The Right to Belong: A Seattle Immigrant’s Plea
Denied citizenship by a court, a Chinese resident explains his life, his work, and his refusal to cut his queue as he navigates exclusion in 1886 Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
On Saturday, a Chinaman appeared before Deputy Clerk Ludlow of the District Court and made application for declaration of intention to become a citizen. Before considering the application, the clerk took the man's statement under oath: 'My name is Ah Foung. I live in Seattle and have lived here four years. I am a native of China. I am a subject of the Chinese Empire. My business is farming. I want to take out my declaration of intention so I can belong to America. I don't care about China. When I get old I want to go back to China to see my parents when they get old. They are about 60 years old now. I want to stay here anyhow, whether I get my papers or not. I like this country better than China. My religion is the Chinese religion; I worship Confucius. I have a horse, wagon, house, vegetables, chickens, plow, tools and furniture—all worth about $1,000. I lease my land; I pay $400 a year. I earned last year a little over $1,000. I sent money to support my parents. My brother paid my passage to this country. I belong to the Ning Yong Company. I wear American clothes because I want to stay in America. I wear my queue because my parents do not like me to cut it off. I don't know why they wanted me to keep it. I have never been to an American school, but I have paid over $30 in county taxes on my property this last year. I don't gamble or smoke opium.' Ruling by the Clerk: Having taken the above testimony, I find that Ah Foung is a native-born citizen of China. This Court having rated the Chinese to be ineligible to citizenship, I must therefore decline to allow the application.
“I want to take out my declaration of intention so I can belong to America. I don't care about China... I will stay here anyhow, whether I get any citizen papers or not.”
This 1886 record serves as a stark reminder of the era's exclusionary legal framework, where Chinese immigrants contributed significantly to the local economy while being systematically denied the basic rights of citizenship. It echoes contemporary debates about immigration policy, pathways to status, and the struggle of residents to be recognized as part of the communities they have helped build.
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