A Short Analysis of Chinese Exclusion in Canada

A Short Analysis of Chinese Exclusion in Canada

Abigail Adu

212941332

Dr. Timothy McCauley

Asian immigration, particularly Chinese, but other Asiatic nationalities, including Hindus, to Canada during the late 1800s brought along with it a fury of resistance, exclusion, and racialization from labour leaders, and other members of Canadian society alike. The causes for the Otherization of the Oriental are widely debated by scholars, with factors ranging from the nature of social psychology (Ward, 1980, 17), to inherent racism present in late 1800 Canadians (Goutor, 2007, 113), and economic protection from ‘docile’ Asian workers willing to take lower wages while tolerating poorer working conditions (Mar, 2010, 114). Regardless of these varying views, this phenomenon of Chinese Exclusion provides for an indispensible opportunity to understand the nature of ethnic communities and host societies.  This paper will explore the following two questions – (a) were labour leaders hostile to Chinese workers because they stigmatized immigration as a whole, and were bigoted and discriminatory towards all radicalised groups? (b) How Marxist theories of immigration, and the nature of capitalism can explain the reaction of Canadian workers and labour leaders to Chinese immigration?  Drawing from scholarship on the subject, the first portion of the paper will make the case that there existed a multitude of reasons, including prejudice and stigmatization of immigration, but not solely, as the fear of Asian immigrants negatively affecting the trajectory of the labour movement by driving down wages remained influential. Once the details of the dynamics motivating hostility towards Chinese immigrations have been explored rigorously, an analysis of the events will be made using Marxist theories of immigration

First and foremost, it must be noted that labour leaders shared a strong rapport with Aboriginals and blacks. In the case of the aboriginals, this is illustrated very clearly by the TLC’s special order at the 1906 convention. Here, they insisted that there need be established a new union local made up of Cowichan native people from Vancouver Island. “The congress pledged its support to the efforts of the Cowichan people to gain land rights and a government-funded education system.” (Goutor, 2007, 120). The attitude of labour leaders towards blacks was one of solidarity and deep-seated sympathy towards their struggle against antebellum slavery. “Labour leaders often declared they wanted no part in the widespread racism against blacks in Canada.” (Goutor, 2007, 120). Needless to say, the racialization of blacks was far from an artifact of the past, however, due to the particular era of Canada’s labour movement (in the aftermath of the American Civil War), “American labour’s sense of solidarity with blacks was especially strong” and leaders showed new interest in “organizing workers across ‘the colour line’.” (Gotour, 2007, 121). Regrettably, this type of fraternity was not extended to Asians, nonetheless; it provides evidence against the notion that labour leaders were solely prejudiced towards all racialized groups.

The views of labour leaders towards immigrants from the British Isles and continental Europe, along with Eastern and Southern Europeans, is a useful tool in deconstructing the relationship between economic motivations and those of prejudice. In comparison to Asian immigrants, “European, especially British, immigrants expected better conditions and were radicalized.” (Creece, 1988, 26). None the less, like towards Asians, there existed a similar impetus for the denouncement towards immigration from the Atlantic – fear of wages being driven down. However, their plight was more or less dismissed as the ‘bribery’ of agents and promoters in their given homelands. Eastern and Southern Europeans, ranging from Italians, Hungarians to Poles, experienced less sympathy than their more ‘Western’ counterparts, and while they were racialized more so and grouped with Asians as ‘menaces’, they were trusted and seen to be capable of organizing. This sentiment is succinctly demonstrated by the TLC’s backing of the request to translate union material into ‘Ruthenian and Polish. (Goutor, 2007, 118). While labour leaders did not openly welcome Europeans, the hopefulness in their potency for assimilation sheds some light against the notion that prejudice towards racialized groups was the sole catalyst in the leader’s disdain for immigration.

With that said, there is no doubt that the hostility of labour leaders towards Asians wasn’t without prejudice. During the inaugural convention in 1883, “speakers assailed Chinese immigrants as ‘uncivilized,’ ‘unassimilable’ into Canadian society, ‘immoral,’ ‘unsanitary,’ ‘criminal,’ ‘idolatrous,’ ‘nothing less than slaves.” (Goutor, 2007, 114). In 1907, upper class women wanted to repeal the $500 Chinese head tax by distributing a petition against it. In response, the TLC noted, “…we think, absurd that the working class of Canada should run the risk of having its standard of living degraded to the level of a Chinese coolie…” (Creece, 1988, 33). Furthermore, labour leaders pursued the efforts to propagandize Chinatown by building “…stories of opium dens, sexual perversion, gambling and “tong wars.” (Morton, 2007, 54). They were accused of drugging white women, further reinforcing the stereotype that they were sexual predators. James Walker theorizes that these accusations were levied against Asians to keep them from employing white women, in an attempt to keep them from ownership by destroying the job competition of their businesses. (Goutour, 2007, 117). Labour leaders went further to push forward the belief that certain tendencies of Asians were intrinsic and inherent. The claim was such that “these ‘habits’ and living standards were so deeply ingrained in the character of different races that it was physically impossible for whites to live at the ‘level’ of ‘Asiatics.’” (Goutor, 2007, 116). They went so far as to say that white people would, in fact, starve if they tried to live off similar wages as those of their Asian counterparts. Furthermore, they went on to claim that the “…moral character of Asians was not the result of particular conditions, but part of the intrinsic character of the race.” (Goutor, 2007, 116). Labour leaders in central Canada and the prairies, suffering no urgent threat of Chinese migration, too, strangely, expressed great solidarity for Chinese exclusion. Quite suspiciously, attempts at Christianizing Asians was vehemently opposed, and “Canadian labour defended violence against ‘uncivilized’ immigrants by claiming the right of white workers to protect their livelihoods.” (Goutor, 2007, 117). The examples of rather undeniable racism and prejudice towards the Chinese discussed here, provides us with some evidence that to understand the exclusion of Asian workers rigorously, we cannot allude only to economic motivations.