Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America - Expanded paperback Edition
The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America - Expanded paperback Edition
The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America - Expanded paperback Edition
Ebook469 pages6 hours

The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America - Expanded paperback Edition

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

The Lucky Ones uncovers the story of the Tape family in post-gold rush, racially explosive San Francisco. Mae Ngai paints a fascinating picture of how the role of immigration broker allowed patriarch Jeu Dip (Joseph Tape) to both protest and profit from discrimination, and of the Tapes as the first of a new social type--middle-class Chinese Americans.


Tape family history illuminates American history. Seven-year-old Mamie attempts to integrate California schools, resulting in the landmark 1885 case Tape v. Hurley. The family's intimate involvement in the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair reveals how Chinese American brokers essentially invented Chinatown, and so Chinese culture, for American audiences. Finally, The Lucky Ones reveals aspects--timely, haunting, and hopeful--of the lasting legacy of the immigrant experience for all Americans.


This expanded edition features a new preface and a selection of historical documents from the Chinese exclusion era that forms the backdrop to the Tape family's story.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 27, 2012
ISBN9781400845033
The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America - Expanded paperback Edition

Related to The Lucky Ones

Related ebooks

United States History For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Lucky Ones

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5

1 rating1 review

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Lucky Ones is essentially a historical account of the Chinese Americans in California. The book features one family in particular, the Tapes of Russell Street in San Francisco who were among the first middle class Chinese American families in that area. If you are not familiar with the history of California, Chinese labours came to this state firstly during the gold rush in the 1840’s as a cheap, abundant source of labour. However when the gold rush era panned out, large numbers began to come into the state around the 1860’s to work on the transcontinental railroad. The fact that their labour was cheap angered the Occidental population and led to discriminatory laws against the Chinese well into the turn of the twentieth century. It is under this climate that the Tapes, Joseph and Mary lived in California.Ngai has done a great job telling the story of this family. It is not so much analysis as it is a narration of the family's life, their battle against segregation in education and how they retained or in some instances assimilated there culture with that of America. The author used mostly family photos and official documentation to reconstruct their lives, the former can be found throughout the book.At 304 pages, this book is not a light read and may be mostly suited to history buffs like myself yet the content of the book gives you a story not just about this family but about Chinese (and Japanese) Americans during the late eighteenth and nineteenth century and more importantly the development and growth of one of the most populated states in America, California.

Book preview

The Lucky Ones - Mae M. Ngai

ٰ1^book_preview_excerpt.html}rǶTܸqCaRo$ڤWu7$2 Up=H3yIOz?9_k3RBUXYmt~Ͽeߝ]f}kV6ZM?e|7ox{|or"/]͢fgw~Q]+*٫u;tbkξlqȶ64|~E:˳*d&,yf;=-u[CnWvu=8>9/MQux0la^e7M^=-˲f^M}gebkUVvC۵+6ErW]5xv豟Mށx7Zf7usѮ CrItv}*C7.~${t}.ʲ7eׄM-&;O]e?:Y?z>I 8|^]=m}p|/.m|4,iYfym\cIEvvL[NP|_16%V1&nC(L7ŬQ` r3+wfg'\|"{ѓ'G'?|p$~@,UeH<2%rM&̯gedlۚmdK >ti"(bY]&Ẩ*^!o7Yfr{X$&"ziv7eؙz*=dZ{n87<zU`yڤ>%6 ?S{՗]=x"Me|tׁJ`'·"BVSlp(<8>~6Ko bqtkMyxY'yԉ{dOo<t'㿞x2ԤЂ]v!ZS}:{2];LJtI0|Sٻ ߊcX}j>~]|xů~<ɳ'~ߝL=sz Tռ?4nv%z{7X3[G}?X4w"Jd+BsůgwX/?:xb?bZ)$nփ-&b MM?3Ǎ Ӈ\ uzszy{Ϗm'O|,at?^4A7m_tMZPW֋TҐ:}8Jm/ fXg@n\8$dzwBx/x(pTx||K.'^紿!?nom^7}ŎV7f]󫪾)bEx-˭_ʱ"Ͼ^P2 L髳Ǘ~^_Qm~%Ĉ;)E[sS1n/2װ5e)p.u6{ FP4v_@]v]`ma԰F?-TeXa0uIv.kg_Y/ /}ͦX5|o 9w+z>a2:[۸c};޹pvy]bW!4u/o2HKY߆e_fmظW1:*V.zşˬ.eVetRv-.ɳ p9u Q\gՃ$3I9{nt`S&8BW.u^mPiFRlGM.p/ vr72[q{k7NJ3E$i&諦Pz"p %< ?>V<H#1W-,nr0-bV4ڞ0*[8EX0lN$;5b! P2o{!h/mW\4{Plv%V51s$%~ 7 >?O?B^f:Cg=kfIq08('Qhhhk"ΒPlU6s1ds$z=}5@F~ĉx:453"$T!ayЪK uns/jc jP+H.wWW`(^U-|Jݐ QHMq˅bX.JoE@nQGS_&TJR\4A1Nb,Ef m ?_QZqAǷ=vշ)į *j65:Z'ӘMiB.1q_ՙs v9ܦͶFī#o"/U\r K(,5f<[҆n``F6 I3B!b'1XþAkB.$su^g-diBMQs chv,,Q8|C+``eS{č;Զ8ED$y{KZ$YJ ci9"]AMݚqdZȕ<_0ι6,* &_xh;p﵅ 3D)kh5CZBJ+6+ܱ*6Qd(۲,qEH=Gr(٠]67M9!WuE+ >^.4d͚ 8<,xKDou(&/ӶȫADΩMpT,mgr]4lKpx*JiLbպ:&d]$^:llkrY%|1V/R(3'*bΕu$t7ETͺ5-7pczc; T? ? - ,YW1yRsr.H}W=ښZ,|ĹIJNXKؑ߀KvM~X^K C_@ (tpSѶa49WR/e0vK 'w6p &|W3,$`Ce4k{>NDw-"x W3kg^h@}CtfQBw^77![X9x5K'5+x=H•>*icrC!̓bvq Pm1= n[rx)*w7L'e-BșӦfиk@D =1?dyۙϔ}['ebD044;p"mM3lG6Fp Nm j] ̓-~ m|fq`!2 ތmWc @ M8.42U^S2hj~7OXx#݄r Dq+?CDP]Y+`Kn+)grMV[XE$Ȑ`HR Sjڻr)XtZ3st  1ϕ8@vK]rx~,]@KT&] w"ªRMI3lrQoygyCǔ܋lmy̙Q&mI/nW5Hё`@&쵆^ez%v#,P͖$.Z>e`ŸͳjE{h/;hpNC >K 6$fvK[HF&aZq`~^_|??}S,D% ˅E%s=.Ŕz8plŽia4kQUֵWnrܲ(tĕn#ld,[v^|0㓊fIĄ Kerpչ[ABg|e6X ˌXn/p9W*:תMزuO፷i(2q޶ҽ~LuM=\%eyڈ{@R8d֤n;h׏7ŏIz)S**UMX`>bE$oY^eJ+*Qhm^<ÊȦË=VE?dbԲ"~cP(EŰHj(`,1XҀ2Lysg#?*Dޛ`-rN&itw5kmY!B1g5(m(}5w7R| ;<"TC ssst{cq(Ɨ-vn#nKNJ1}βUެ羲e`uUlQ  /)%S1 g5{a$z,-HM/;tvZ]UW|OLIm %Ճ% ΃¡<#s=W+"g 'S$mT[DY%aR3E>+0urJ0ؖa Ȼma]6YCexj 87'P+[!:r͈rl{4'4AQ}D!z4;/AbIOh?&g<$bX4>;Fyr axK53aTkb=`q[k,sXW6Qe}u[йo>|A-2U`<1*%˪Xra #ipMFlB3ܪUY]_jv/ah{"] Nzaq:LcTkbƂ1VVX~?`MObĖdO,.jPjmIUe2l&#;a]|VxE>hd#Y2B#fǹ+g5=y|<9[bϭߩC ͠'Opx@_(C6ӫpcIUgcx.?นgռ3+3f2<-'Yn :VlW kA3q6wb#X, > 0WR͘XRۙO6`7`S<2nTx!wﳶT֘ >ΒiZ x+׸|M&z(uS-{kH 0**]>n]z.,cH5`tVRdEcbǸX6Lo萃$9I򬾧,ܥ]($sɀn=*\1uRp0WZ &vfI[f2@m86Dt`e&v+jDVoXt},T#&EgLi^IEKO &EdD?{|Y1 +ag=o*޳Z 4=hUel؀}) Zg{,ńuj h-S7$wfy}kV;UQRƤc!`<]dYN})nջAA\'VV9U+jb2G+-Jcb l=ߪͪn|u;r|=;LʯX$㋛Z5a!}li1tApttj&Np@~6Z--dBn=!rY][Fl_r;gKYqp^"! JzH"ګ)eqUUq%c?]ykks?Ľc;|˚F&fHA0%pz0e#uefaZR^)8uի-G~34RhAdUo?ĝBhNؗyqqѷ {Ӡ^70C{,'T37GQja鰷8P%%n8 'bQ}I_ْqH Y[ufvp>+5e~:lj)AxYp2zESyaP }`!dჩߍŬ'^|B,KEhw侉NZPMY"~%x+3&fQy )5_oHz4jذWCk&|3@$"j,çumkUE ckBUmI̚`YhD*7&swoqvɱ^AE~ŁSpPl'<<ʙƌiBQ,}:" MU_}c NtѰfg3w&!F.'3/ݴܒE4ҫ$n͞Y !HNûFcR15/H؆-=~iu,|]{X~D-,zȓ*!:qC0P6VIS9 kd<>ةmf{-?u۞xjf۹I[{fޕk#|X*-^HMR{3&{I8c >9n1fU]JZ|*82qODyuq)VBW4l6z&$o[ 7ЏaU9.;9vU4 QPqEZFHJ;3iyR΋@5dt_W#I.Ҳ"t(C[lihT[e-j6@e*C뷣H+vzF52]y2׀M(.bEW D9ࢪeq-@?pw`vK_mOpLb/wzߚX% F_Z&E)ţxVJðQfH)hf`)҂5ˣ%Wh3O/k2x^-8qqQg49&exvHt(yFd|k_YH[5'NΆ_ؘU~0lzwc͒JMJߧ^=i~jꩱ^lFXRvj%'{B05ث& ie8n6$2c(Arٽؼv1ȋonʺ@}$p5arpCj~*ids]oOKNg]{rqxϏ{gZtK MR";e긥 U)F[D^EqGedlvzOWh f4ʝ > q7m2ؓRq>uNVu__b2pdS V\ӕF2p߁g^eU+!f!Omh(bИ}t &"/Ug)zl /`^_O ^%m.%? ĶW|߁x\ &gMRO9߃wK-D!GJJ/&n4HITQ DS*4`anCO,i6ZCͨ΍~G-jYl mPَ/u5QVO]Ҩ;YkT9rJRYǓ_T.rvVP!zFމ8df_SjlBc.{.,$tpꓽqsl8K=0FF|6+Em܏q&?Ewl&(u MR&_kCܲްbܚlTD<,j{ipy/NEf΂Ӗ6!C'6
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1