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Compare And Contrast Gordon And Angel Island

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Gordon and Angel Island: Compare and contrast the conditions the early immigrants faced at Ellis Island and Angel Island.
Ellis Island was the immigration center in Eastern America and mainly served Europeans, whereas Angel Island was nicknamed “Ellis Island of the West” and served immigrants from Asian countries. Overall, I would describe both immigration centers as discriminatory and full of health concerns, however, it seemed Ellis Island was more ideal for immigrants. European immigrants coming through Ellis Island were questioned about their financial status and intentions in America, tested on their ability to read, given intelligence tests that were biased towards English-speakers, and given medical inspections. This entry process took at least a few hours and at most a few days. Asian immigrants in Angel Island were faced with longer entry acceptance due to interrogations with very specific questions that could take anywhere from a few days to even months. The Angel Island immigration center also held the purpose of deporting Chinese immigrants, which made interrogations much more intrusive and long-standing.
Chinese Poetry: Gordon offers reflection on the history of the immigration of her ancestors, whereas the Chinese poetry is written by …show more content…

An example of the intrusive interrogations and emotions felt after is this poem written by an immigrant: “America has power, but not justice. In prison, we were victimized as if we were guilty. Given no opportunity to explain, it was really brutal. I bow my head in reflection, but there is nothing I can do.” A poem by another Chinese immigrant who was interrogated heavily wrote, “I thoroughly hate the barbarians because they do not respect justice… They examine for hookworms and practice hundreds of despotic

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In an interview on NBC's Today show, Takaki brings up an example from E.D. Hirsch's book "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know." This best selling at the time includes a long list of terms that every American show know. That list contained Ellis island, however, it failed to mention Angel Island. This is significant because Ellis Island was the point for European immigrants while Angel Island was the location of the immigration station for Chinese and Japanese immigrants. These Asian Americans are strangers from a different shore because they aren't recognized as playing a significant role in American history.

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