The Rice Room - A Conflict of Generations

The blood amid the Statesns and Chinese immigrants in calcium is complex, to say the least. Chinese immigrants helped build much of the stem and introduced intensive farming to the alcove Area in the 1800s, but, in spite of these contributions, continued to be viewed as unwanted laborers by the Americans. By the 1870s unemployment rates were rising in America, and the Chinese immigrants quickly became the whipping boy for American duress. There was a rise in Anti-Chinese (anti-coolie) movements that sweep across California (24). These movements bleed to the closure of many Chinese settlements and prompted Congress to pass the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1924 in-migration Act. These Congressional decisions only perpetuated the tale of racism and distrust snarl between the Americans and Chinese in California, which would continue well into the twentieth century. In his novel The strain Room, Ben Fong-Torres traces his complex cross-cultural hereditary pattern as a sp ot generation Chinese American during the mid 1900s; torn between the alluring American modus vivendi and the traditional cultural heritage his immigrant parents struggled to instill in him.\n standardised most immigrants, Bens parents came to America in search of the American Dream. Referred to California as the Golden Mountains , the coupled States offered an opportunity to make much money and provide for family indorse in China. Ben notes that his puzzle was encourage by his family to seek a greater fortune and thence return to fetch them  (11). His forefather did as he was told, and came to America via the Philippines. Like most Chinese immigrants in the 1920s, Bens father entered the terra firma illegally. Because there were strict limits on the number of Chinese immigrants allowed into America, Bens father added Torres to his name to convince in-migration officials that he was of Filipino descent. Bens scram also entered the country illegally, and both(prenominal ) lived in fear of existence disc...