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Greater Seattle has had a Chinese American community almost since its founding in 1851. Chinese workers arriving in the 1860s were welcomed, because the Seattle area was sparsely settled and workers were needed; within a few decades, however, newly arrived white settlers resented the Chinese workers, and there were several anti-Chinese riots as the whites attempted to expel the Chinese from the area.〔 But Chinese settlement persisted, with the immigrants settling in a well-defined Chinatown where they maintained their culture through family groups, associations, and churches. In the mid-20th century Chinese Americans joined with other immigrant groups to oppose racial discrimination. In 1962 a Chinese American became the first person of Asian ancestry to hold elective office in the state of Washington. ==History== Chinese people were the first Asians to settle in Seattle, arriving directly from China or via San Francisco in the 1860s. The majority of these immigrants came from the area around Guangzhou (Canton). They worked as fishermen, cannery and mill workers, miners, loggers, or domestic help. Later they worked on railroad construction and building projects. Initially welcomed because of the region's labor shortage,〔 the Chinese later became resented as more white settlers arrived. This resentment was felt in other states as well, notably California, and in 1882 it led to the passage of the federal Chinese Exclusion Act. Racial tension in the Washington Territory came to a head in the 1880s during an economic recession.〔 White workers, particularly mine workers, believed the Chinese workers were taking their jobs, and resorted to rioting and force to make the Chinese leave. The Seattle riot of 1886 led to the forced expulsion of some 350 Chinese men;〔 many others left voluntarily.〔 Other anti-Chinese riots in the area included the Tacoma riot of 1885 and the Attack on Squak Valley Chinese laborers, 1885 in what is now Issaquah. President Grover Cleveland ordered federal military forces into Seattle and other parts of the Washington Territory to restore order.〔 At first the Chinese workers settled along the eastern edge of Pioneer Square, in the area now occupied by the 2nd Avenue Extension. A new Chinatown grew up in the early 1900s on fill land south of Pioneer Square. Its Wa Chong Co. was the first Asian-owned manufacturing business in America. Japanese and Filipino residents also settled there. By the 1930s Chinatown and "Japan Town" were distinct neighborhoods. The Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II led to the abandomnent of Japan Town and its takeover by other ethnic groups from Asia and the Pacific Islands. In 1951 the area was renamed the Seattle Chinatown-International District to reflect its growing diversity.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Seattle Historic Tours - International District )〕 In the 1930s, the Chinese American community united with the Japanese American and Filipino American communities to fight a proposed ban on interracial marriage. Later the same communities rallied against other discriminatory practices such as restrictive housing and racial preference in hiring. In the late 1960s, inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and student opposition to the Vietnam War, these traditional coalitions were formalized as the Asian Coalition for Equality, the Oriental Student Movement, and the Asian American Student Coalition. In 1962 Wing Luke became the first Asian American to hold elected office (Seattle City Council) in Washington state. In 1997 Gary Locke was elected governor of the state of Washington, becoming the first, and the only, Chinese American to serve as governor of a state; in 2009 he became the first Chinese American ambassador to China. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Chinese Americans in Seattle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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