Chinese Diaspora in Borderlands
Silver City resident Sue Lew Lime (second from left) and her friend Etta Mammon (second from right) are pictured with friends on El Paso Street, in El Paso, Texas, circa 1930.
Unit Lessons
- Examine materials describing and highlighting the economic opportunities and successes of the Chinese American community in New Mexico and El Paso in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Consider the stereotypes and anti-Chinese attitudes of non-Chinese Americans that Chinese Americans faced during that time. Imagine you are a Chinese business owner in New Mexico in the early 20th century and create a newspaper ad or poster advertising your business. Consider how you advertise your business to both the Chinese community and your non-Chinese neighbors. Discuss similarities and differences in how Chinese American owned businesses advertise today.
- Create a timeline of the experiences of Chinese railroad workers who settled in El Paso, Texas, the creation of Chinatown in El Paso, and its disappearance. Include the laws which they faced and analyze the effect of each law on their actions.
- Create an essay or presentation in which you compare and contrast articles on the immigration and deportation of Chinese immigrants in the United States in the early 20th century to articles on illegal immigration issues today. Infer how laws against Chinese immigrants, court decisions, and the creation of the Border Patrol has impacted the immigration experiences of others through precedents set in the early 20th century. Explain how immigration laws have or have not impacted your family.