of Tiburzio Vasquez. Their orders were to stick around without getting involved, no matter what. In front of the angry crowd, they not only did not lift a finger but also threatened those who tried to prevent any lynching. They never appeared in court. On the other hand, they got a promotion. Seems fair, right?

As stated, it was officially a spontaneous event. But the astonishing extreme speed at which all those people randomly organized themselves -five hundred moved as one man, each with a specific task, with the common climax of killing- had premeditated tattooed all over it

And many admitted it. For instance, the already mentioned H.M. Mitchell. Reporter of the Star, former County Sheriff, part of the wealthy Glassel family, future Mayor, he was leader of the -as stated, then conservative- Democratic Party. All mainly due to his notorious article about the massacre. And he never bothered to deny any discriminatory feeling.

Next, the rich merchant J.H. Weldon. After the lynching, blood stained from head to toe, he went for a drink. Once there, he bragged, “ I am satisfied now. I have killed three Chinamen.”

What about one of LA most successful businessperson, Harris Newmark? He said that he saw Thompson on the floor and went home to celebrate. It is unknown what, exactly. However, the man had close relationships with officers Celis and Kerren. Both of them suspected of shooting their colleague and abandoning him in the alley where several Mobsters holed up.