The Good Immigrants : How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority / Madeline Y. Hsu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hsu, Madeline Yuan-yin, author.

Series:

Politics and society in twentieth-century America.

Politics and Society in Modern America ; 114

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political refugees--United States--History.

Political refugees.

Racism--Political aspects--United States.

Racism.

Chinese Americans--Ethnic identity.

Chinese Americans.

Chinese Americans--Cultural assimilation.

Chinese Americans--History.

China--Emigration and immigration--History.

China.

United States--Emigration and immigration--Government policy--History.

United States.

United States--Race relations--History.

United States--Ethnic relations--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (353 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Conventionally, US immigration history has been understood through the lens of restriction and those who have been barred from getting in. In contrast, The Good Immigrants considers immigration from the perspective of Chinese elites-intellectuals, businessmen, and students-who gained entrance because of immigration exemptions. Exploring a century of Chinese migrations, Madeline Hsu looks at how the model minority characteristics of many Asian Americans resulted from US policies that screened for those with the highest credentials in the most employable fields, enhancing American economic competitiveness. The earliest US immigration restrictions targeted Chinese people but exempted students as well as individuals who might extend America's influence in China. Western-educated Chinese such as Madame Chiang Kai-shek became symbols of the US impact on China, even as they patriotically advocated for China's modernization. World War II and the rise of communism transformed Chinese students abroad into refugees, and the Cold War magnified the importance of their talent and training. As a result, Congress legislated piecemeal legal measures to enable Chinese of good standing with professional skills to become citizens. Pressures mounted to reform American discriminatory immigration laws, culminating with the 1965 Immigration Act. Filled with narratives featuring such renowned Chinese immigrants as I. M. Pei, The Good Immigrants examines the shifts in immigration laws and perceptions of cultural traits that enabled Asians to remain in the United States as exemplary, productive Americans.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Tables

Abbreviations

Note on Transliterations

Chapter 1. Gateways and Gates in American Immigration History

Chapter 2. "The Anglo-Saxons of the Orient" Student Exceptions to the Racial Bar against Chinese, 1872−1925

Chapter 3. The China Institute in America Advocating for China through Educational Exchange, 1926-1937

Chapter 4. "A Pressing Problem of Interracial Justice" Repealing Chinese Exclusion, 1937-1943

Chapter 5. The Wartime Transformation of Student Visitors into Refugee Citizens, 1943-1955

Chapter 6. "The Best Type of Chinese" Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals and Symbolic Refugee Relief, 1952-1960

Chapter 7. "Economic and Humanitarian" Propaganda and the Redemption of Chinese Immigrants through Refugee Relief

Chapter 8. Symbiotic Brain Drains Immigration Reform and the Knowledge Worker Recruitment Act of 1965

Chapter 9. Conclusion The American Marketplace of Brains

Acknowledgments

Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Credits:

Jacket photograph: 1959 publicity still of refugees in Hong Kong boarding one of the last Pan Am planes chartered by the voluntary agency Aid Refugee Chinese Intellectuals, Inc. ARCI Collection, Box 1, “Chartered Flights.” Courtesy of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Pilot project,eBook available to selected US libraries only

Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-324) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780691176215

0691176213

9781400866373

1400866375

OCLC:

1016855623