The Land of the Free Essay Example

after the Little One came back home, he could not recognize his parents any more. Birds fly free but not human beings. Everyone looks at United States as a great country to live. The mother Lae choo promised her child this belief and assured her child “See, Little one, the hills in the morning sun. There is thy home for years.

It is very beautiful and though wilt be very happy there” (Far, 1909, P148), the mother further assured the child, “Yes my olive bud: There is where thy father is making fortune for thee” (Far, 1909, P149). She was saying with highly expectations that her family would have a wonderful future as long as they landed on this dream country. However, the truth is that when she landed on this free land, she even did not have the freedom to stay with her baby. Thus, for immigrants, the free land was not actually free, because the discrimination to them destroyed many immigrants’ fond dreams and glorious lives.

Furthermore, the discrimination was fully expressed by the unfair treatment to them during that period. The Chinese Exclusion Act is unfair to Chinese, because it destroyed their hopes to seek a better life. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act “defined excludables as skilled and unskilled labors and Chinese employed in mining. Thus very few Chinese could enter the country under the 1882 law” (Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882, P1). The law proscribing Chinese “skilled or unskilled” labors entering in the U. S. is unfair, because everyone should have the equal rights to pursuit the wonderful and free life.

If Chinese people are more qualified or capable

than their competitors to take some jobs in the U. S. , they should have rights to live in their dream country. Before the Act was started, Chinese immigrants were seriously discriminated. First, most of Chinese immigrants were only afforded menial avocations and earned the low wages. Furthermore, unlike negro slave of the South, who was housed and fed, Chinese only got the white trash (low social class and degraded living standards) of California. Later, however, when Chinese were popular in American labor market, the unfair treatment to them was even worse.

Because they were cheap labors, Chinese were favorable in labor market; therefore, or many years it was impossible to get white persons to do the menial labor usually performed by Chinese. In 1880s, “American Federation of Labor, argued that the very presence of Chinese dragged down the living standards of whites” (A clear and Present Danger, 1991, P1), so American government started to prevent Chinese from entering in the U. S. The primary reason why Chinese undermined native-born Americans’ lives is that Chinese were cheaper labors and had lower living standards afforded by their employers than their competitors.

Thus, most native American claimed that Chinese immigrants gradually invaded one industry after another until not merely the places of their girls as “domestics and cooks, the laundry of out poorer white women”, but the places of the men and boys, as “boot and shoemakers” (A clear and Present Danger, 1991, P1). Therefore, we can see some discrimination and unfair treatments against Chinese immigrants in the late 1880s. Firstly, for doing a same job, Chinese earned lower wages than whites (A clear and

Present Danger, 1991, P2).

Both Chinese and whites are human beings, and Chinese paid out the same time and energy to finish the same task as whites did; however, they only could receive much low wages. So, this fact indicates that because of the discrimination, Chinese labors were unfairly treated by American employers. Secondly, In 1881, American Federation of Labor, which prohibited Chinese taking jobs away from whites, stated that “The presence of Chinese and their competition with free white labor is one of the greatest evils with which any country can be afflicted… we use our best efforts to get rid of this monstrous evil” (A clear and Present Danger, 1991, P2).

This statement is unfair, because everyone should have the equal opportunity to take jobs. In present, we would respect a person if he does not mind to work hard but to earn low wages. However, during that period, base on the unfair law, Chinese not only did not have the equal chance to work in the U. S. but also were even not allowed entering in the country. In the story “In the land of Free”, we also can see the unfair treatment. The author portrays "The Little One protested lustily against the transfer; but his mother covered her face with her sleeve and his father silently lead her away.

Thus was the law of the land complied with" (Far, 1909, P150). The picture before us is that a young child was taken away by the American Officer and separated from his parents. The father, Hom Hing even did not have the opportunity to stay with his son for

a single day. Thus, this family was treated unfairly by the American Government, because although the Little One did not have the legal paper, he was too young to be taken away from his parents. Because once the child was separated from his parents, his parents would be very sad, and when he came back, he would change a lot.

In the first night after the Little One was taken away, the mother, Lea choo was too sad to fall to sleep. She cried, and she even could not close her eyes without holding her Little One. She thought that the day she lost her son was longer than her whole life time. Later we know that the Little One was placed in a mission home. Lea Choo and Hom Hing had to forgo their family valuables to a lawyer to get the paperwork to claim the Little One. Lea Choo paid all her precious jewelries to the lawyer but she was still not immediately returned the child she lost.

After ten months, Choo was reunited with her Little One, who’s only response upon witnessing the woman who he used to know and love as his mother, was at that time saying “go’way, go’way. ” he didn't remember his family or his language anymore. Thus, the family suffered a lot of unhappiness. This story happened in San Francisco, and during that period, Chinese immigrants were seriously discriminated against and unfairly treated. However, from 1882 to present, in nearly 130 years, San Francisco has become a city of America with the largest population of Chinese mmigrants.

Also, along with the joining of Chinese

immigrants, its economy has been progressing quickly. Two reasons account for this fact. First, America is more and more open to accept competent people, so more and more Chinese are allowed to enter in the U. S. In addition, during this 130 years, American government have reformed laws about immigration for several times, and immigrants have been treated better and better and have been easier to enter in the U. S.

Secondly, Chinese are good source in American labor market, because they are cheap and working hard; therefore, lots of American employers are willing to hire them. “Because immigrants increase the size of the total labor force, complement the native-born workforce”, the economy in the U. S. is better and better (Kelley, 2008, P2). So, with the development of our modern society, any regulation and law should be changed in order to make a more fair, more advanced and more completed society.