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Quotations from Wong
Chin Foo On Being a Confucian Missionary
(1874) “The Chinese no more worship idols than the Catholics who bow to a cross with an image on it. So in China the temples are filled with images which represent to their minds a certain idea, as the idea of a cross represents the sufferings of Christ. Depend upon it, my friends, no form of any kind can save a man.” On China's Scientific
Contributions (1877) “I never knew that rats and dogs were good to eat until I learned it from Americans.” On Dueling Anti-Chinese Demagogue Denis Kearney (1883) “I would give him his choice of chopsticks, Irish potatoes or Krupp guns.” On Wong's Chinese vs. Denis Kearney's Irish (1883) “I belong to the most
ancient empire on this globe. You, by your own statement, belong to the
most dependent and ill-treated nation of serfs ever deprived of its
liberties. The flag of my country floats over the third greatest navy in
the world. Yours is to be seen derisively displayed on the 17th of March
in the public streets and triumphantly hoisted on an occasional
gin-mill. The ambassadors and consuls of my nation rank at every court
in Europe with those of Russia, Germany, England and France. Those of
your race may be found cooling their heels in the lobbies of any common
council in which the rum-selling interest in politics predominates. The
race which I represent is centuries old in every art and science. That
of which you are the spokesman apologizes for its present ignorance and
mental obscurity with the plea that your learning and literature are
lost in the mythical past.” “You must remember that the politician who lords it over you to-day is an arrant coward, and trims his sails to every breeze that blows. When you don’t vote and don’t wish to vote, he denounces you as a reptile; the moment you appear at the ballot box you are a man and a brother and are treated (if you consort with such people) to cigars, whiskies, and beers.” On the Opium Trade (1887) “When the English wanted
the Chinamen's gold and trade, they said they wanted to 'open China for
their missionaries,' and opium was the chief, in fact, only, missionary
they looked after, when they forced the ports open. And this infamous
Christian introduction among Chinamen has done more injury, social and
moral, in China than all the humanitarian agencies of Christianity could
remedy in 200 years.” “I have just discovered
that I am the only individual in New York that has no country. The very
thought of it knocks all the light and hope out of a fellow. A man
without a country, kicked out of China, disowned by the United States,
and all for what? . . . Has the Federal government of the United States
the right to make a law which would be retroactive, as in this case, to
strip me of my citizenship and franchise?” “Thank God there is one
spot in this great republic where its people are brave enough to stand
up for principle and for oppressed humanity. Once more it is the
fellow-citizens of the noble Sumner, the illustrious and immortal
Garrison, to be in front. Whenever the honor of the nation is at stake,
or the cause of human liberty is involved, the noble sons of
Massachusetts can always be depended on to defend them.” “As residents of the United States, we claim a common manhood with all other nationalities, and believe we should have that manhood recognized according to the principles of common humanity and American freedom.” "We, therefore, appeal
for an equal chance in the race of life in this our adopted home – a
large number of us have spent almost all our lives in this country and
claim no other but this as ours. Our motto is: 'Character and fitness
should be the requirement of all who are desirous of becoming citizens
of the American Republic.'” “Is it then a crime to be
a Chinaman? Shall I be dragged from my bed at midnight because I shall
refuse to be photographed? No, I will not be photographed against my
will like a criminal. I would be hanged first.” “We want Illinois, the place that Lincoln, Grant and Logan called their home, to do for the Chinese what the North did for the negroes.” |
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© 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 Scott D. Seligman |