https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4462-4360

Doctoral Dissertation

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Arts and Sciences

History

This dissertation examines the history of the Chinese community in Mississippi from the Reconstruction era to the late 1960s. Despite the modest size of their population, the experience of Chinese Mississippians helps us answer a number of key questions regarding two of America’s most impactful institutions, Chinese exclusion and Jim Crow, and their recipients. Why did Chinese Mississippians come to a state that was known for racial hatred and racial oppression? How should a people that was neither Black nor White situate themselves in a society dictated by a Black-White binary? How did Mississippi, a state that was often not associated with immigration, perceive and define this Chinese population? Did the presence of Jim Crow make Chinese exclusion less of an effect for Chinese Mississippians? Lastly, how did Chinese Mississippians complicate our understanding of the making of race in America? This dissertation first expands the scope of Southern history by inserting Chinese Mississippians into the analysis of Jim Crow, demonstrating the adaptability and malleability of the seemingly inflexible system. While it was designed for Black and White people, Jim Crow segregationists were adept at using a third race to advance the cause of White supremacy. Second, I present the historical agency of Chinese and Black Mississippians, emphasizing how the two groups negotiated their status and identity through their daily interaction. Although not all of these interactions resulted in cross-racial union or harmony, they nonetheless demonstrate marginalized people’s efforts to improve their lives in the face of astonishing hostility and oppression. Lastly, this dissertation is an immigration history as it draws on Jim Crow and Chinese exclusion into a conversation. Although the two institutions are often treated as two distinct regional subjects, this dissertation testifies to their overlap and ideological exchange. It also presents how Chinese Mississippians interpreted and utilized the loopholes of the two institutions for their own benefit. Eventually, Chinese Mississippians were able to achieve breathtaking success in a plethora of fields by the end of the period this dissertation covers. Without doubt, their achievement resulted primarily from their ingenuity, tactfulness, endurance, and hard work. However, as this dissertation demonstrates, their success also needs to be closely examined along with contemporary topics such as African American experience, segregation, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights Movement.

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.126

Rutgers University Graduate School – Newark Hazel Vera Scholarship in Fall 2015

University of Kentucky History Department – Summer Funding in 2022

University of Kentucky History Department – Charles Roland Fellowship in Summer 2023

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