The Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority

by Madeline Y. Hsu

Conventionally, US immigration history has been understood through the lens of restriction and those who have been barred from getting in. In contrast, "The Good Immigrants "considers immigration from the perspective of Chinese elites--intellectuals, businessmen, and students--who gained entrance because of immigration exemptions. Exploring a century of Chinese migrations, Madeline Hsu looks at how the model minority characteristics of many Asian Americans resulted from US policies that screened for those with the highest credentials in the most employable fields, enhancing American economic competitiveness.

The earliest US immigration restrictions targeted Chinese people but exempted students as well as individuals who might extend America's influence in China. Western-educated Chinese such as Madame Chiang Kai-shek became symbols of the US impact on China, even as they patriotically advocated for China's modernization. World War II and the rise of communism transformed Chinese students abroad into refugees, and the Cold War magnified the importance of their talent and training. As a result, Congress legislated piecemeal legal measures to enable Chinese of good standing with professional skills to become citizens. Pressures mounted to reform American discriminatory immigration laws, culminating with the 1965 Immigration Act.

Filled with narratives featuring such renowned Chinese immigrants as I. M. Pei, "The Good Immigrants" examines the shifts in immigration laws and perceptions of cultural traits that enabled Asians to remain in the United States as exemplary, productive Americans.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, Politics, Asian American, American, Social Justice

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2015

About the author

Madeline Y. Hsu is associate professor of history and past director of the Center for Asian American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her books include Dreaming of Gold, Dreaming of Home and the coedited anthology Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture.

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Implicit bias informs so much of what and how we think that it is scary.

Picking up Hsu's work is a lesson in humility regarding how little I know and the importance of not ascribing a "single story" to individuals--and yet, how easy it can be. What do we mean when we say "Asian"? What underlying perceptions and thoughts guide our country's thinking with regard to thinking we understand yet another minority group in this country--treating them, as with many others, as a monolith.

I recommend this for any teacher. Great context.

Excellent history of the Asian American experience, but also places this story in the larger context of America's struggle with race, class, education, and politics, that still resonate today. A must read for anyone interested in [Asian] American history.

[Max Chang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished. A very good book and learned a lot but ultimately I think I am not built to read history like this. Super interesting to read about the history of Asian Americans and I felt like the book did a good job in highlighting the American government’s incentives in selective immigration. When I think of the phrase “America is the land of immigrants” I had never really considered how America was so deliberate in choosing the types of immigrants that come into the country and how important elitist immigration has been to the history and economy of American progress. When I think of this in the context of my life and my parents, it contextualizes their struggle even more. The last fee chapters that discussed the cultural/spiritual struggle of being a ‘model minority’ were extremely interesting to me because it exactly outlines the struggle I think immigrants and their children can feel and does it plainly. The need for material success that is required due to the heavy sacrifices that immigrants undergo in order to come to America to make it worth it can directly contradict with human validation, happiness and fulfillment. While this is something I feel to be known, placing it within this bigger systemic picture of how the American government worked so hard in order to ‘import good immigrants’ showed me all the ulterior motives the government could have, something I never really considered. This book also recommended many other good books and I’m grateful for that too

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the history of Chinese immigration policy. Probably a 3.5.

[Joshua Tong]

It’s... fine.

[Arya Harsono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading ahead of welcoming Prof. Madeline Hsu as a speaker for WRI's AAPI Heritage Month event. Interesting to see how Chinese immigration of the 1800s shaped today's immigration policies, the interplay between restrictive and selective perspectives behind border control, and how the story of the "model minority" highlights the inherent racial biases in US decision-making.

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have had this book on my list for quite awhile and finally got around to reading it with AAPI month. Author Hsu looks at the "elite" immigrants who were able to migrate to the US and get exceptions/exemptions. These immigrants include intellectuals, businessmen, and students, and how it has affected everything from immigration policy to perceptions to how, as the title says, they became the "model minority."

This was a fascinating topic to study. There are a lot of perceptions of immigrants being low-skilled, low educated, etc. and arrive to the US (speaking, of course, from a US-centric perspective) looking for handouts and "free stuff" from the government. This book upends this and shows how these "elite" were integrated (or not) in the US.

I found the education/student angle really interesting in light of the recent stories of how schools deliberately try to find foreign students (who pay more tuition), how students question how "safe" the US is at this current time, what is the role of universities/colleges in US foreign policy, etc. I'm not sure people (or myself) really understand the role schools and education play in influencing non-US students and this book was helpful in shedding some light on that.

However, the book was really difficult to read. It's overly academic and rather dense text-wise. I got the feeling that I would have benefited reading this in the context of a class or reading list. At times the author is overly wordy and while the topic was interesting, it was a really tough go.

But if this is a topic that interests you, by all means, give it a go. Strongly recommend the library unless you need it for a reference.

[amanda mei · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book read like a textbook. i would’ve preferred the modern china textbook, quite honestly. and this is about one of my favorite topics in history, chinese immigration to the united states and u.s.-china relations through modern history.

this would've been a great textbook for asian american history oop.

[Matthew Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

clearly deeply researched, but incredibly overly long & dense. definitely an academic book for all the good & bad that entails!