AN OVERDUE APOLOGY

By ZHANG GUOQING

AN OVERDUE APOLOGY

By ZHANG GUOQING

The United States needs to recognize its past wrongdoings against Chinese Americans

Ne arly 130 years after the United States shut its doors to Chinese immigrants with the Chinese Exclusion Act, U.S. lawmakers put forward resolutions in both houses of Congress calling for an official statement of regret. Symbolically, the introduction of the bipartisan resolutions on May 26 coincided with a Senate hearing on the confirmation of Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, a Chinese American, as the new U.S.Ambassador to China.

Passed by Congress in 1882, the Act banned immigration by Chinese workers and their naturalization as U.S. citizens. It was the fi rst and only federal legislation legalizing racial discrimination in U.S. history.

The Act, originally intended to last 10 years, was renewed for another 10 years in 1892 and later extended inde fi nitely. It was not repealed until 1943 during World War II when the United States joined China’s fi ght against Japanese invasion.

Never too late

Psychologists say the best time to apologize is within 48 hours after an offense is committed. Justice delayed is justice denied, they agree.Despite this, Chinese Americans have yet to receive even the faintest hint of an apology. Their hopes are that the U.S. Government will redress its past mistakes and create a conducive political environment for Chinese descendants living and working in the United States.

In other words, Chinese Americans expect an expression of regret for past wrongdoings to have positive implications for the future. Although the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, its historical legacy has yet to be eliminated,Judy Chu, a sponsor of the House resolution and Chair of the Congressional Asian Paci fi c American Caucus, said in March.

She urged Congress to express regret to the Chinese American community not only because she wants justice to be served, but also because she hopes the U.S. Government will treat Chinese Americans, Asian Americans and other minorities as equals when enacting future laws, she said.

In recent decades, the U.S. Government apologized for a number of historical blunders. For instance, Congress adopted the Civil Liberties Act in 1988, apologizing for interning Japanese Americans during World War II and granting each surviving internee$20,000 in compensation. Then President Bill Clinton signed a resolution in 1993 offering an apology to native Hawaiians for U.S. participation in the overthrow of their kingdom a century earlier. The U.S.Government also apologized to African Americans and American Indians.

These precedents involved injustices in the distant past. American Indians and African Americans, in particular, received apologies for maltreatments they suffered more than 150 years ago. It’s no surprise then that the U.S. Congress has taken so long to recognize its folly in discriminating against Chinese Americans. For one thing, Congress tends to focus on immediate concerns while showing little interest in historical issues. For another, the United States lacks motivation to re fl ect upon its policies that in fl icted sufferings upon other peoples.

Driving factors

Psychologists say the best time to apologize is within 48 hours after an offense is committed. Justice delayed is justice denied, they agree

Relations between China and the United States have blossomed dramatically over the past decade. As it gains a more reasonable perception of China, the United States is coming to terms with China’s rise.

In recent years, Chinese Americans have moved up the ladder in U.S. society. Many of them, such as Locke and Chu, have made headway in the U.S. political arena.

The number of Chinese Americans has approached 4 million and is expected to hit 6 million by 2020, making them the third largest ethnic minority group in the United States. The importance of Chinese Americans has grown remarkably these days, a sharp contrast to the late 19th century when ethnic Chinese, many of whom had been recruited to build the transcontinental railroad, were discriminated from their fellow Caucasian workers. More than 100,000ethnic Chinese were living in the United States at the end of the 19th century, said an AFP report.

POLITICAL SUCCESS: Chinese American politician Jean Quan attends a dinner in Oakland, California, on November 12, 2010, celebrating her election as the city’s mayor.Quan is the first Asian American woman to head a major city in the United States

The soaring influence of Chinese Americans will help them win an apology from Congress. Chinese Americans have shown great solidarity for this cause. More than 100 Chinese associations across the United States are behind Chu’s initiative.

In July 2009, then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a resolution apologizing to Chinese Americans for past discriminatory laws. The resolution also acknowledged the great contributions Chinese Americans made to California’s development.

Canada has also taken action. In 2006,Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a full apology to Chinese Canadians for the head tax and the exclusion of Chinese immigrants from 1923 to 1947. The Canadian Government also promised symbolic payments to those who were required to pay the head tax and to the spouses of deceased head tax payers.

Chinese American initiative

Since becoming the first Chinese American woman elected to the U.S.Congress, Chu has put the introduction of an apology resolution at the top of her political agenda. Her grandfather was one of the victims of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

While running for Congress in California, Chu kept in close touch with Paul Fong, a member of the California State Assembly. Fong, also a Chinese American,was the main sponsor of California’s apology resolution.

Haipei Shue, President of the Washington,D.C.-based National Council of Chinese Americans, launched the 1882 Project to support Chu’s campaign. The Museum of Chinese Americans in New York City also held exhibitions to promote a better understanding of Chinese American history.

Indeed, many Chinese Americans know little about the Chinese Exclusion Act, let alone other Americans.

“Most Americans are not familiar with the Act and the extraordinary levels of discrimination against Asian Americans,”said Mike Coffman, a Congressman from Colorado who co-sponsored the House resolution with Chu.

Judy Biggert, another co-sponsor of the House resolution from Illinois, said she supports the bill because the United States is “a country where everyone is equal and gets equal rights.”

“We have to keep that in front for future generations, because otherwise it will happen to someone else in a similar way,” she said.

The timing of the resolutions was crucial. She could have introduced a resolution last year, but Sino-U.S. relations hit a rough patch following Washington’s decision to sell arms to Taiwan, U.S. President Barack Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama and disputes over trade imbalances, causing her to delay action. In May, she took action,shortly after Obama launched his re-election campaign. Given his low approval rating,Obama needs to court voters, including Chinese American voters.

But activists still have a long way to go to get the resolutions passed in both chambers of Congress. Since Chinese Americans do not have a big say in mainstream U.S.media, it will be difficult for them to draw continued attention to the resolutions. At the moment, the U.S. Congress is too preoccupied with domestic and diplomatic challenges to allocate time for bills on racial discrimination more than a century old.

Historically, Chinese Americans have been uninterested in American politics.More often than not, they chose to remain silent instead of struggling for equal rights.Today, many young Chinese Americans are not fully aware of the lingering impact of Chinese exclusion laws. Many Chinese immigrants also tend to forget past grievances after naturalization. These attitudes could hinder progress in seeking an apology too.

Fong, who has backed Chu’s efforts to seek an apology at the federal level, said it is of pivotal importance to educate Chinese Americans about their history. He has called on Chinese Americans to make concerted efforts to push for the passage of the resolutions.

The author is a researcher with the Institute of

American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences