Descendants reflect on Chinese rail workers 150 years later

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Descendants reflect on Chinese rail workers 150 years later
By TERRY TANG Associated Press May 9, 2019 Updated 6 hrs ago

Michael Kwan can't help but think about what life was like on a daily basis for his great-great-grandfather in the 1860s, working 12-hour days in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range on the Transcontinental Railroad that would reshape the American landscape.

"You're not talking about 12 hours sitting at a desk or sitting on a bench. You're talking about 12 hours of lifting and hammering and blowing things up," said Kwan, a judge in Salt Lake City. "And I complain when my trainer says we're going to add 10 pounds."

Kwan and other Chinese Americans are pushing for these workers — some of whom lost their lives building the Western portion of the railroad — to get more than a token mention in history books. This week marks 150 years since the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and several days' worth of events are planned. Kwan, who is president of the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association, and his group are participating as part of a drive to be more involved in railroad celebrations and long-term projects.

The group will be in Promontory Summit, Utah, Friday for a photo reenactment of the hammering of the final golden spike of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. And Margaret Yee, whose ancestors helped build the railroad, will tap a ceremonial spike alongside Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and a descendant of Union Pacific's chief engineer on the project at an event Thursday in Ogden, Utah.

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Follow Terry Tang on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ttangAP

[soryang]

1. the tendency of "people" to see Asian Americans not fitting the image of what's "American"

The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, during a time when China had become an ally of the U.S. against Japan in World War II as the US needed to embody an image of fairness and justice. The Magnuson Act permitted Chinese nationals already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens and stop hiding from the threat of deportation. While the Magnuson Act overturned the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act, it only allowed a national quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year, and did not repeal the restrictions on immigration from the other Asian countries. Large scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act#The_%22Driving_Out%22_period