Above: Former United States Ambassador to China Gary
Locke spoke at the commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Chinese
Exclusion Repeal Act on Sunday.
“Legislation matters, and so does its
reversal….let’s send that message.” - Beth Takekawa, executive director of the
Wing Luke Museum
By
Janine Gates
Little
Hollywood
It was a day of intensely personal and poignant storytelling
at an event commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Chinese
Exclusion Repeal Act.
The program was held at the Wing Luke Museum of the
Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle on Sunday.
Stories about the impact of racist and discriminatory federal
policies were told in first person by Bettie Luke, sister of Wing
Luke, and many others.
Wing Luke, a civil rights attorney, served as a Seattle city councilmember
from 1962 until his death in 1965. He was the first Asian American to hold elected
office in Washington State.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned the
immigration of Chinese to the United States. It also prohibited Chinese from
becoming naturalized citizens.
Native born Chinese American citizens could
face exclusion if they left the United States and tried to return. When they
returned, they faced extensive interrogations.
Subsequent legislation extended and further restricted
Chinese immigration and promoted anti-Chinese sentiment and violence.
The repeal act is known as the Magnuson Act of 1943,
named after Senator Warren G. Magnuson who proposed it when he was a member of the House of Representatives.
Even when repealed, only 105 Chinese per year were allowed
to enter the United States until 1965.
The exclusionary policies impacted Chinese
opportunities for housing, property ownership and employment for decades.
Many speakers
described that those policies can still be felt in their families today.
Above:
Bettie Luke, sister of Wing Luke, relates her family history while Lorraine Lee, center, and Connie So listen. Lee is chief administrative law judge of the
Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings and was a former
policy advisor to Governor Locke. So is principal lecturer of American Ethnic
Studies at the University of Washington, among other positions.
Bettie Luke said she did not hear stories or know much
about her heritage while growing up. She described the impact that lack of
knowledge had when her mother died.
“You’re caught in this dilemma where you’re told that
the ideal is the more American you become, the better accepted that you would
be….On the other hand, throw away your culture…. It’s such a push and pull.
“When my mother died, I asked my elders, ‘What do I
need to do for her funeral?’ And, caught in the push and pull dilemma, they
said, ‘Oh, we don’t do those things anymore.’ And I thought, ‘What? She was so
Chinese!’
“I wanted to make sure that she got a farewell that
was Chinese. So, I had to ask and ask and ask….It’s so heartbreaking to have to
throw away your culture. And so many of us lived that promise that the more
white American you became the more you would be accepted and that’s such a
loss.
“…Women are the keepers of the culture and there’s so
much that was lost, so much that we did not learn….Our family did not know the
name of mother's village or the name of our father’s village.
They located a relative who did know and were
able to connect with her mother’s family. Luke said she then found out that her
mother once had eight brothers, but three had died of starvation.
Her voice breaking, Luke said that realization was a
stab in the heart and personalized why her parents had worked so hard.
“They had an entire compound of relatives that they supported
so that they could live....that carried on for a long, long time….I was a
child and did not hear the stories. I wonder now about the following
generations. What do they care about? I want us to continue learning lessons….”
Gary Locke, former United States Ambassador to China and Washington State Governor, also spoke about his family history and the need to show compassion and fairness toward immigrants.
Saying he didn’t plan on speaking, Locke addressed some sensitive topics head-on.
Mentioning President Trump’s efforts to stop those
coming to the United States and deport those who are here, Locke expressed
concern with the rise in prejudice and discrimination.
“Our history is filled with prejudice against every wave
of foreigners and immigrants that have come here to this country. We need to
remember that and celebrate the successes we have had but use that celebration
to renew our determination to prevent others from facing that same
discrimination and prejudice.
“How is it that so many Chinese were able to come to American
despite the Chinese Exclusion Act? It’s because so many of our ancestors
claimed they were U.S. citizens or born to U.S. citizens, but the records had
been destroyed in San Francisco in the fire.
“And many of our relatives claimed to be U.S. citizens
or sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Why? Because they were paper sons,
paper daughters. Many of my relatives came to the United States as paper sons
and relatives. Families --U.S. citizens -- would go back to China and then
another family would pay to claim the son or daughter as the offspring of that
U.S. citizen so they could come in.
“So, sometimes the Chans were not really a Chan but a
Lee and the Lees weren’t really Lee but a Locke. And the Lockes weren’t really
a Locke but maybe they were a Woo. So, we, among our own people, have come here
illegally....
“So, before we go around saying, ‘Let’s kick out all
those immigrants that are here illegally, improperly, we need to look at
ourselves....
“And why is it that even when the Japanese were
incarcerated during World War II, soldiers volunteered to serve in the United
States Army when their parents and their brothers and sisters were behind
barbed wire concentration camps?
“Why is it that African Americans, facing so much segregation
in America, signed up to fight in World War II as part of the Tuskegee Airmen
and others, even though back home they faced such terrible discrimination? Also,
Native Americans, and the list goes on. It’s because they believed in the
essential goodness and destiny of America.
“We are not a perfect country. But we hold ourselves
up with high ideals and that’s why people of all generations come to America.
We in America are all foreigners or immigrants, whether we’re first generation
or tenth generation, except for the Native Americans. We are all foreigners.
“And what has made America great through all these centuries
is that beacon of hope and opportunity that has attracted generation after
generation of people…whether our ancestors came on the Mayflower or a slave
ship or on a boat from China.
“…. We’ve all sacrificed and given our blood, sweat
and tears for this country, and therefore when we see injustices being
perpetuated against other populations and other ethnic groups, it is our duty,
it is our responsibility to stand up for them.
“…. This is a celebration because 75 years ago we
repealed this racist act and it was a person from this state who then became a
U.S. senator who was responsible for that. So, we have much to be proud of, not
only in terms of our own ethnicity but the history of this state in correcting
racist acts and prejudicial acts.
Locke then related the story of his grandfather who
came over from China and worked as a houseboy in Olympia and later as a
chef at Virginia Mason Hospital.
Locke said it was Doctor Mason who told Locke’s
grandfather to bring his family to America. When he did so, his grandfather and
family members were held in detention at the immigration facility.
“It was Doc Mason who went down to the immigration
center to vouch for my grandfather, and got grandfather, my father, and my uncle
out….Act of courage. Act of kindness.
“We need to remember that and...show that same compassion and commitment to diversity and fairness to all
other groups in America. Let’s celebrate, let’s learn more about our history
and our past, and let’s continue to fight,” said Locke.
Staff members with the National Archives at Seattle’s
Sandpoint Way office also spoke and encouraged those interested in genealogy to
use their database and research expertise.
Much can be learned in the
interrogation interviews and marriage, birth and death records of Chinese
immigrants and others, they said.
Hao-Jan Chang of Bellevue said he has documented 24 generations of Gary
Locke’s ancestry to the year 1275.
The Chinese American Citizens Alliance (Seattle Lodge) co-organized Sunday’s event.
Correction, December 17, 2018: Bettie Luke’s mother had eight brothers, not eleven, as originally reported.
The Chinese American Citizens Alliance (Seattle Lodge) co-organized Sunday’s event.
Correction, December 17, 2018: Bettie Luke’s mother had eight brothers, not eleven, as originally reported.
