The Cubic Air Ordinance of 1870:"In effect, the ordinance made it be illegal to be poor and Chinese"
~Jean Pfaelzer, Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans The Cubic Air Ordinance, an ordinance passed in San Francisco, required its citizens to have at least 500 cubic feet of living space. By targeting the crowded San Francisco Chinatown, jails were flooded with poor Chinese immigrants who could not comply with the new law. Later, the ordinance was repealed due to the large number of Chinese violations.
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The Queue Ordinance:"To frighten the Chinese, in 1873 San Francisco adopted the Queue Ordinance, which allowed prison wardens to shave the heads or cut off the long braids of Chinese prisoners."
~Jean Pfaelzer, Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans These braids, called a queue, were worn on the back of a Chinese man’s head. This identified Chinese citizens and allowed them to return to China. Without it, a returning immigrant could be barred from their homeland and convicted of treason. By passing this ordinance, San Francisco allowed prison wardens to restrict Chinese prisoners entry into China and take away their honor:
"It is generally known... that to deprive a Chinaman of his queue is to humiliate him as deeply as possible..."
~The San Francisco Evening Bulletin The Page ActThe Page banned all Chinese women suspected of prostitution from entering into the U.S. The US used this act to profile all Chinese women as prostitutes without any evidence. By banning all women from entering, the US government was able to severely limit Chinese reproduction.
These acts allowed levels of government to harshly control its Chinese population and contributed to starting a legacy of hate against the Chinese.
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"These ordinances deprived the Chinese of equal economic opportunities while also violating their individual dignity and their entire culture"
~Liping Zhu, The Road to Chinese Exclusion: The Denver Riot, 1880 Election, and Rise of the West
~Liping Zhu, The Road to Chinese Exclusion: The Denver Riot, 1880 Election, and Rise of the West