In The Shadow Of Gold Mountain Essay

218 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of discrimination on those who inflict it

Karen Chos’s “In the Shadow of Gold Mountain” is an incredible film which sheds light on the historical injustice Chinese immigrants faced on their journey to become Canadian. Karen’s film educates the audience of the dark past of the Chinese head-tax and the Exclusion Act. Two powerful ideas the film shares are systematic discrimination and reconciliation. In the early nineteenth century, there were many explicit racial laws set for a certain group of people. For the Chinese immigrants it was the head tax, a fee paid specifically by any Chinese wanting to come to Canada. Through the years the head tax reached $500. Since the head-tax did not suffice, the government imposed the Exclusion Act, completely banning Chinese immigration. This act

Show More
Related

  • Canadian Pacific Railway Discrimination

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Canadian Pacific Railway was the first transcontinental railway built to connect Canada from coast to coast. (Canadian Pacific Para. 9) The construction almost delayed completely because of John A. MacDonald losing power, but it was finally continued with the help of a syndicate. (Canadian Pacific Para. 4) Due to the insufficient amount of adequate workers in British Columbia, Chinese contract workers were imported to help construct the track with minimal pay and harsh conditions. (Canada Para. 1) Chinese-Canadians were discriminated by being given the most dangerous job, no food or shelter provided, and the least pay. Unfortunately, when the track was completed, the Exclusion Act for Chinese immigrants was established to stop immigration from China, (Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre Para. 5) while also making it impossible for family members from China to immigrate. (Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre Para. 11)

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Judy Fong-Bates 'The Gold Mountain Coat'

    279 Words  | 1 Pages

    Judy Fong-Bates’ “The Gold Mountain Coat” discusses the childhood of the narrator who is a Chinese immigrant living in Canada. The narrator, even at a young age, possesses such admirable keen observation as she is able to notice the environment and even the situation of people around her. Living in a small town that is “typical of many small towns in Ontario” with only one Chinese family neighbor, the narrator is the only Chinese child. With the nearing day of arrival of John’s family, the narrator feels uneasy of her new responsibilities.

    Read More

  • Full Body Burden: Kristen Iversen at Rocky Flats

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most of us would like to think that history is based on civil negotiations between representatives from around the world. The fact is, war has always been a disease that spreads not only in the battle field, and infects all those who come in contact with it. In the case of nuclear weapons, the United States, like many countries, raced to produce some of the most deadly weapons. Kristen Iversen shares her experiences surrounding a nuclear production facility in Boulder Colorado called Rocky Flats. The events at Rocky Flats are fuelled by secrecy and widespread hazards, it is the integration of these concepts to various aspects of her life that are at the center of Full Body Burden.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Roger Daniels's 'Guarding The Golden Door'

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before 1882, the United States did not have any immigration rules which means anybody that came to America has the opportunity to stay here. The attitude of Americans toward immigrants has changed which transported the Chinese immigration act “into national prominence” (Daniel, 11). However, the Americans are now afraid of the immigrants due to their overpopulation. Half of the Americans rejected the immigrant’s presence, while the other half profits of their cheap labor. In this book “Guarding the Golden Door by Roger Daniels” heavily discovered over the one and only issue of how the immigrants are being treated in America.

    Read More

  • Bill C-31 & Designated Country of Origin

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zong L. & Perry, B. (2011). Chinese immigrants in Canada and social injustice: From overt to

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Article Erasing Indigenous Indigeneity In Vancouver

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    Vancouver currently maintains an image as a sort of maternal ethnic melting pot, a region rich in cultural diversity and with a municipality that is both tolerant and welcoming of various displays and traditions. However, upon closer examination of recent history, it becomes clear that the concept of the city embracing minorities with a warm liberal hug is both incorrect and a form of manipulation in itself. The articles Erasing Indigenous Indigeneity in Vancouver and The Idea of Chinatown unravel the cultural sanitization that occurred in Vancouver at the turn of the nineteenth century as a means of state domination. Through careful synthesis of primary documents, the articles piece together the systematic oppression suffered by BC indigenous people and Chinese immigrants, reformulating our perception of the interests of the Canadian government.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Constructing The Great Menace By David Goutor

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    Labour leaders in Canada in the late 1800s and early 1900s were strongly opposed to the idea of Asians immigrating to Canada. In “Constructing the Great Menace” by David Goutor, it outlines the oppression of Asians by labour leaders which does not conclude that labour leaders hated all immigration and had a prejudice against all racialized groups. The unionists’ main argument for this opposition is based on the stereotype that Asians were claimed to have “accepted low wages and degraded working conditions” thus proving that they will diminish the standard of living for Canadian workers. These Labour Leaders were prejudice to Asians in an effort to supposedly protect Canadian workers and their jobs. However, it is not fair to say that labour

    Read More

  • What It Means To Be Canadian Essay

    511 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author is a Canadian citizen with Chinese roots. To find a better living condition her grandfather abandoned his family, his country and ancestry and moved to Canada. Despite the inhospitable attitude of Canada towards the immigrants at those days, people from various parts of the world endured the difficult times with determination seeing the ray of hope at the other end. However, this perseverance presented the citizenship status for the progeny and a chance to live in the great land of Canada. Chong reinforces, “I belong to a community of values” (Chong, D. 2015. p. 5). Today, Canadian citizenship is valued worldwide and is a coveted title, because the people around the globe views Canadians as sophisticated and amiable.

    Read More

  • Chinese Racism in California

    1874 Words  | 4 Pages

    When thousands of Chinese migrated to California after the gold rush the presence caused concern and debate from other Californians. This discussion, popularly called the “Chinese Question,” featured in many of the contemporary accounts of the time. In the American Memory Project’s “California: As I Saw It” online collection, which preserves books written in California from 1849-1900, this topic is debated, especially in conjunction with the Chinese Exclusion Act. The nine authors selected offer varying analyses on Chinese discrimination and this culminating act. Some give racist explanations, but the majority point towards the perceived economic competition between the Chinese and the lower class led to distrust and animosity.

    Read More

  • The Chinese Immigration Experience

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Chinese immigrant experience has traveled through times of hardships, under the English man. They have struggled to keep themselves alive through racism, work, and acceptance. Although many have come to Canada for their lives’ and their children’s to be successful, and safe. It could not be just given until adversity gave them the life they hoped to one day life for. In the starting time of 1858, the Chinese community had started coming to different parts of Canada considering the push and pull factors that had led them here. Because of the lack of workers in the British Columbia region, the Chinese were able to receive jobs in gold mining. Most Chinese were told to build roads, clear areas, and construct highways, but were paid little because of racism. The Chinese today are considered one of the most successful races in Canada because of the push and pull factors that they had come across, the racism that declined them and the community of the Chinese at the present time.

    Read More

  • Asian American Immigration

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    In chapter thirty five, author Shelley Sang-Hee Lee explains that “Immigration is an important part of our understanding of U.S. social experience” (Hee 128). Asian immigrants bring their diverse culture, language and custom from various Asian countries. They help improve American economic development. Also, they play an important role in American society. The first Asian immigration flow is the Chinese Immigration in the mid-19th century to work in the gold mines and railroads. The Asian immigrant population grew rapidly between 1890 and 1910 (Hee 130). The increasing of population of Asian immigrants have brought a lot of problems. Many of them were facing the issue of ethnicity, discrimination, and the process of assimilation. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which banned the immigration of Chinese laborers and proscribed foreign-born Chinese from naturalized citizenship and the Asian Exclusion Act League in 1907 which limited the entry of Asian immigrants have reshaped the demographic of Asian immigrants in the U.S (Hing 45). With the rise of anti-Asian movements, many Asian immigrants were rejected from entering America or deported to their homeland. In the early history of immigration in America, the issue of deportation is an important part of the Asian American experience in the

    Read More

  • Youthful Viciousness Summary

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hastings is the organizer of the school strike. His perspective on the school segregation in the British Columbia educational system is against the segregation of children based on their ethnicity. For “he agreed to conduct the fight of the Chinese against separate classes for Chinese children. The main allegation made by the Victoria School Board was that Chinese Immigrants did not have a fundamental understanding of English. However, Mr. Hastings contradicts this statement by stating that, “The fact was that they (referring to Chinese children) stood at the very top of their classes.” As well as that it was “Less expensive and more secure to educate your child in this country rather than in China because of the very unsettling conditions around Canton.” In the protest the children of Chinese descent resumed going to their classes in the Victoria school system, and were specifically told not to accept any certificates. This action was described as “a clever way of trying to divide the community against itself.” In Mr. Hastings point of view he thought “the educated and enlightened part of the public in Victoria was swung over to the Chinese side.” In retrospect, Mr. Hastings was in full support of the integration of Chinese children in the Victoria educational system and was the organizer of the school strike in order to stop the discrimination of Chinese children in Victoria’s public

    Read More

  • Scene From A Corner Store Analysis

    244 Words  | 1 Pages

    Canada is “arguably the most racially and ethnically diverse of all societies” (Macionis & Gerber, 2011). In the documentary, “Scenes from a Corner Store,” the family demonstrates how cultural heritage and race of a Korean family differ vastly from a modern Canadian family.

    Read More

  • Ballad of Pearl May Lee in Gwendolyn Brook's Street in Bronzeville

    1802 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gwendolyn Brook’s “Ballad of Pearl May Lee” came from her book called Street in Bronzeville. This book exemplifies Brook’s “dual place in American literature” (Smith, 2). It is associated with Modernist poetry, as well as the Harlem Renaissance. This book is known for its theme of victimizing the poor, black woman. “Ballad of Pearl May Lee” is a poem that uses tone to represent the complex mood of the ballad. While tone and mood are often used interchangeably, there are differences even though they often work together in a poem. A poem’s mood refers to the atmosphere or state of mind that the poem takes on. This is often conveyed through the tone, which is the style or manner of expression through writing. In this poem, Brooks uses tone to enhance the mood. This paper will shed light on the idea that the mood of the poem is affected by the tone in several ways in order to make the mood inconsistent. Some of the ways that tone does this is by several episodic shifts in the scene of the poem, the repetition of stanzas at the end of the poem, the use of diction, and the change in the speaker’s stance throughout the poem. These poetic techniques enhance the speaker’s current feeling of self-pity and revengeful satisfaction by her mixed emotions associated with this reflection.

    Read More

  • Asian Americans In Higher Education

    2189 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Chinese were the first immigrate to the West, starting in the 1850's to work in California’s gold mines and railroads. Limitations on immigration began in 1882, with the Chinese Exclusion Act, which became a permanent feature in U.S. Immigration policy in 1904 severally limiting who can enter except students, travelers, merchants and a few others. This was Act was repealed in 1943 (Hirschman & Wong, 1986).

    Read More

More about In The Shadow Of Gold Mountain Essay

Open Document