{"id":543,"date":"2017-09-12T17:31:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T22:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/?page_id=543"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:34:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T19:34:59","slug":"news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/news\/","title":{"rendered":"News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

University of Minnesota Professor gives presentation on American Imperialism and its effect on the Chinese diaspora<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Osvaldo Rodriguez<\/a>, Contributing Writer \u2022 October 23, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of Chinese immigration to Latin America is one that most people are not aware of. On Oct. 17, the departments of Latin American studies and Asian studies collaborated to bring guest speaker Benjamin Narvaez, a researcher on Chinese immigration to Latin America, to the Hill. His talk, titled \u201cRace, Nation, and U.S. Imperialism: Understanding the History of Chinese Immigration and Exclusion in Latin America, 1890s-1940s\u201d\u2019 was held at Viking Theater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the event started at 7 p.m., the theater was packed with Oles and faculty members. Professor Kris Thalhammer from the Latin American studies department introduced Narvaez, who is a professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and has given talks on Chinese immigration to Latin America across the world. The crowd filled the room with applause as Narvaez came in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narvaez started by giving context for how Chinese people were brought to the Americas: Chinese workers were tricked or coerced to come to the Americas as they were a source for cheap labor and could replace enslaved people after the abolishment of slavery. These Chinese workers were subject to extreme exploitation, tortured, and 36 percent of them died at sea during the transoceanic voyage. They were often whipped and tortured, tricked into lifelong servitude, and rarely paid. The state of California first started introducing anti-Chinese laws, as Chinese people were declared ineligible for nationalized citizenship, interracial marriages were banned, and Chinese merchants were forcibly expelled. Narvaez\u2019s presentation included images of political propaganda cartoons that stereotyped Chinese people as opium addicts, immoral, carrying typhoid and smallpox, gamblers, and unhygienic people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narvaez spoke about two countries that were U.S. Protectorates: Cuba and Panama. The U.S. occupied Cuba for four years and wrote American policies into the Cuban constitution through the Platt Amendment. These laws benefited the U.S. economically and granted them the rights to military intervention and to have overseas bases in Cuban territory. Cuba reluctantly accepted, knowing that this was the only way the U.S. would leave the island alone. However, 15 days before leaving the island in 1902, the U.S. put its immigration policy into national law. They also sent in agents to ensure that Chinese people were being excluded and forced to leave. Anti-Chinese sentiment grew on the island as the post-colonial bourgeoisie felt threatened by the rise of Chinese people, who, after escaping their indentured labor, started to build new businesses. Today, most Chinese people on the island are no longer fully Chinese, as Cuban policies forced a lot of them to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Panama, this was very different. The leaders of the country carried a sinophobic sentiment in their leadership. The Panamanians feared that the US would bring Chinese workers to work in the construction of the canal. The sixth law ever passed, only four months after Panama separated itself from Colombia in 1903, was Ley 6, which banned Turkish, Syrian, and Chinese people from immigrating into the country. Ley 6 forced Chinese people to get new IDs every six months and forced them to pay extra taxes to make it impossible for them to stay. Anti-Chinese associations such as the Sociedad Anti-China advocated for these laws and made life harder for Chinese immigrants. Chinese people in Panama turned to the U.S. ambassador for help, but the U.S. did not help protect their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something similar happened in Costa Rica, though through a different lens. There were ideas of racial homogeneity, and Costa Rica viewed itself as a white nation. The president at the time said that West Indian and Chinese workers posed a threat to public health and racial purity. All Chinese people were banned from immigrating, which was a stark measure in comparison to the US, where merchants and students were allowed to immigrate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Mexico, there were large fears of \u201cmestizaje,\u201d or racial mixture. The government supported propaganda efforts that portrayed the Chinese as sickly, disease-carrying, and weak. This propaganda portrayed Mexicans as strong, and that they would abandon their Mexican wives who were drawn to them because of their \u201cmoney.\u201d Local politicians, notably the ones in the state of Sonora, actively deported Chinese immigrants, only giving them a 24-hour notice. A lot of these interracial families went back to China and struggled to find a sense of belonging there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these challenges, the Chinese Diaspora in Latin America was able to endure because of their strong community networks and mutual aid. They adopted certain measures to avoid being deported, such as marrying into local communities, converting to Catholicism, and adopting Spanish names. They helped each other transnationally, investing in each other\u2019s businesses overseas and teaching one another how to circumvent deportation efforts. Moreover, they often made donations to national initiatives and exhibited patriotism so they would be accepted more. It is important to note that other countries \u2014 such as Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador \u2014 were not focused on in the talk but also had large Chinese communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The headline of this article was edited on May 1 for clarity and intention. Previously, it read \u201cUniversity of Minnesota Professor gives presentation on American Imperialism and its affect on the Chinese diaspora.\u201d The word \u201caffect\u201d was changed to \u201ceffect.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like This Story<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Share on Facebook<\/a>Share on X<\/a>Email this Story<\/a>Print this Story<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Olaf emeriti professor gives talk about how being a Latin Americanist shaped her life:
Reflections of a Latin Americanist during Tumultuous Times<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Osvaldo Rodriguez, Contributing Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 10th 2025 St. Olaf professor emerita Jeane DeLaney gave her talk
\u2018\u2019Reflections of A Latin Americanist during Tumultuous Times\u2019\u2019 at Viking Theater. This
event was part of the celebration of the 50 years of Latin American Studies. She was
introduced by professor emerita Gwendolyn-Barnes Karol. She listed DeLaney\u2019s
accomplishments, including receiving a Ph.D. from Stanford in Latin American history,
having her book \u2018\u2019Identity and Nationalism in Modern Argentina\u2019\u2019 published through
Notre Dame Press, as well as serving as a professor at St. Olaf College for thirty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latin American Studies has given her life meaning and purpose. Having been raised in
rural North Carolina in a family interested in world affairs during the \u2018Cold War\u2019, she
attended UNC – Chapel Hill. Jeane DeLaney first became deeply interested in Latin
America in Colombia where she studied for a time as a college student. After her
studies ended, she decided to expand her horizons by taking a bus from Panama to
Mexico, stopping along the way in different Central American countries. Later, having
finished her degree at UNC – Chapel Hill, she opted to do graduate work at Stanford
University. She joined the Stanford Central American Network (SCAN) and protested
against policies of the Reagan administration that she opposed. She earned her Ph.D. in
history with a focus on Latin America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her time at St. Olaf, She taught a number of different courses, including, for
example, modern Latin American history, the history of Mexico, and Latin American<\/p>\n\n\n\n

environmental history. This allowed her to reach American students who knew little or
nothing about the region. This was an important role because Professor DeLaney was
exposing our students to what is Latin America and fostering an interest in the region.
Dr. DeLaney explained that she has viewed teaching as a political act by training
students to consider evidence, to evaluate multiple perspectives, and to employ critical
thinking as they studied the region. This was her chance to reach students and educate
them so they could recognize Latin American countries as real nations, with their own
legitimate hopes and aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her leadership at St. Olaf included serving for a time as Director of Latin American
Studies and of the Languages Across the Curriculum program. For some years Dr.
DeLaney taught an on-campus course on Cuban history because of the difficult
relationship between the U.S. and Cuba with the U.S. trying to remove the Castro
regime. After the Clinton administration loosened the travel ban in 2000, she embarked
on a new academic adventure: St. Olaf\u2019s first course in Cuba. Under her leadership, nine
different groups of St. Olaf students studied in Cuba. This was a great accomplishment!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After her retirement from St. Olaf, she did not want to lose contact with Latin America
and the Spanish language. She volunteered to work with StoveTeam International, an
organization that distributes safe stoves in Central American countries. She also
volunteered to help at WAFLA, the Worker and Farmer Labor Association. Having seen
poverty in Guatemala such as homes with dirt floors and having observed some homes
of better quality due to remittances that a family member had sent from the United
States, she realized that working in the U.S. was very important to some families. Dr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeLaney founded with others Field to Future, a non-profit organization that helps H2A
visa seasonal farmers learn about personal money management and education so that
they can use wisely what they earn in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She concluded her talk with advice: follow your interests and interact with a variety of
people. During these tumultuous times, act and bring about positive change. Do not
despair. Speak up and protect the vulnerable. And above all, be an advocate for those
who cannot speak for themselves for fear of persecution.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Minnesota Professor gives presentation on American Imperialism and its effect on the Chinese diaspora Osvaldo Rodriguez, Contributing Writer \u2022 October 23, 2024 The history of Chinese immigration to Latin America is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2721,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-543","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2721"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1317,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/543\/revisions\/1317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/latin-american-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}