The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America

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By Beth Lew-Williams

Published May 23, 2018

In 1885, the American West experienced anti-Chinese violence, where communities throughout California and the Pacific Northwest assaulted, killed, and expelled Chinese immigrants. In The Chinese Must Go (Harvard University Press), Beth Lew-Williams argues that this expulsion produced the concept of the “alien” in the modern United States.

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PAW's July/August 2025 issue cover, featuring a photo of people dressed in orange and black, marching in the P-rade, and the headline: Reunions, Back in Orange & Black.
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On the cover: Wilton Virgo ’00 and his classmates celebrate during the P-rade.