Wong kim ark biography of nancy johnson

Has anyone questioned your citizenship? Go back to where you came from! This happened to me often in Eastern Washington where I grew up, yet if I was to go back to where I came from, that would have been Seattle, Washington, where I was born. I could also be an immigrant who became an American like Wing Luke, who was the first person of color elected to the Seattle City Council.

Race is a powerful element of American society. People judge others based on their skin color, physical characteristics, stature and cultural practices. I was seen as a foreigner and so did not belong in the United States, though I lived in the state of Washington all of my life. The book is about how Wong Kim Ark went to court and fought for his right as an American citizen.

Chinese immigrants suffered much prejudice living in California. His parents left San Francisco in to go back to China while he stayed with relatives in California.

Supreme Court ruled that

Wong Kim Ark visited his parents in on a temporary trip. When he returned to San Francisco, he was not allowed to enter the United States because officials said he was not a citizen. He was put in prison because of the Chinese Exclusion Law that did not allow Chinese workers into the United States. Lawyers sued to get him out of prison in district court.

At that time Wong Kim Ark was about 21 years old.