DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about El Paso's Chinese Community. Now, El Paso has always been a city where the world shows up before the world is quite ready for it. And if you want proof of that, consider what was happening just before the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its line here in 1881.
Chinese immigrants were already arriving. Already. Before the last spike, before the last rail — they were there, and the first among them opened a rooming house and a grocery store.
Practical people. They saw what was coming down the track. Then, in 1882, the U.S. government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which restricted Chinese immigration just about as hard as a law can restrict a thing.
And yet — and here is where El Paso starts to reveal its particular character — enough Chinese remained to build something real. A vibrant community, spread throughout downtown. And not a small one, either.
Into the early 1920s, El Paso's Chinese community was the largest in the entire state of Texas. Think about that for a moment. The largest in Texas.
In a state that size. They grew and sold fruits and vegetables for the local market. They opened laundries, restaurants, businesses of every kind, and they wove themselves into the economy of the region stitch by stitch.
Most of the immigrants were men — sojourners, the marker calls them — and they sent their earnings back to families in China, holding onto the intention of returning home someday. They kept their culture alive through language — most spoke the Toishanese dialect — through food, through community associations, through traditions carried a long way from home. And at the same time, they were adopting the languages and customs of the place where they now lived.
Holding two worlds in their hands at once. They faced discrimination. The marker is honest about that.
But it also notes something worth pausin' on: the Chinese in El Paso faced fewer problems here than did Chinese communities in other parts of the United States. El Paso was not paradise, but it was something. And then came the Mexican Revolution, and with it one of the more remarkable chapters in this story.
General John J. Pershing brought hundreds of Chinese into the United States specifically to protect them from racial violence. Not dozens — hundreds.
And when the question of their legal status needed resolving, General Pershing petitioned Congress directly. They were legally allowed to immigrate on the strength of that petition. That is not a small thing.
That is a general going to Congress and saying: these people are here because of us, and we are going to do right by them. Immigration kept coming. Through the Great Depression of the 1930s, Chinese continued to arrive in El Paso.
Then another wave began in the late 1940s, this one prompted by the Communist takeover of China. Wave after wave, decade after decade, the community held. It grew.
It changed shape. And today, Chinese El Pasoans continue to maintain a sense of community in the city they helped develop. That last word is the one that matters — developed.
Not visited. Not passed through. Developed.
Some people plant roots. Some people arrive just before the railroad does and open a grocery store, and call it home.
What the marker says
Chinese immigrants first arrived in El Paso shortly before the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its line here in 1881. The earliest immigrants opened a rooming house and a grocery store. Soon afterwards, the U.S. government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) which restricted Chinese immigration. However, enough Chinese remained to create a vibrant community throughout downtown El Paso. Into the early 1920s, El Paso's Chinese community was the largest in Texas. The Chinese contributed to the area's economy largely by growing and selling fruits and vegetables for the local market, and by opening businesses, including laundries and restaurants. The mostly-male sojourners sent earning to families in China, with the intention of returning home. While retaining their native culture through language (most spoke the Toishonese dialect), food, community associations and traditions, the newcomers also adopted area languages and customs. The immigrants experienced discrimination, but faced fewer problems here than did the Chinese in other parts of the United States. Chinese continued to migrate to El Paso into the 20th century. During the Mexican Revolution, General John J. Pershing brought hundreds of Chinese into the United States for their protection from racial violence. They were legally allowed to immigrate following General Pershing's petition to Congress. The Chinese continued to immigrate to the city during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Another wave began in the late 1940s, prompted by the Communist takeover of China. Today, Chinese El Pasoans continue to maintain a sense of community in the city they helped develop. (2008)