Et’s not forget the writings on the wall

I never met my grandfather, Lui Lee. First name Lee. Last name Lui. He came to the United States as a teenager, having grown up as a poor farmer in Southern China. His family saved up money so their son could go to the golden mountain — America.

When he passed through the foggy Golden Gate strait of San Francisco on the SS Asia in the early 1900s — the big red bridge wouldn’t be built until decades later — just the choppy, cold waters of the bay greeted him. He hit landfall at the U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island.

There was a medical check. Also a long interrogation. He was asked where he lived in China, where the corner store was, and the location of parks and relatives. Then came the questionb what’s your nameAE “Loy.”

“LuyAE”

“Loy.”

“LooeeeAE”

“Loy.”

The immigration officer settled on Lui.

Grandpa Lui headed up to the barracks which sat on the hill on the right. The bunks at night were cold. He slept there for weeks, waiting to see if he could enter the U.S. Some people waited up to two years. Some, with no laws that gave them recourse, died in the guarded barracks.

This was one of America’s first detention centers. And it was created to keep Asians out.

Carved into the barracks’ walls 100 years ago — translated here by Pacific Link, K/ED’s Asian Education Initiative — are reminders left by some of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants processed at the “Ellis Island of the West”b

m¸risoned in tŒe wooden bçilding day a|ter dayc

!y |reedom witŒŒeld× Œow can bear to talk aboçt itAE

look to see wŒo is Œa¸¸y bçt tŒey only sit Åçietly.

am anïioçs and de¸ressed and cannot |all aslee¸.

WuX NigŒts are long and tŒe ¸illow cold× wŒo can ¸ity my lonelinessAE

Swap “wooden” for “plastic covered” and you’ve modernized the poem. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act described these unwanted Asian immigrants. The preamble readb “In the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities ... ”

Chinese laborers were “taking jobs in construction, restaurants, and laundries — and brought crime.” A poster announcing the act’s passage read, “Hipz Hurrahz The White man is on Top.” There was rampant antiAsian sentiment and related hate incidents.

The U.S. views on the Chinese are interchangeable from the 19th and 21st century. Also mostly interchangeable, the word Chinese or Asian with Latino or Hispanic. What applied 150 years ago, applies today.

Today there are over 200 detention centers in the U.S. Today the death rate of those held in these centers is about 12 per 100,000 detainees, the highest rate in 15 years. Today the average stay is around three weeks, and as long as two years or more.

Let’s go back to a poem carved on the walls from the early 1900sb

America Œas ¸owerc bçt not –çstice.

n ¸risonc we were victimiôed as i| we were gçilty.

iven no o¸¸ortçnity to eïŽ ¸lainc it was really brçtal.

bow my Œead in re|lection bçt tŒere is notŒing can do.

My grandfather lied to immigration officers. He was not Lui Lee. He bought fake papers. His real name was Wong Lee. He was the start of what currently is some 1 million unauthorized immigrants from Asia in the U.S. today. I often say he broke the law because he wanted a better life for the grandchildren he would never meet.

My grandfather took his secret to the grave. For millions of Asian Americans, it wasn’t until they visited the graves that they realized their families’ crimes. Tombstones often having their fake names in English and their real names in Chinese.

My father found out when he was in his 40s that he was not a Lui, but a Wong. I was a teenager and realized my name was not Richard Lui. It is Richard Wong. I was not who I thought I was.

Next month will mark the 100th anniversary of the first immigration quotas set in this country. Now, while our country grapples with a realignment of values after a long and farreaching stayathome period, many people are realizing they aren’t who they thought they were.

Our nation must see our forgotten stories. Our history classes must embrace our imperfect past. We must tear down the structures of how we think about new people. And we must remember to take the time to compose new poems w and remember the writings on the wall.

RicŒard çi is an ancŒor and –oçrnalist |or !SN C Ú N C News. TŒis ¸iece is ada¸ted |rom Œis bookc Ê noçgŒ Aboçt !eb TŒe 5neï¸ected Power o| Sel|lessnessË

|rom ar¸erCollinsÚ@ondervan. e is a board member o| tŒe Angel sland mmigration Station Foçndationc a ~ö°cà tŒat

|ocçses on tŒe Œistory o| tŒe

|ormer immigration on Angel sland. N C News ResearcŒer Aleï o contribçted to tŒis ¸iece.