MacTheKnife
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- Jul 20, 2018
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Do Whites Have a Chinaman’s Chance?
A recent New York Times story recounted the long and troubled racial history of America’s public swimming pools. The article was predictable: blacks attempting to use the pools, and whites resisting, often with force. This account reminded me of an old, currently unspeakable expression, “a Chinaman’s chance.” The origins of this term are murky, but most likely refer to a California law, the California Crimes and Punishment Act of 1850 that barred “all races other than the Caucasian,” (including blacks) from testifying in their own defense in a criminal case. This meant whites could physically attack a Chinese person (or black) almost without risk of punishment because only the attacker’s testimony counted. “A Chinaman’s chance” meant that in court he was defenseless against a white assailant.
Do Whites Have a Chinaman’s Chance? - American Renaissance
A recent New York Times story recounted the long and troubled racial history of America’s public swimming pools. The article was predictable: blacks attempting to use the pools, and whites resisting, often with force. This account reminded me of an old, currently unspeakable expression, “a Chinaman’s chance.” The origins of this term are murky, but most likely refer to a California law, the California Crimes and Punishment Act of 1850 that barred “all races other than the Caucasian,” (including blacks) from testifying in their own defense in a criminal case. This meant whites could physically attack a Chinese person (or black) almost without risk of punishment because only the attacker’s testimony counted. “A Chinaman’s chance” meant that in court he was defenseless against a white assailant.
Do Whites Have a Chinaman’s Chance? - American Renaissance