The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned all immigration from China. This was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States.

Chinese businessmen, however, could obtain visas to enter the country. Thus began the long history of Chinese owned laundromats. In 1851, Wah Lee opened the first Chinese hand laundry in the United States. His small, leased storefront in San Francisco had a simple sign: “Wash’ng and Iron’ng.” Within a few weeks, the business had expanded to twenty washermen working three shifts daily. A laundry was an ideal business for Chinese immigrants, since it required no special skills or venture capital, and Euro-American men considered it undesirable work.

“A silent film of 1895, The Chinese Laundry Scene, featured the popular slapstick vaudeville act Robetta and Doretto as an Irish police officer and a Chinese laundry worker quarreling.

An ingrained part of popular culture, the old comedic associations were carried into television. A television commercial for Calgon water softener that was popular during the 1970’s featured a white woman asking a laundry owner named Lee how he gets his shirts so very clean. He replies, “Ancient Chinese secret.” The secret is exposed when Lee’s wife sticks her head out from the back room and shouts that they need more Calgon.”

-retrieved from https://immigrationtounitedstates.org/426-chinese…

Chinese immigrants and their American-born families remained ineligible for citizenship until 1943 with the passage of the Magnuson Act. By then, the U.S. was in the middle of WWII and seeking to improve their political standing and presence on a global front due to their treatment of Japanese citizens.

Further Learning:

https://www.history.com/…/chinese-exclusion-act-1882

https://immigrationtounitedstates.org/426-chinese…

#aapiheritagemonth #aapi #1882