Chinese migrants in L.A. created their own economy amid exclusion laws, research shows
At the turn of the 20th century, an era defined by Chinese exclusion laws and rampant anti-Asian sentiment in the U.S., many Chinese laborers found creative ways to sidestep racial barriers and support themselves, new research shows.
At the turn of the 20th century, an era defined by Chinese exclusion laws and rampant anti-Asian sentiment in the U.S., many Chinese laborers found creative ways to sidestep racial barriers and support themselves, new research shows.
Many Chinese migrants in the old Los Angeles Chinatown turned to pig-raising and pork distribution, largely in their own community, after they finished work on the Transcontinental Railroad, according to research published this month in the archaeology journal American Antiquity. This generated a new economy in which not only jobs were created, but gave way to a system of housing, banking and community support, the study showed.
The findings not only challenge the popular notion that Chinese laborers sought to take white, working-class jobs at the time, but also revealed migrants’ self-reliance and will to put down roots in their new country, said Jiajing Wang, lead author of the study and assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College.
“I’d call this their resistance to structural racism,” Wang said. “They creatively opened themselves up to opportunities to stay in this country and to make a living.”
For the study, researchers examined historical archives and pork dental remains found in L.A.’s Chinatown. They concluded that some Chinese migrants were running small pig ranches, while others raised pigs within the neighborhood, often providing this pork to Chinese butcher shops. At least four of these butcher shops have been documented, researchers said. Cheaper cuts of meat were often sold within Chinatown, Wang explained, while more expensive, profitable cuts were sold outside the community.
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