Letter to Prime Minister for the Problems Faced by a Chinese Immigrant in Canada Before 1885 - Essay Example

Letter to Prime Minister for the Problems Faced by a Chinese Immigrant in Canada Before 1885 Dear Prime Minister,I am writing this letter as an immigrant worker and an affiliate of Chinese community to appeal for investigation and resolution of the problems, which we are facing as Chinese immigrant’s workers. I speak not just for myself but also for my Chinese brothers and sisters who have taken a great role in building this country. In the letter, I will also mention the happenings of the past few years that have resulted in alienation and increased suffering of Chinese living in Canada. Since our migration into Canada, life has been unbearable and we feel unwelcomed not just by Canadian citizens but by the Canadian government. We as Chinese community feel like the Canadian government is using us for their own good while we suffer silently. I am a young Chinese male, currently working in the Pacific Canadian Railway construction though I have done some other menial jobs. I thus have a clear understanding of the extent to which the Chinese migrants are suffering. I am a Chinese immigrant from Guangdong. Right from our entry into Canada, we were welcomed with a lot of hostility. It was inauspicious to be referred to as ‘sojourner’ or temporary workers while some of us were settlers. Some Canadians might have come as temporary workers, but even those who have been here for generations are not excluded from the tortures we undergo. Irrespective of the much risk we undertook to build the Canadian Pacific Railway, our efforts have not been rewarded or appreciated. Your government started portraying hostility towards us when they realized we were almost about to finish the railroad. We know that they fear that we might settle here permanently but we deserve better. We have to do the menial jobs irrespective of out competent skillfulness. I feel like I and my fellow Chinese have persevered enough discrimination and personal attacks. I do not understand why we have to pay extremely high head tax while our work is meant to benefit the Canadians and their government. I might have excused the Canadians for mistreating the first Chinese arrivals but it has been almost a whole century since then and we are still facing the difficulties they faced. I left Guangdong to escape poverty and I find it disheartening to continue suffering irrespective of the hardships I have to undergo as a railway worker to get my daily bread. Being treated as an outsider or an alien is disheartening. Chinamen or non-British alien is the name used to refer to us from Guangdong. This is discriminative and a demonstration of extreme racism, which I believe, you are opposed to. I have been a worker in Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R) for over a decade and I feel its time your government acknowledged that we are part of Canadian community. You must have noticed the increasing agitation as we near the completion of the C.P.R. Chinese constructors are being attacked and killed often and no measures have been taken to curb this. I fail to understand why the white, black, and native workers are paid two to three times our wage while we do similar and at times harder works than them. I agonize every day as I watch my brothers sleep hungry and come to work every day. Others die while planting explosives along the railroad construction site. I happened to work at the area near Fraser Canyon, which was the most difficult part of the construction. It was evident that the Chinese who were being paid the least wages comprised the majority of the team working in this site. Countless of them died while planting explosives or digging tunnels. Although we as Chinese rail workers are paid the least wages, we have to pay for our cooking and camping gears while other workers are provided for the above freely. Irrespective of our great role in improving the Canadian economy, we have been denied the right to vote. Additionally, were have been alienated from the political community. The move to form our own community was triggered by the desire to have some identity. We would be glad if we were considered as part of British Canadian community and would not have had to form our own community. When we came to work in the railway, it was because we were recruited to do so. The Canadians were reluctant to do such tasks. Instead of appreciating our efforts, they have turned us into slaves whom they despise. The many killings of Chinese men are a big reason to worry. In areas where Nitroglycerin has to be used for rock blasting, Chinese have to act as sacrificial lambs. The deaths that often result from explosive blasting leave many of us dead. While details of even animals that die are recorded, there are no records to show the Chinese casualties who have suffered or died in construction sites. If there were such records, I would refer you to them and maybe you would understand the sufferings we go through. I watch my brothers die of exhaustion while all they are paid is $1.00 per day why other races earn $ 1.5 and above. We are subjected to excessive discrimination in addition to limitation to enjoy political and civil rights. I would wish to understand why we have to face disenfranchisement and be limited from participating in economic activities. Given a chance, we would be able better life and reduce suffering. We want equal employment rights. Other groups view us as alien in everything. They consider us alien in spirit, feeling, and everything. However, we suffer pain and loneliness like any other group. Recently, Chapleau used the term Mongolian to refer to us while addressing the House of Commons. This shows the extent to which the Canadian government despises us. Why do we have to be alienated from the moral community? Are we not like the British immigrants and Canadian Natives? So many questions remain unanswered particularly on reason why we have to be segregated. The only reason why we have not been fully segregated is that we have not fully completed the construction of the railway. However, there is this notion that we are aliens who should not be allowed to settle in Canada. The challenges that we as Chinese are facing are endless. Why are our wives and daughters been considered prostitutes? Our female counterparts are not any different from the rest of the population. I have just managed to write a few of the challenges we as Chinese are facing. I write from the perspective of a railroad worker. I may not fully understand what our brothers working in other jobs are going through. I am a man and thus I might not fully understand what the female Chinese are going through. However, one thing is clear. We are being discriminated against. We are tired of being considered alien. We want to be involved in voting process. We want to be free to seek employment in different fields. It is time that the Canadian government started considering Chinese settlers as part of their community. We want to be proud of our identity but ashamed as I now feel. I believe you will investigate into the grievances mentioned above and grant us the equality we have desired for the last whole century. Read More