Limits of Immigration
Dublin Core
Title
Limits of Immigration
Subject
Incredibly racist and problematic letter to the editor where the author calls for the limitation of immigration from China because he feels that Chinese immigrants are incapable of assimilating into American culture (which he sees as a necessity).
Description
Volume 8, Number 1
Creator
The Undergraduate Editorial Board
Publisher
The Undergraduate
Date
10/01/1882
Contributor
The Undergraduate Editorial Board
Coverage
"It is the destiny of the Aryan race to conquer and be politically superior to other races."
"Now, this great nation of ours is an Aryan republic; it was formed by an Aryan people; upon Aryan political principles have depended its growth and prosperity; towards it have turned for succor the oppressed from every nation of this race, but the limit should be drawn."
"Rhetoricians call America an asylum. it is an asylum if you please, but an asylum for Aryans alone. Exclusiveness is the principle on which asylums are founded; and no philanthropist has ever attempted to found an asylum which should be at the same time a home for idiots, maniacs, and deaf-mutes."
"It is not a question of how we can civilize, Christianize, or educate the Chinese. It is a question of policy, a question of their advantage to the American people."
"I think even our most sentimental reformers can now see that race amalgamation was not easy in the South, where the two races had become familiarized by an acquaintance of over two hundred years."
"To the few who come here for culture we will extend a welcome, but to the horde who come here to drain what they can from our resources and carry it back to China, who care not for our civilization, our arts, and sciences, our institutions, civil and religious, we say no; we have all we can take care of in our Mormons, our negroes, our poor and ignorant Aryan immigrants from Europe; you do not amalgamate with us readily if you can at all, and we refuse to burden ourselves with you."
"Now, this great nation of ours is an Aryan republic; it was formed by an Aryan people; upon Aryan political principles have depended its growth and prosperity; towards it have turned for succor the oppressed from every nation of this race, but the limit should be drawn."
"Rhetoricians call America an asylum. it is an asylum if you please, but an asylum for Aryans alone. Exclusiveness is the principle on which asylums are founded; and no philanthropist has ever attempted to found an asylum which should be at the same time a home for idiots, maniacs, and deaf-mutes."
"It is not a question of how we can civilize, Christianize, or educate the Chinese. It is a question of policy, a question of their advantage to the American people."
"I think even our most sentimental reformers can now see that race amalgamation was not easy in the South, where the two races had become familiarized by an acquaintance of over two hundred years."
"To the few who come here for culture we will extend a welcome, but to the horde who come here to drain what they can from our resources and carry it back to China, who care not for our civilization, our arts, and sciences, our institutions, civil and religious, we say no; we have all we can take care of in our Mormons, our negroes, our poor and ignorant Aryan immigrants from Europe; you do not amalgamate with us readily if you can at all, and we refuse to burden ourselves with you."
Hyperlink Item Type Metadata
URL
Collection
Citation
The Undergraduate Editorial Board, “Limits of Immigration,” Archives of Anti-Racist Activism, accessed October 27, 2026, https://twilightprojectantiracistrecords.middcreate.net/items/show/9.