Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America

When gold was discovered in California in 1848, the news spread even to China, where many decided to make the long journey to the States in search of riches. New Yorker reporter Luo tells the story of early Chinese immigrants to the United States from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. Most of the first arrivals didn’t strike it rich and looked for other opportunities, such as working on the transcontinental railroad. White American reactions to their presence ranged from welcoming to hostile. Over time, the hostility grew and was expressed in lynchings and violence that targeted the Chinese community. Political leaders reacted by passing laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; Luo clearly explains the bureaucratic processes used to enforce them. As he traces this history of immigration, readers will appreciate learning about the experiences of individuals such as Yung Wing, a Chinese student who played football while a student at Yale in the 1850s, and Wong Kim Ark, whose Supreme Court case established birthright citizenship in the U.S.