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Essay / The Chinese Exclusion Act
Could you imagine that you are barely a year old and your father says goodbye to you in China and returns to Canada. He wouldn't see you for the next 18 years, and a racist Canadian law prevented you from joining him. This was not just the case for Fred Lee, but countless others. Today, if we hear such news, especially about Canada, we immediately think it is false. While this may be true today, there has been a lot of racism and discrimination in recent years and many racist and discriminatory laws were passed at the time. One of these is the Chinese Immigration Act, but today better known as the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese Exclusion Act was implemented by the government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1923. It began when in the spring of 1922, two British Columbia MPs presented goals for a comprehensive ban on Chinese Chinese immigrants who were widely supported in the House of Commons. In February 1923, the Chinese Head Tax of 1885 was repealed and intended to be replaced by the much more restrictive Chinese Immigration Act of 1923. This law replaced the head tax with a total ban on Chinese immigration to Canada. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the Original EssayThe Exclusion Act came into force on Canada Day, July 1, 1923, and at the time , it was called Dominion Day. Chinese Canadians have referred to Dominion Day as Humiliation Day. This law prohibited all Chinese from immigrating to the country except four Canadian-born students, traders, diplomats and Chinese who returned to Canada after completing their studies in China and this law lasted for 24 years. This policy was in place to prevent Chinese from entering the country and even to encourage Chinese present to leave the country. Canadians thought it was a very good idea because at the time people were really racist. The government also thought it was a huge success and did it out of economic necessity. To protect the interests of ordinary working Canadians, ensure the existence of their people and preserve their cultural value. British Columbia's Chinese entrepreneurs imported cheap labor from their home country, to the point that a third of British Columbia's total workforce had become Chinese. . These Chinese workers earn about half the wages of Canadian workers. To avoid losing their livelihoods, whites and Natives alike demanded that the government restrict the importation of Chinese workers so that they would not be replaced by cheap Chinese labor. The government of the day also feared that if the Chinese came in large numbers and settled on the Pacific coast, they would control the voting of the entire province, which could send Chinese representatives to sit in the House of Commons. Chinese representatives could even formulate wishes for their people in Canada that would be completely opposed to other parties. On the other hand, many Chinese-Canadian families were separated because of this act, leaving many children without their families. One of these children was Suen. Suen only met her father when she was a child and was not able to see him again until she was 16. Suen quotes: “My father sent us money to support the whole family. Except for the money we received from him, we did not receive any money. I don't really know the details of itlife and his situation. “When Suen's father finally came back to meet his family in Hong Kong, Suen never even recognized him, his cousin had to be there to introduce them. Then, in 1956, her mother and father both went to Canada and left Suen and her siblings in Hong Kong. A spokesperson for the Canadian Head Tax Families Association, Sid Chow Tan, was also present during Suen's interview and said: "The fact is she would have been born in Canada without the tax law. exclusion, they continue to talk about the head tax; the exclusion law was a much more insidious situation. “This injustice matters because it has ruined the lives of countless Chinese Canadians. Many Chinese had come to Canada alone, hoping to one day save enough money to bring their wives and families. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923 demolished these dreams. In 1923, in Canada's Chinese communities, men outnumbered women by a ratio of nearly 10:1. On May 14, 1947, the Canadian government repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act because At the end of the war, Canada had signed a treaty with the UN and because of the commitment of the Chinese people. efforts during the Second World War and them fighting for Canada. The repeal of the Exclusion Act and removal of the head tax for Chinese immigrants led to an increase in the number of immigrants from across Asia, which began to "boom" the economy Canadian. This particular historical event will always be remembered by the Chinese who had to abandon everything they owned at home and start a new life with difficulties and obstacles everywhere in front of them. We should educate ourselves and teach this to school students to help improve our view of racism which could still persist. Even though Prime Minister Stephen Harper has officially apologized for the head tax and the exclusion law. n That wasn't enough, some people are still trying to get answers from the government and one of them is Suichen Suen. she said in an interview with Straight. com that she wants to know why Premier Christy Clark and Minister Teresa Wat will not respond to her letters. Suen only wants an inclusive, fair and honorable reparation. Premier Christy Clark also apologized, but CBC says the 2013 so-called ethnic voting scandal exposed Liberal plans to win ethnic votes in provincial elections with "quick wins," including apologizing for historical wrongs. The leaked documents led to one minister resigning and two top aides resigning, and Clark apologizing to the legislature. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized document from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay I don't I think enough has been done. In my opinion, to do justice to the Chinese people, they should get their money back and the government should seek the opinions of Chinese Canadians. I think we should make a national day the day the exclusion law was repealed. On that day, we would teach our society and our students about what happened 95 years ago. This injustice should be remembered as the difficult times of the past for the Chinese and even though they were discriminated against, they still chose to side with us during World War II and earned the trust of the government . The Chinese community in Canada had to suffer and go through a lot to finally be recognized as trustworthy people and not as..