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A Legal History of Anti-Chinese Racism in America

Beth Lew-Williams· 9 septembre 2026

In the history of the Chinese in America, the border has caught our attention and held it. Chinese migrants’ attempts to cross the border, and America’s attempts to stop them, is the story that historians have told and retold. But

Résumé

Early Chinese migrants

Chinese migrants began arriving in California in the 1850s, during a period when the United States was still a young nation with a long history of white dominance.

White Americans in the West viewed these newcomers as exotic and fundamentally different due to their race, religion, and perceived slavish tendencies.

Laws and customs were quickly put in place to exclude Chinese people from full participation in society, regulating their ability to work, own property, testify in court, access education, and form families.

These restrictions were not just formal but also carried an unspoken threat of violence.

Despite these barriers, Chinese migrants resisted these racial laws both in and out of court, preventing them from fully dictating reality.

The article highlights that while formal laws were harsh, their enforcement in daily life often varied, creating gaps where Chinese people could sometimes claim rights not formally granted to them.

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