"Chinese. . .were clear 'aliens' whose right to occupy space in the country was completely at the mercy of American sovereignty. Blacks and Asians could be understood. . .as capable of productive labor, this being the ground of both fear and competition from labor groups and hope of ultimate assimilation. Both groups were targets in intensifying racial hostility in these years. . .[with] exclusion legislation against the Chinese in California."

--Alan Trachtenberg, The Incorporation of America