John Doe Chinaman

Lew-Williams draws on research from dozens of archives across the American West to detail the severity of anti-Chinese discrimination that began in the 1850s. Various laws comparable to those of the Jim Crow era, but tailored to Chinese people limited any opportunities of equality and belonging for the Chinese community as regulations were placed on all aspects of their lives from healthcare to property ownership. These laws also propelled negative stereotypes that Chinese people were criminals and predators. Although they faced immense hardships, John Doe Chinaman (Harvard University Press) also highlights the ways the Chinese community came together to fight mistreatment and leaned on one another to get through.