Chinese Texans and Civil Rights
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Chinese immigrants arrived in Texas in the 1870s and 1880s, primarily to build railroads and work as laborers. These early immigrants faced harsh working conditions and racism from those fearing they would take away jobs. Chinese Texans were also met with violence, punctuated by Judge Roy Bean’s reported 1884 ruling that it was not illegal to kill a Chinese. With anti-Chinese sentiment spreading through the western and southern states, Congress restricted immigration through the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), the only U.S. law to exclude a specific race from immigrating; it also denied citizenship to Chinese Americans. As was true throughout Texas, discrimination against Chinese Texans was common in Houston. However, the Houston Chinese Community, which numbered only 50 in 1930, began to grow as immigrants came here from other southern states. In Houston, Chinese students could attend public schools with whites, and soon, Chinese Texans began attending state universities. Through the efforts of American-born Chinese, economic and social injustices began to be righted. 1937 testimony by Edward K.T. Chen ( ) and Rose Don Wu ( ) helped defeat a proposed Texas law that would have prevented Chinese from owning urban property. In 1943, the Magnuson Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese American citizens alliance, including its Houston branch, under the direction of Albert C.B. Gee ( ), helped pass the immigration act of 1965, paving the way for large-scale Chinese immigration. Today, Chinese Texans continue to make a vital impact on politics and culture in Texas, standing as a tribute to the immigrants who withstood discrimination and thrived.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chinese immigrants came to Texas in the 1870s and 1880s to build railroads and labor, facing violence and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 — the only U.S. law to bar a specific nationality and deny its people citizenship. Houston's small Chinese community nonetheless grew and organized, helping defeat an anti-Chinese property bill in 1937 and pressing for the repeal of exclusion in 1943 and immigration reform in 1965.
Why it matters
The story of Chinese Texans traces the long struggle against race-based exclusion toward full participation in American civic and economic life.
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Related people
- · Edward K.T. Chen
- · Rose Don Wu
- · Albert C.B. Gee
Related events
- · Chinese Exclusion Act
- · Magnuson Act
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Edward K. T. Chen
Houston, TX
Born Chen Yuk Chow in San Francisco, Edward K. T. Chen came to Texas in 1932 as a consular official for the Republic of China and settled in Houston, where he earned degrees and became the city's first Chinese American professor. He worked tirelessly to raise the standing of Chinese Texans, helping defeat a 1937 bill that would have barred Chinese from owning land and, during the Korean War, defending the loyalty of Chinese Americans while translating intelligence and teaching Cantonese to FBI agents. In 1954 he founded the Houston lodge of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance to fight the prejudice directed at his community.
League of United Latin American Citizens, Council 60
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The League of United Latin American Citizens formed in Corpus Christi in 1929 to unite Texas Hispanics against discrimination while promoting education, patriotism, and equality. In 1934 more than twenty Houston men chartered Council 60 in Magnolia Park, going on to open jobs for Mexican Americans in wartime industry and the city's police and fire departments. The council backed landmark court fights—including Hernandez v. Texas before the U.S. Supreme Court—and launched the "Little School of the 400," a model for the national Head Start program.
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