Chinaman's chance

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Someone with a Chinaman's chance has no chance at all. The original phrase was "Chinaman's Chance in Hell" it devolved through usage to "Chinaman's Chance"; meaning "a slim chance to make it".

The historical context of the phrase comes from the old railroad and Goldrush days of pre-California, where many Chinese came to work as laborers for the First Transcontinental Railroad, especially the Central Pacific Railroad. In this employ, they were sought out for the demanding and dangerous jobs involving explosives, often for half the pay of the Irish workers. Yet the Chinese had to pay additional and higher taxes, could not testify in court against violence against them, were denied citizenship, and could be forced from profitable property. The use and "devolution" of the slang phrase "Chinaman's Chance in Hell," into "Chinaman's Chance," resulted, ending up as an insult to Chinese people not necessarily as its original intention, but as a reflection of the callous attitude towards the lives of Chinese immigrant workers.

The term was used by United States Senate candidate John Spencer in the New York Republican primary race to describe the likelihood of his opponent defeating Hillary Clinton in a general election. This caused a rather major controversy as the term was deemed racist. Spencer apologized, insisting that he was only using a figure of speech.

Interestingly, on the March 8, 1993 episode of his show, Charlie Rose used this term when interviewing Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) when asking him about the likelihood of President Clinton's economic plan passing. A Lexis Nexis search reveals that there was no controversy over Rose's use of this term.

[edit] Clouded origins

The Chinaman's chance originated from the early 1800s potentially from several events. One explanation is that at that time, Chinese migrant workers in the U.S. were sent into mines and construction sites to ignite dynamite, potentially with disastrous consequences. They were also lowered over cliffs by rope and boatswain chairs to set dynamite to clear mountain and other obstructions to make way for the railroad construction. In this work, if they were not lifted back up before the blast, serious injury or death would result. Therefore the phrase a "A Chinaman's Chance" was coined.[citation needed]

Another explanation for the phrase is the California Gold Rush 1849. The travel time for news of the gold rush to reach China and for workers to arrive was long, and under this explanation, when the Chinese prospectors arrived, many rich mines were already taken. The Chinese had to suffice only those lands which had already been exploited or which were rejected by others. Hence, "Chinaman's Chance" explained an attempt to find gold where no one else would bother to try; attempting to succeed in a situation where the odds are almost impossible.[citation needed] The historical record, however, indicates that many Chinese combined efforts with each other and did very well in the goldfields, and introduced mining techniques then unknown to non-Chinese.

Another explanation is the difficulties Chinese faced from the U.S. laws and non-Asian neighbors. According to historians,

"By California law, citizenship was denied to the Chinese and their immigration was limited to only "male workers". The law also forbade them from testifying in court, but stipulated that every Chinese man in the state "had to pay a Personal Tax, a Hospital Tax, a two dollar contribution to the School Fund, and a Property Tax" and, if he worked in the abandoned placer and hydraulic mines on the Mother Lode, a Permission tax of four dollars plus an annual water tax [Howard 226]. In short, the Chinese in California were greatly taken advantage of.[1] Other laws denied Chinese housing, employment, education, citizenship, and other legal protections.[2]

According to Nothing Like It in the World by Stephen Ambrose, his book on building the railroad, the phrase was cemented by murders of Chinese that were condoned by state law. "In 1854, in a case heard in Nevada County, George W. Hall was convicted of murdering a Chinese man. On appeal to the State Supreme Court the decision was overturned because all of the evidence against him was from Chinese individuals."[3]

Chinaman's Chance is also the title of a book, A Chinaman's Chance: The Chinese on the Rocky Mountain Mining Frontier, by Liping Zhu, which debunks the usual portrayals of the Chinese in North America as hapless victims of oppression by concentrating on their successes in the goldfields of Idaho.[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Workers of the Central Pacific
  2. ^ Ancestors in the Americas.
  3. ^ The History of Chinese in California.
  4. ^ A Chinaman's Chance: The Chinese on the Rocky Mountain Mining Frontier