DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. Now, Texas has always been a place where people came looking for something — work, land, a future. And in the 1870s and 1880s, Chinese immigrants came here for exactly that.
Primarily to build railroads, to labor hard in a hard land. They showed up and they worked. But what they were met with was something else entirely.
Harsh working conditions, for starters. And racism — the kind born of fear that they'd take jobs from others. It wasn't just ugly words and cold shoulders, either.
Chinese Texans were met with violence. And then there's this: Judge Roy Bean reportedly ruled in 1884 that it was not illegal to kill a Chinese person. Let that settle in for a moment.
A judge. A ruling. 1884. That's not a campfire tall tale — that's the recorded history, and it deserves to be said plainly.
The sentiment wasn't limited to Texas. It was spreading through western and southern states like a brushfire, and Congress answered it — not by protecting people, but by legislating against them. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
The only United States law ever written to exclude a specific race from immigrating. It also denied citizenship to Chinese Americans already here. The only one.
In the history of this country. Now, Houston. By 1930, the Houston Chinese community numbered all of fifty people.
Fifty. Discrimination was common there, as it was throughout Texas. But something was also happening in Houston that wasn't happening everywhere.
Chinese students could attend public schools alongside white students. And before long, Chinese Texans were attending state universities. Fifty people.
And they were already building something. American-born Chinese began pushing back — legally, politically, publicly — against the economic and social injustices stacked against them. In 1937, Edward K.T.
Chen and Rose Don Wu gave testimony that helped defeat a proposed Texas law. A law that would have prevented Chinese from owning urban property. Defeated.
By testimony. By showing up and speaking. Then in 1943, the Magnuson Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act — that law that had stood for more than six decades as the country's most explicit act of racial exclusion in immigration.
And the work continued. The Chinese American Citizens Alliance — including its Houston branch, under the direction of Albert C.B. Gee — helped pass the Immigration Act of 1965.
That act paved the way for large-scale Chinese immigration, opening a door that had long been bolted shut. Today, Chinese Texans continue to make a vital impact on politics and culture across this state. And every bit of that impact stands as a tribute to the immigrants who arrived in the 1870s and 1880s, who faced violence and exclusion and a legal system that barely acknowledged their right to exist — and who thrived anyway.
Fifty people in 1930. And look what they built.
What the marker says
Chinese immigrants arrived in Texas in the 1870s and 1880s, primarily to build railroads and work as laborers. These early immigrants faced harsh working conditions and racism from those fearing they would take away jobs. Chinese Texans were also met with violence, punctuated by Judge Roy Bean's reported 1884 ruling that it was not illegal to kill a Chinese. With anti-Chinese sentiment spreading through the western and southern states, Congress restricted immigration through the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), the only U.S. law to exclude a specific race from immigrating; it also denied citizenship to Chinese Americans. As was true throughout Texas, discrimination against Chinese Texans was common in Houston. However, the Houston Chinese Community, which numbered only 50 in 1930, began to grow as immigrants came here from other southern states. In Houston, Chinese students could attend public schools with whites, and soon, Chinese Texans began attending state universities. Through the efforts of American-born Chinese, economic and social injustices began to be righted. 1937 testimony by Edward K.T. Chen ( ) and Rose Don Wu ( ) helped defeat a proposed Texas law that would have prevented Chinese from owning urban property. In 1943, the Magnuson Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese American citizens alliance, including its Houston branch, under the direction of Albert C.B. Gee ( ), helped pass the immigration act of 1965, paving the way for large-scale Chinese immigration. Today, Chinese Texans continue to make a vital impact on politics and culture in Texas, standing as a tribute to the immigrants who withstood discrimination and thrived.