California's Chinese immigrants helped build ships, levees, irrigation systems and the transcontinental railroad. They worked in farm fields and mines. For their efforts, they were rewarded with special taxes, forced out of towns and denied the rights to own property, marry whites and attend public schools. They also were subjected to violence and intimidation and denied equal protection by the courts.. . . . . . . . . . .
Californian State Assemblyman Paul Fong, a Cupertino Democrat whose maternal grandfather was subjected to immigration restrictions, thinks it's time the state and the federal governments formally apologize for mistreatment of the Chinese.
"To move forward and become a stronger state, we need to recognize our mistakes," Fong said at a news conference.
The Chinese started coming to California in large numbers during the Gold Rush in the mid 1800s, hoping to strike it rich and return home. Many stayed and more came, working in the mines or taking other jobs. In 1882, they were made the targets of the United States' first law limiting immigration based on race or nationality, the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Fong has said "They couldn't marry who they wanted. They couldn't buy property until the 1950s. Asians couldn't become (naturalized) citizens."
” Eddie Wong, executive director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, said Chinese immigrants made "tremendous contributions to building society, building the economy of California. That should be recognized along with an apology.". . . . . . . . .
Apologies for government mistreatment and reparations have been rare in Congress. In 1988, Congress apologized for the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and offered $20,000 payments to survivors. It also issued an apology in 1993 to native Hawaiians for the unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
A spokeswoman for state Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Temecula, said he had no comment on the proposal. Representatives of Chinese-American groups that appeared at the news conference supported the resolution.
"It's a moral imperative for the Legislature to rectify past injustices fmdw111008 addjgvldo by apologizing," said Ivy Lee, former president of the Chinese American Political Action Committee. "Without an apology, we cannot move forward and promote reconciliation."
