7 Chinese Americans in Iowa: Contributions & Discrimination Amidst a Global Epidemic
By Amelia Rude
Like many non-White immigrants to the United States, Chinese Americans have experienced significant racial and cultural discrimination. Despite this discrimination, Chinese Americans have a particularly rich history in the midwestern state of Iowa. Asian Americans comprise approximately 2.6% of Iowa’s population; of those who self-identify as Asian, 16.7% (approximately 9,790 people) are Chinese (State Data Center of Iowa 1). These Chinese Iowans have overcome racial prejudice to contribute to Iowa’s community and assert their right to exist as both Chinese and Iowans. The relevance of discrimination against Chinese Americans has increased significantly since the global outbreak of Coronavirus. This virus, believed to originate in China, has caused pre-existing biases against all Asian Americans to resurface, often resulting in microaggressions and in some cases escalating to physical violence. In order to understand the contributions of Chinese Americans to the state of Iowa, it is important to consider the history of bias against Chinese Americans; how Chinese Americans in Iowa adapted to and overcame these biases; and how COVID-19 has resurfaced prejudice against Chinese Americans. Chinese Iowans cohabit Midwestern and Chinese identities by supporting their local community, forming ethnic and religious associations to preserve their cultural identity, and contributing to the American economy and military.
In July 1868, China and the United States signed the Burlingame Treaty to allow free immigration between the two countries (State Historical Society of Iowa). However, in May 1882, the United States effectively nullified this friendly, open relationship through the Chinese Exclusion Act (State Historical Society of Iowa). This “was the first immigration law which excluded an entire ethnic group” (The African American Policy Forum) and likely resulted from xenophobia surrounding Chinese workers who were accused of stealing railroad and mining jobs from United States “natives.” In March 1882, Representative John Kasson of Iowa argued against the Chinese Exclusion Act by stating, “It is hostile to the civilization of the United States, hostile to the traditions of our Government and people, [and] hostile to our system hitherto of dealing with all foreigners” (State Historical Society of Iowa). Iowa once again welcomed Asian Americans in the 1970s, when Governor Robert Ray “initiate[d] a government-sponsored resettlement program for southeast [Asian]… victims of the Vietnam War” (State Historical Society of Iowa).
Perhaps encouraged by the unusual hospitality towards Asian Americans in Iowa, Chinese Iowans have prospered. In 2014, Asian Americans in Iowa paid $623.3 million in taxes and earned more than any other immigrant group (New American Economy 7), and in 2019, 607 Asian Iowans served in the armed forces. These numbers suggest Chinese Iowans take pride in their American citizenship and contribute willingly to the economy and defense of the country. However, they continue to maintain their Chinese identity. In 1987, David Lee founded Chinese Association of Iowa (CAI) in Des Moines, Iowa (CAI). The CAI aims to provide information “on issues of vital interest to the Chinese Americans in the state of Iowa”; “to ensure Chinese American representation in the social, cultural and economic life of Iowa”; and “to share and enjoy the commonality of experiences and to identify and celebrate the differences among Chinese Americans” (CAI). Just as the Latinos in Latino Heartland found solace and community through “ethno-religious continuity in an otherwise unfamiliar, and sometimes unfriendly, town” (Vega 63) and “made a living experience…with survival strategies that allowed for both Mexican and U.S. definition of self, faith, and community,” (Vega 62) Chinese Iowans have created both cultural and religious communities such as the CAI and Chinese Church of Iowa City (CCIC) to embrace their identities as both Chinese and Iowan “to enhance, not deter from, their midwestern experience” (Vega 65).
Iowa and China enjoy a friendly relationship which has led many Chinese middle-class students to travel to Iowa for college (Krogstad). In “Immigration from China Surges in Iowa,” one Chinese student Ziyu Jiang noted that twenty out of thirty seats in his class “were filled by students like him” (Krogstad). In 2012, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping affirmed this relationship by visiting Iowa “to build business and cultural connections” (Krogstad). Some Chinese students come to Iowa to attend a great American university and return home to fulfill their “Chinese dream” rather than their “American dream”; many others start or expand their businesses in Iowa (Krogstad). Whether they intend to stay in the United States or return to China, the presence of these students in Iowa characterizes a positive relationship between White and non-White Americans in the Midwest.
The presence of Chinese Americans, the establishment of Chinese businesses, and the creation of Chinese cultural and religious communities in Iowa are positive developments which diversify Iowa and enhance Chinese Iowans’ midwestern experience. However, misinformation and hysteria surrounding Coronavirus threaten to alienate Chinese Americans from their American communities and resurface racial and ethnic tensions. Though the prejudice against Chinese Americans exemplified by the adoption of the Chinese Exclusion Act may have lain dormant, it has not disappeared. These biases have resurfaced in the association between “Asian” and “illness.” By dissociating the Coronavirus from themselves, Americans use scapegoating to label COVID-19 as a “foreign” enemy which must be fought. This revitalizes an “us vs. them” rhetoric and leads to microaggressions against Chinese Americans who have asserted themselves as both Chinese and American.
According to Vega, microaggressions replace “socially unacceptable” displays of “outright racism” with “acts that still communicate a level of discomfort and prejudice just beneath the surface” (Vega 141). Just as the White interviewee in Latino Heartland avoids dark-skinned men because she associates them with criminality, many people have begun avoiding Asian Americans because they associate them with sickness. Though going out of your way to walk around an Asian person may not be explicitly aggressive, it can make Asians feel “dismissed, dehumanized, and distanced because of the color of their skin” (Vega 141). Furthermore, boycotts on Chinese restaurants and products may be a consumer’s right, but avoiding a business because of its owner’s race also constitutes a microaggression. Terminology may also be used as a microaggression; for example, referring to the Coronavirus as “China virus” separates Chinese from American and associates China with sickness. Even in Iowa, a state which has a history of supporting Chinese immigrants, Senator Chuck Grassley tweeted, “I don’t understand why China gets upset bc we refer to the virus that originated there the ‘Chinese virus’ Spain never got upset when we referred to the Spanish flu in 1918&1919” (Gruber-Miller). President Donald Trump continues to use this term as well, despite the fact that it “encourages conspiracy theories and increases racism toward Asian-Americans” according to Georgetown University professor Don Moynihan (Gruber-Miller). In other Midwestern states, attacks against Asian Americans have been more aggressive: denying service in Martinsville, Indiana (D’Angelo); denying access to hotel rooms in Plymouth, Indiana (Nottingham and Alsup); and assaulting pedestrians in Illinois (Kang).
Despite these racial attacks, the CAI launched a funding campaign to purchase N95 masks for government and health workers in Iowa and have even used personal connections with manufacturers in China to bring more supplies to the community (CAI). Clearly, though experiencing a revival of racial discrimination, Chinese Iowans feel that they can cohabit both “American” and “Chinese” and contribute to both communities in a meaningful way. To understand Chinese contributions to Iowa, one must begin by examining the history of racism towards Chinese immigrants; Iowa’s hospitable environment for Chinese Americans; and the resurfacing of prejudice in the context of the current epidemic. Ultimately, Chinese Iowans continue to cohabit Midwestern and Chinese identities through supporting their local community, forming ethnic and religious associations, and contributing to the economy and safety of their nation.
Works Cited
“Asian/Pacific Americans in Iowa: 2019.” State Data Center of Iowa, The Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, May 2019,
https://www.iowadatacenter.org/Publications/api2019.pdf.
Chinese Association of Iowa, http://www.iowachinese.us/.
The Chinese Church of Iowa City, http://em.ccic-iowa.org/.
“Chinese Exclusion Act.” The African American Policy Forum, n.d., https://aapf.org/chinese-exclusion-act.
“The Contributions of New Americans in Iowa.” New American Economy, August 2016,
http://research.newamericaneconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/nae-ia-report.pdf.
D’Angelo, Bob. “Coronavirus: Indiana gas station owner apologizes after clerk kicks out doctor for being Asian.” FOX13, 1 April 2020,
Gruber-Miller, Stephen. “Chuck Grassley says people shouldn’t be upset when the coronavirus iscalled ‘Chinese virus.’” The Des Moines Register, 18 March 2020,
“Immigration: Regulation, Response and Attitudes in America.” IDCA, State Historical Society of Iowa, 22 Aug. 2018,
Kang, Esther Yoon-Ji. “Asian Americans in Chicago Feel the Bite of Prejudice During the Spread of the Coronavirus.” WBEZ, 31 March 2020,
Krogstad, Jens. “Immigration from China Surges in Iowa.” The Des Moines Register, The University of Iowa, 13 Feb. 2012,
https://international.uiowa.edu/news/immigration-china-surges-iowa.
Nottingham, Shawn and Dave Alsup. “Hmong men record alleged coronavirus discrimination at Indiana hotels.” CNN, 15 February 2020,
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/14/us/hmong-men-hotel-refusals/index.html.