During the nineteenth century, Anti-Asian hostility and the fear of "cheap" Asian labor led to the call for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years.
A Cartoon from The Wasp Magazine of 1893, vol. 30, pp. 10-11 reads: THE QUESTION Of THE HOUR: Uncle Sam: "Gosh ! I've got this critter lassoed right enough but how in thunder am I going to get him over thar to China? [from Ron Takaki, Iron Cages]
During WWII Anti-Asian hostility was directed against the Japanese, while Chinese became the "good" Asians. There was a concerted effort to try to distinguish Japanese from Chinese, even by using "physical anthropology." Here is one example:
A look back at Life magazine of December 1941:
Even Chinese and Koreans tried to distinguish themselves from Japanese by wearing "I am Chinese" or "I am Korean" buttons. See the story "Wiltshire Bus" By Hisaye Yamamoto, in Seventeen Syllables
In reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were interned in "relocation camps" as suspected Alien enemies. For more on this subject see the internment homepage.
Asian American Statistics and Stereotypes
Yahoo Asian American Home Page
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