In a lot of ways, fear is the primary motivator behind the Chinese Exclusion Act. Not just the fear you might be thinking of: spiders. (Because who's not scared of spiders?)
But not even xenophobia comes from an exclusively racist place.
Remember that the Chinese Exclusion Act partially came out of the Panic of 1873. "Panic" is a specific kind of fear. It's not the controlled kind that heroes get where they're running from dinosaurs. That kind of fear is rational. They can do stuff that makes sense, like shooting the dinosaurs, locking doors behind them, and regretting cloning dinosaurs in the first place. Panic means flailing and screaming.
You're doing dumb stuff, like excluding the Chinese from the country.
Questions About Fear
- How much of the fear motivating the Chinese Exclusion Act was based on racism and how much on economic conditions? If the end result is the same, does it matter?
- Has fear ever resulted in a positive outcome politically? If so, when? If not, why does it remain one of the driving forces in politics?
- What is the difference between fear and hatred with regards to the Chinese Exclusion Act? Is there a difference?
- How can the fear expressed in the Chinese Exclusion Act be a blueprint for modern political struggles? What does it show you? What can you learn?
Chew on This
The Chinese Exclusion Act was born from the fear of economic collapse, and though it was targeted at a specific ethnicity, this was a political reality, as business interests were not going to be regulated.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was born from a fear of a very different culture and ethnicity. Though it used economics as a flimsy justification, it is fundamentally about race.