Journal Entry June 12, 1907
When I came to America, I wanted to make a life for myself
and for my family. I have been running a laundry service in St. Louis for
twenty years now, working hard to make my way and provide for my wife and our
three children. I have been very thankful to have connections to other Chinese
people in the community. They make me feel at home, especially in those moments
when white Americans ridicule and abuse us simply for being Chinese. I thought
it was bad enough that some whites were so against us, depicting us as filthy
beasts without humanity, but then I came across a young immigration interpreter
of Chinese descent who treats his own people with such disrespect that it makes
me feel ill.
The man’s name is Frank Tape and he has become notorious in
our community. He has been accused of extorting money from poor Chinese
families trying to reunite with their loved ones. He is unnecessarily cruel to
the members of our community. I wrote an anonymous letter to let the
immigration officials know how we feel about him: “All our Chinese will have no
life to see the sky and sun. O! Why our Chinese have so much misfortune happen
to them and have such a cruel and corrupt officer; then what can we do?” (132).
Our lives were difficult enough before Tape came here.
I have not uncovered much about Tape’s personal life and
past. His family lives in California and he was apparently born there. I doubt
he had much connection with the Chinese community in the Bay Area, since his
Cantonese is so weak. He wears the uniform of the immigration officials and
wears American style clothes even when he is off duty. It seems as if he was
raised without much knowledge of traditional Chinese culture or customs.
Despite his seemingly pure American identity, how can he be so quick to forget
his Chinese heritage? Does he not see his own family’s past when being so
brutal to newer Chinese immigrants? Does he really think the white people will
ever fully accept him, even if he treats the rest of us so terribly?
The young man confuses me, to say the least. He has created
a lot of tension and distrust in our community. Some merchants took up a
collection to secure his transfer out of St. Louis and I gladly donated what I
could. I hope that he will someday see that the Chinese are troubled enough
with the racism and harassment of white Americans without having to be so
insulted by our own kind.
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