Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 12-2008 FROM THE GILDED GHETTO TO HOLLYWOOD: BRUCE LEE, KUNG FU, AND THE EVOLUTION OF CHINESE AMERICA Darcy Coover Clemson University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Coover, Darcy, "FROM THE GILDED GHETTO TO HOLLYWOOD: BRUCE LEE, KUNG FU, AND THE EVOLUTION OF CHINESE AMERICA" (2008). All Theses. 503. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/503 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. FROM THE GILDED GHETTO TO HOLLYWOOD: BRUCE LEE, KUNG FU, AND THE EVOLUTION OF CHINESE AMERICA A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts History by Darcy Anne Robards Coover December 2008 Accepted by: Dr. Abel A. Bartley, Committee Chair Dr. James M. Burns Dr. Edwin E. Moïse ABSTRACT As has been true for most groups of immigrants arriving in the United States, the Chinese have undergone a wide-ranging, and at times rapid, transformation in the eyes of mainstream America. No other ethnic or racial group in American history has been so singled out for immigration regulation as have the Chinese—the Exclusion Act, passed in 1882, still represents the only time that a particular ethnic group was selected for immigration restriction. While an analysis of the legal history of the era reveals the various restrictions faced by Chinese immigrants in terms of the state, a look at American popular culture paints an even more vivid picture of the Chinese American experience.