Asian Studies

The Angel Island poems are based on the happenings of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, where some Chinese people were detained for a long time in an island in San Francisco. These poems are historical and they are deemed as relics. In addition to this, the Angel Island poems uphold as well as question the traditional ideologies of unlimited and equal opportunity in the American society.

The kind of readership that the Angel Island poets are addressing in their writings is the historical value of the Chinese people in the American society as well as the evident themes in the poems such as labor, race and immigration in America. The theme of labor is quite evident in the Angel Island poets as these poets write about the labor and economic conditions in the state of California. According to these writings, it was after the war in Mexico that the Chinese labor was welcomed in America. In addition to this, the Chinese people as evident in these poets writings were somewhat fundamental to the fishing and agriculture industries in the state of California. Furthermore, these poets write in detail about the Chinese workers struggle for better working conditions as the various forms of exploitation that they suffered and endured in the American society.

Moreover, in the Angel Island poems, the writers also dwell on the oppression that the Chinese endured, which was racism and economic racism. Lee (61-2) states of how distressed the Chinese were because of been detained in a wooden building and that it was because of racial barriers that caused many difficult situations on an Island in San Francisco. Furthermore, it is quite clear that the Angel Island poets were writing the poems for the Chinese people as a whole including the Chinese detainees as well as future generations. These poems also dwell on the way the Chinese had viewed America as a land of opportunity and equality. Sadly, according to them this was not the case. Furthermore, the Chinese did not expect to be detained in any manner in America. The Angel Island poets disappointment at the lack of equality is widely expressed in most of their poems.