I wanna dispel this notion that Chinese Americans were always passive victims of politics so it's time to talk about Wong Chin Foo 王淸福, the first prominent Chinese American political activist. He created the first association of Chinese American voters - (1/?)

there's a great book about him by Scott D. Seligman, which you can find more about at http://firstchineseamerican.com/index.htm 

some actual quotes from Wong Chin Foo: (2/?)

Chin Foo is a rarity in that he was from Shandong in Northern China, when most Chinese immigrants to America in the 1800s were from the South. he was born to a family that lost its fortune in the Taiping Rebellion and was taken in by missionaries, then immigrated in 1867 (3/?)

he actually studied at Columbian College in DC and then Bucknell University, though he didn't finish his degree before returning to China to become an interpreter. but there he was caught trying to incite rebellion against the Qing dynasty, so he had to flee back to America (4/?)

in 1874, he became one of the first naturalized Chinese Americans (and coined the term, actually). he traveled and lectured around the East and Midwest to promote Chinese culture in a time when prejudices were RAMPANT (5/?)

when the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act hit, he created the first association of Chinese American voters and the Chinese Equal Right League to lobby against it. he also established the Chinese American, the first Chinese newspaper in New York (6/?)

there's a story that when someone visiting the Chinatown in New York claimed that the stores were selling cats and rats, he was like I'LL GIVE $500 TO ANYONE WHO CAN PROVE THAT HAPPENED. PROVE IT.

no one came forth to prove it loool (7/?)

his archnemesis was Denis Kearney, an Irish immigrant who established the anti-Chinese Workingmen's Party of California and ended all his speeches with "And whatever happens, the Chinese must go!" Chin Foo once famously heckled Denis at a speech, challenging him to a duel (8/?)

OH and i should mention that even though he was raised by missionaries, he ended up denouncing Christianity (and they denounced him right back) and proclaimed himself the "first Confucian missionary to America" (9/?)

ultimately, the Chinese Exclusion Act wasn't appealed until 1943, more than 40 years after his death, but we shouldn't forget this example of early Chinese American political resistance. he testified against exclusionary legislature in congress, evaded assassinations, and- (10/?)

and he even corresponded with Sun Yat-Sen to try and form a revolutionary junta in Chicago. he was jailed for "contempt of court" before sailing back to China in 1898 for a family reunion and dying there (11/?)

Chinese Americans get a bad rep for not being politically active, but activists like Wong Chin Foo have been fighting for your rights since the very first waves of immigration using every tool at his disposal. i hope that y'all don't forget his legacy and follow in his example

more diaspora history: https://twitter.com/i/events/1280650463591858176