THE CHINESE IN AMERICA
A Narrative History
By IRIS CHANG
New York: Viking Penguin, 2003. 448 pages, $29.95

reviewed by Adrienne Mong

In 1853, at the height of the gold rush that drew the first wave of Chinese hoping to try their luck in America, an editorial in the San Francisco Daily Alta California asserted that, "[The Chinese] have certain redeeming features of craft, industry and economy. . . . But they are not of that kin that Americans can ever associate or sympathize with. They are not of our people and will never be." Roughly a century and a half later, as newspaper reports alleged that Chinese American scientist Wen Ho Lee had transferred nuclear secrets to China, Senator Richard Shelby (R.-Ala) proclaimed in a television interview, "We've got to remember the Chinese are everywhere . . . They're real. They're here. And probably in some ways, very crafty people." Such has been the recurring experience of Chinese Americans, as depicted in a new book by Iris Chang, author of the 1997 best-selling The Rape of Nanking. The writer combed through hundreds of memoirs, oral histories, museum archives, books and articles, and official documents to produce The Chinese in America, a persuasive narrative history that illustrates acceptance can be difficult and problematic even if assimilation has been successful.

"The America of today would not be the same America without the achievements of its ethnic Chinese," writes Chang. "Scratch the surface of every American celebrity of Chinese heritage and you will find that, no matter how stellar their achievements, no matter how great their contribution to U.S. society, virtually all of them have had their identities questioned at one point or another."

As a group, Chinese Americans have contributed overwhelmingly in the economic sphere, dating back to the first flood of arrivals from Guangdong Province in the 1850s. From the well-documented construction of the transcontinental railway to farming to laundries to large retail emporiums, they quickly developed a reputation for working hard and long hours as well as a remarkable entrepreneurial flair. Their commercial and financial successes, unfortunately, provoked widespread resentment from other Americans. During periods of economic stress, the Chinese became easy scapegoats. Take for instance the post–Civil War era, which saw rampant land speculation and the rise of the robber barons who built railroad monopolies and other industrial empires. At this time, the backlash took the extreme form of the Chinese Exclusion Acts, which banned further Chinese immigration. When controls relaxed and the flow of Chinese to the United States recovered a steady pace in the next century, challenges of a different sort emerged to complicate their integration into the greater community. The "precarious status of the Chinese community in America," writes Chang, became "linked to the complex web of international politics, and more recently to the relationship between . . . the United States and China."

The general standing of Chinese Americans waxed and waned throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. A low point was the McCarthy era; as the hysteria over the spread of communism peaked, the Chinese suffered political persecution and scrutiny of their finances. More recently, the Wen Ho Lee affair illustrated that China's emergence as a global power has stoked old fears and suspicions amongst other Americans about the loyalty of Chinese Americans. An oft-repeated solution to achieving greater acceptance is for Chinese Americans to take a more active role in the political process. Yet, a long history of political activism does exist, Chang argues, undermining "the myth that Chinese Americans have stood by and suffered abuse as silent, passive victims." Dating back to the passage of the Exclusion laws, individual Chinese have waged legal and political battles to ensure their rights as Americans.

Given the long-standing obstacles, the achievements of a three-million-strong community that makes up only one percent of the total population are remarkable. Particularly as those accomplishmentswhether they be scientific discoveries or artistic featshelped the development of the country, a point Chang repeatedly drives home. In fact, one of the book's weaknesses is the relentless underscoring of Chinese American achievements to the point of near parody, as when Chang footnotes Chung Mun-yew, a Chinese student who "became coxswain for the Yale varsity crew team, helping Yale defeat Harvard in 1880 and 1881."

The author also seems to have sacrificed depth and analysis in her pursuit of writing a comprehensively detailed history. At times, it seems she glosses over some of the more significant general events; the impact of Pearl Harbor on Chinese who were mistaken for Japanese or of McCarthyism in the 1950s are but two examples. Her emphasis on individual experiences is admirable, but these stories also require a stronger contextual history. Nonetheless, Chang's coverage is impressive for the unusual stories she tells. For example, she devotes a chapter to the history of Taiwanese Americans, which has yet to find itself in book form for a general audience. She has also tried to be as diverse and current as possible, even including the recent trend of adopting Chinese baby girls. Most importantly, however, Chang has produced a thorough and engaging account of a people who to this day are still often considered "foreigners" in their own land.