14 May 05
Originally posted by Jay PeateaAnti-Chinese sentiment was extremely high in California in 1874, and growing. Many Californians wanted all Chinese removed from America, and forever excluded. Certainly any idea that they may have been explorers who landed here decades ahead of the Spanish (also hated by California's growing majority) would challenge the ideology that China was a backwards and uncivilized country, and that the Chinese were incapable of civilization.
Perhaps I've read too much into the book ! (bearing in mind I haven't finished it yet). However the book details a report made in 1874 by a government inspector called stephen powers , which was apparantly was badly received by his employers and was waterdown considerably before it was published. Perhaps it something to do with the victorian type of mentality of that era?
edit for clarification: this happened in california
24 May 05
Chris Rock had a good line about Columbus... he said "Everybody says that Columbus discovered America...he didn't discover America, there were already people here...that's like going out and saying you 'discovered' somebody else's back yard"....
Obviously, it was Columbus who brought America to the attention of the technologically advanced peoples of Europe...nobody takes the statment literally to mean that Columbus was the first person to set foot on the continent.