Ghosts of History

The second chapter of Takaki's book, "Overblown with Hope," spoke of the hardships endured by immigrants who came to America in hopes of striking it rich, or even just breaking even. What most found instead was backbreaking work with very low wages in places rife with racial discrimination. Takaki breaks down the experiences by race, but the similarities in the difficulties faced by each are overwhelming. The hardships span from the obvious, such as discrimination and isolation at the hands of bosses pitting one race against another in hopes of increasing product output and preventing unified strikes, to the minute, such as being given unfamiliar and untasty food. Though it may seem that the experiences of Asian immigrants are not unlike those of their European counterparts, one must keep in mind that these Asian immigrants did not have the opportunity to be visually assimilated in the way that European immigrants were. Even today people from "a different shore" as seen as just that: different.

Over the summer, I watched a heart-wrenching documentary called "Ghost" about illegal Chinese immigrants that comprise a large (and invisible) labor force in the U.K. After reading the second chapter, I am struck by how little things have changed. The Chinese who illegally enter the U.K. today are in search of the same things that the Asians who went to America were: the promise of money, being able to provide for their families back home, starting a new and better life. They face the same difficulties: low wages, hard labor, corrupt supervisors, very poor living conditions, unfamiliar food.

And they, too, are overlooked by the masses. The impact of Asian immigrants in a country is still ignored. Granted, the documentary spoke of Chinese immigrants in the U.K., not American; but one must wonder, if the stories of Asian immigrants from a hundred years ago are largely suppressed, what modern stories are still hidden as well? It is an uncomfortable truth to have to acknowledge that Asian immigrants have a history; that uncomfortable truth still remains untold today.