Ebook148 pages2 hours
Paper Son: One Man's Story
By Tung Chin
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
In this remarkable memoir, Tung Pok Chin casts light on the largely hidden experience of those Chinese who immigrated to this country with false documents during the exclusion era. Although scholars have pieced together their history, first-person accounts are rare and fragmented; many of the so-called "Paper Sons" lived out their lives in silent fear of discovery. Chin's story speaks for the many Chinese who worked in urban laundries and restaurants, but it also introduces an unusually articulate man's perspective on becoming Chinese American.
Chin's story begins in the early 1930s, when he followed the example of his father and countless other Chinese who bought documents that falsely identified them as children of Chinese Americans. Arriving in Boston and later moving to New York City, he worked and lived in laundries. Chin was determined to fit into American life and dedicated himself to learning English. But he also became an active member of key organizations -- a church, the Chinese Hand Laundrymen's Alliance, and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association -- that anchored him in the community. A self-reflective and expressive man, Chin wrote poetry commenting on life in China and the hardships of being an immigrant in the United States. His work was regularly published in the China Daily News and brought him to the attention of the FBI, then intent on ferreting out communists and illegal immigrants. His vigorous narrative speaks to the day-to-day anxieties of living as a Paper Son as well as the more universal immigrant experiences of raising a family in modest circumstances and bridging cultures.
Historian K. Scott Wong introduces Chin's memoir, discussing the limitations on immigration from China and what is known about Exclusion-era Chinese American communities. Set in historical context, Tung Pok Chin's unique story offers and engaging account of a twentieth-century Paper Son.
Chin's story begins in the early 1930s, when he followed the example of his father and countless other Chinese who bought documents that falsely identified them as children of Chinese Americans. Arriving in Boston and later moving to New York City, he worked and lived in laundries. Chin was determined to fit into American life and dedicated himself to learning English. But he also became an active member of key organizations -- a church, the Chinese Hand Laundrymen's Alliance, and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association -- that anchored him in the community. A self-reflective and expressive man, Chin wrote poetry commenting on life in China and the hardships of being an immigrant in the United States. His work was regularly published in the China Daily News and brought him to the attention of the FBI, then intent on ferreting out communists and illegal immigrants. His vigorous narrative speaks to the day-to-day anxieties of living as a Paper Son as well as the more universal immigrant experiences of raising a family in modest circumstances and bridging cultures.
Historian K. Scott Wong introduces Chin's memoir, discussing the limitations on immigration from China and what is known about Exclusion-era Chinese American communities. Set in historical context, Tung Pok Chin's unique story offers and engaging account of a twentieth-century Paper Son.
Related to Paper Son
Related ebooks
At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hmong Means Free: Life in Laos and America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Chinese-America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Can We Go Back to America?: Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during WWII Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Latino Generation: Voices of the New America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChildren of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Faces of Exclusion: The Untold History of Anti-Asian Racism in the United States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights (National Book Award Finalist) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chinese Laundries: Tickets to Survival on Gold Mountain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAsian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adam's Tree Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrowing Up Asian American in Young Adult Fiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kay's Lucky Coin Variety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Woman Soldier's Own Story: The Autobiography of Xie Bingying Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRemembering Korea 1950: A Boy Soldier's Story Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5World.Wide.Web: Chinese Migration in the 21st Century—And How It Will Change the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alien Nation: Chinese Migration in the Americas from the Coolie Era through World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Genthe's Photographs of San Francisco's Old Chinatown Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5China Unbound: A New World Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Permanent Bond: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Diplomacy of Migration: Transnational Lives and the Making of U.S.-Chinese Relations in the Cold War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEthnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks And Other New Imiigrants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chinese Americans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hervey's Boys: New Jersey's First Chinese Community (and What Happened After That) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chinese Community of Stockton Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChina Smart: What You Don’t Know, What You Need to Know— A Past & Present Guide to History, Culture, Society, Language Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOakland's Chinatown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Ethnic Studies For You
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Rednecks & White Liberals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life Sentence: The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blood of Emmett Till Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Self-Care for Black Women: 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize Your Mind, Body, & Soul Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Spook Who Sat by the Door, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heavy: An American Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories of Rootworkers & Hoodoo in the Mid-South Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Like Me: The Definitive Griffin Estate Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wretched of the Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Boy [Seventy-fifth Anniversary Edition] Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Encyclopedia of the Yoruba Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red, White, and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for Paper Son
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Paper Son - Tung Chin
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1