![\"Author](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Screen-Shot-2026-03-11-at-10.30.23-PM.jpg\")
Author Michael Luo and his book Strangers in the Land, which he discussed in Portland in the Oregon Historical Societty\u2019s Mark O. Hatfield Lecture Series.<\/p>\nAuthor Michael Luo and his book Strangers in the Land, which he discussed in Portland in the Oregon Historical Societty\u2019s Mark O. Hatfield Lecture Series.<\/p>\n
New Yorker magazine journalist Michael Luo<\/a> gave a talk on the history of the Chinese in America on Tuesday, March 10 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall as part of the Oregon Historical Society\u2019s Mark O. Hatfield Lecture Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n Luo began the idea of a book on the Chinese in 2016 when he and his family were subjected to racial discrimination and verbal abuse by a woman on the streets of New York City.\u00a0 Shortly afterward, he began researching the archives of various libraries to find out more on Chinese history in the United States.\u00a0What resulted is his book Strangers in the Land ($24 paperback, Doubleday)<\/a> that vividly described the experiences of Chinese migrants in America.<\/p>\n In a spirited presentation, Luo began his talk by quoting from the 2020 National Book Award winning novel Interior Chinatown<\/a> by Charles Yu, whose main protagonist is Willis Wu. Wu is unable to rise in a television program because he is Asian rather than Black or white. Yu believes that Chinese \u201ckeep falling out of the story.\u201d\u00a0 Luo asked the question: \u201cWho gets to be an American?\u201d<\/p>\n Luo believed that his book is trying to change that narrative.<\/p>\n Luo\u2019s presentation began in the 1840s on the West Coast. San Francisco was a dusty, windswept settlement. Gold was discovered in 1848 in the Sacramento Valley. This discovery set off an unprecedented mass movement of people from around the world who came to the United States.\u00a0 It is uncertain when the news of gold in the western part of the U.S. reached China.<\/p>\n In 1878, a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle set out to investigate the advent of Chinese coming to America when he said in his article, \u201cThe Mongolian octopus developed and fastened its tentacles upon the city.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the first places that new Chinese migrants went when they first came to the United States was the Sam Yup Company in San Francisco. It was a benevolent society that looked after the interests of Chinese immigrants. Word of the gold rush passed from person to person. Soon after, hundreds and later thousands of Chinese people would start looking for gold in the hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.<\/p>\n A ship carrying gold dust arrived in Hong Kong on Christmas Day in 1848 and the Hudson\u2019s Bay Company investigated the gold. Word spread to the Pearl River Delta, a populous area in eastern China.\u00a0 Many of the gold-seeking migrants came to the United States during the 19th century from the Siyi (Four Counties) area. Many Chinese used their savings or put their land up as collateral to fund their trip to America to seek gold on \u201cGold Mountain.\u201d Brothers asked brothers and fathers sent word to sons to join them.<\/p>\n By 1860, Chinese migrants made up just under 10% of California\u2019s population.\u00a0 Other groups seeking gold in the area were Spanish-speaking settlers, Indigenous peoples, Black Americans, Hawaiians, Scottish, Irish, German and French. This was an experiment in a multiracial democracy that had no previous precedent in our nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Luo did an excellent job during his presentation of being even-handed and not glossing over the past as he discussed the Chinese migration to the United States.<\/p>\n He pointed out during his talk that there were no federal laws in the United States during the first century of our history limiting or restricting immigration.\u00a0The Founding Fathers encouraged immigration to secure the future of the United States. In the 1850s, Chinese immigrants were initially welcomed in San Francisco.<\/p>\n As Chinese migration continued, the sentiment of white Americans toward them \u2014 changed, and grew ugly.\u00a0 On the East Coast, the debate was over slavery. On the West Coast, a different kind of racial conflict broke out. The first incidents of racial violence occurred in the mine fields. Lawmakers passed laws targeting the Chinese. The highest court in California ruled that Chinese testimony was inadmissible in court against a white person.<\/p>\n Politicians saw an opportunity in the rising anti-Chinese sentiment and began calling for the removal of Chinese people, casting Chinese immigrants as a threat to Anglo-Saxon civilization.<\/p>\n These same politicians referred to Chinese migrants as \u201ccoolie laborers\u201d and barred them from naturalized citizenship. In the 1870s, both political parties began a bipartisan effort to ban the Chinese. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese from entering the United States for 10 years. This was the first time the United States government had barred people from coming into the country based on race. Chinese people continued streaming into the United States and finding ways around the laws.<\/p>\n![\"Hand](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hand2Mouth_ARTSWATCH-Feb-2026.jpg\")
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