Essay About Anna May Wong And Racial Discrimination

Anna May Wong CaseAnna May WongAnna May Wong is often a forgotten name in the Hollywood acting industry. A young Asian-American, Wong catapulted to stardom as a successful actress; however, her career is often overlooked. Looked down upon by Chinese nationalists, Wong was criticized for playing stereotypical roles that portrayed Asian women as weak, hopeless, or evil. She received star credits in many of her films, but received less pay than white actresses of her time. Tired of the stereotypical roles and discriminatory pay, Anna May Wong pursued an even more successful career in Europe. Upon returning to America, Wong still faced discriminatory pay and was unable to secure lead roles despite her dedication to her craft. Anna May Wong faced racial discrimination as an Asian-American actress, but despite her efforts to escape racial discrimination and properly portray the Asian woman, she never received the equality she desired as an actress.

Wong Liu Tsong was in her father’s laundry shop a third-generation Californian. Called by her American name, Anna May attended public schools until racial hostility forced her and her siblings to be enrolled in a private school for Chinese students near her home in Los Angeles’s Chinatown. It is here that Anna May Wong encountered the art of film that would catapult her to stardom. In her lifetime, Wong acted in 30 silent films and 25 sound films, both unprecedented by any Asian actor of her time. In her twenty year career, Wong acted in over 50 movies, received star credits for many of her roles, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; however, her career was plagued by Asian-American discrimination.

Anna May Wong’s successful career and consequently her fame were overshadowed by racial discrimination in the 19th century. When Wong was born, the Chinese Exclusion Act barred the immigration of Chinese families to America. In a time of such racial exclusion, Chinese-Americans lived together in neighborhoods, such as Chinatown, often as an attempt to avoid white intrusion. Laws were put in place that prevented the gathering of people in Chinatown and riots and protests were often organized against Chinese businesses and labor. By the turn of the century, the Department of Public Health had barricaded Chinatown and shutdown all businesses owned by Chinese. Racial hostilities lead to exclusion, which limited interaction between Chinese-Americans and non-Asian-Americans and the racial discrimination this hostility supported forced Chinese-Americans to accept discriminatory compensation and severity limited their employment prospects.

Somewhere in America, a black man was the poster child for the failure of the racial discrimination enacted by the Chinese Exclusion Act of the 19th century. In 1789, while holding two marreaux, Charles L. Jaffey in Chicago, in the midst of the civil rights movement, tried to get “to the house of the South” by selling his wife a white servant house to move her to a house for white people. He was arrested for protesting against a tariff law in Detroit, but was forced to settle in Chicago where he soon discovered a thriving life that gave many black and white people a sense of belonging and security. One of his books for the 1820’s was called “Chinese Social Progress: A History of a Negro-American Company.” In it, the author wrote how a Chinese citizen, William M. Taff, made plans to use his plantation to move their family.

The civil rights movement continued throughout the 1930’s with the United States Equal Employment Rights Act.  Although the civil rights law was a success in many areas, it only protected employees of the federal government from being discriminated against for having the right to employment at a particular place. In addition to protecting business owners, the law made discriminatory hiring practices even worse. Some of these cases led to the enactment of what is now known as the Equal Employment of Women Act of 1950, which prohibited certain employers from discriminating against women for having the same qualifications as their male equivalents. When a person of African descent is fired in retaliation for having more than the right to work, a lawsuit is brought against the employer in federal court, not in state court.   As soon as an employee of a national company claims an unfair dismissal when it is discovered that the employee’s qualifications have been adversely affected, the case is brought in state court.   In many instances, the employee was not terminated at the time of dismissal or in a way that discriminated against the national company. Women’s rights advocates and many of their organizations used lawsuits to defend these rights with strong legal arguments. Although the Civil Rights Act protected workers before discrimination was instituted against them, the civil rights laws did not protect them from discrimination under the law.

The Civil Rights Act was a victory for women and the Black Woman’s Rights Act was a victory for the Black Woman’s Rights Act. Feminists and feminists opposed the Civil Rights Act because it was part of the “new culture war.” And, while feminism was the greatest cause of poverty, women and girls suffered greatly from the oppressive conditions of racial discrimination that were created during the Black Woman’s Rights Act period. Women and girls did not just live and work comfortably in their private homes, but they suffered toil under the protection of oppressive economic and social oppression. In the 1870’s, however, when the Black Women’s Act was repealed, the Black Black Woman’s Rights Act caused the economy to implode. In some cities, women could not work for long and it was too late to defend themselves against these oppressive policies.

In 1890, while standing before the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Congressman Barney Frank’s wife, Alice, asked, “What is the cost to the state of Iowa?”

Frank said: “What is the cost to the state of Iowa?”  In a nutshell, this was simply to ensure that blacks in the state would not be discriminated against.  Under the Black Woman’s Rights Act, many of these black men, women, and children suffered from financial and physical difficulties.  It also required that all those living in Iowa become state residents.  This condition made certain that many black people faced hardships while raising a family.

In addition to being racially insensitive, the Civil Rights Act resulted in social and economic changes for black women.

Despite being faced with racial discrimination, Anna May Wong had a successful career that was unprecedented by any Chinese-American actress of her time. Her career began as a movie extra, but soon Wong received starring roles. In her roles, Wong portrayed characters such as the daughter of an evil leader,