This Thomas Nast cartoon was published in Harpers Weekly on February 8, 1879. Nast obvious characterization of a Native American and a Chinese man portrays the issues of immigration and racism in American society. It is quite obvious that American feelings during this period were anti-immigrants as shown in the background where there is drawing of a train chasing a Native American off his land westward. And below it a Chinese man being forced to run eastward. The latter is in reference to Chinese workers in California who faced tremendous opposition from whites partly due to labor competition, which in part led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, “This act provided an absolute 10-year moratorium on Chinese labor immigration.”[1] In the background Nast also portrays an Afro-American signifying and criticizing the major movements to exclude American Indians, Chinese, and Afro-American from American society. The most interesting capture of this political cartoon rests with the stereotypical representation of the immigrants themselves, for it blatantly evokes white America's prejudice conceptions regarding Chinese and American Indians.
From Roman times to the Middle Ages, European countries (such as England) have been fought over by various different groups: Celts, Romans, Franks, Galls, Angles, Saxons, Normans, Jutes etc. etc. The Normans, victorious in England in 1066, established fortified housing and defended their newly acquired property against those that were there before them, and eventually intermingled to create a unique society. Surely Anglo-Saxons questioned the legitimacy of Norman rule in England, but after many generations had passed, there was really no longer a question of legitimacy since the people had evolved from being Norman to being English (possibly of Norman decent). Nast’s cartoon portrays hypocrisy on the part of white immigrants who claim to be “real Americans” when compared to the blacks or Chinese.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting question to think about…will there come a time when American culture is so blended together that there can be no distinction of who is more American? Unlike the Normans, many Americans are separated from each other by distinctive physical characteristics like skin color, but many signs today show that society is becoming more tolerant. Intermarriage is no longer as uncommon as it once was, and a cartoon like this would be considered extremely insensitive to stereotypes if it were published today.
I think that while it is true that the nation as a whole struggled with racism it is important to remember that it is the artist views we are seeing, and it will not always match up with the popular sentiment of the nation of the time. I do wish you gave a little more information on what makes you think that the the caricature on the poster is the Chinese being chased Eastwards. I think it is interesting that we both got such different interpretations from the same image.
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