Who was Denis Kearney?
What, if anything, did Kearney accomplish, and what significance does he hold for today’s immigration reformer? To answer these questions, it is necessary first to look at the Chinese who were streaming to America, the Americans who welcomed them, and those Americans, native and immigrant, who raised the cry for Chinese exclusion. First Entry of the Chinese The Chinese who came to America, beginning in 1849, little mirrored the China dear to American and European sentimentalists of the day. They numbered few Confucian philosophers, converts to Christianity, or delicate porcelain beauties: almost all were male peasants and laborers from Canton and other provinces of south China. Despite vigorous denials by their importers, these “Chinamen” were seen by most California whites, with some justice, as “coolies.” Although many today think of the term as a racial slur, Random House Webster’s Dictionary explains that a coolie is “a laborer hired at subsis-tence wages for un——-skilled work.
