Institutionalization of the Chinese Tongs in Chicago's Chinatown

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Why is this paper going to focus upon the tongs in Chicago? This paper is going to focus upon the Chinese community and the tongs because there is not any research in the field that focuses upon Chicago when it discusses the tongs. Why is that in city like Chicago known around the world for organized crime and corrupt politics that there is little research on Chinese organized crime in Chicago? The Chinese tongs did exist in Chicago primarily among its Chinese inhabitants. The tongs in Chicago were known for vice, gambling, and recently for smuggling drugs. However when you look at the research that was done in Chicago on vice and organized crime, it does not mention anything about Chinese vice or Chinese organized crime. Walter Cade Reckless’s influential and well-researched book titled Vice In Chicago does not mention anything about the Chinese and their businesses of vice. Also, another great book about Chicago when it deals with organized crime is John Landesco’s book, Organized Crime in Chicago, has a great chapter on prostitution and its links to organized crime does not mention the Chinese and the tongs. Finally, one of the profound books on prostitution and vice in the city of Chicago does not mention the Chinese either. The Chicago Vice Commission’s findings in The Social Evil in Chicago does not look at the Chinese prostitutes when they are discussing foreign women in the vice trade. They primarily focus on African-Americans and foreign-born whites when they are discussing immigrants in their research. Why is that there is little research done on the tongs when it comes to Chicago? The Chinese are a viable force in the social fabric that makes up Chicago. Chicago was the catalyst in research when it comes to new views when dealing with criminology and social structures. Chicago was the birthplace of the Progressive Movement with its Chicago School of Criminology based at the University of Chicago. If Chicago was the birthplace of the Progressive Movement, then why is there little research about the Chinese in Chicago. An example of what this is trying of show is that one of the founders of the Chicago School of Criminology, Ernest W. Burgess, discussed the Chinese population when showing his theory of urban growth only in the context that the Chinatown as “immigrant colonies fascinatingly combing old world heritages and American adaptations (Burgess: The Growth of the City: An Introduction to Research Project, 37)”.

Why is there such a lack of research when it comes to the Chinese community in Chicago? This paper will be trying to find the roots of why researchers in the City of Progress did not take the time and effort to examine the Chinese population in more detail. In order to accomplish this task, this paper will show and examine the history of the Chinese people in America because it is through looking at history, we can develop a picture of what was going on during that time. The lack of research on the Chinese population is due to the fact that the Chinese were victims of a syndrome that hit America during the late 1800’s: the “yellow” fear syndrome. Americans especially those on living on the West Coast in cities like San Francisco did not like the recent Chinese immigrants who landed in their cities. These immigrants were taking over jobs that whites already occupied. The white settlers in San Francisco did not understand the culture of the Chinese. The whites feared the Chinese because of this misunderstanding. Acts of discrimination began appearing against the Chinese. This paper later on will go further in examining these acts of discrimination because through the annals of history, we can see why the Chinese felt that they had to defend themselves against the whites. This is the start of the tongs in America.

How did the tongs become such a powerful group in America? Before this paper goes into this very question, it has to examine the nature of this group. Was it a gang or was it something else? The tongs were not a gang. Instead, you can classify them as a secret society. What is a secret society? Frederic M. Thrasher in his book The Gang classifies a secret society as: