Tiny Bits of Gold

When he was in the fourth grade, my oldest son looked forward to his school’s annual trip to the birthplace of the California Gold Rush in Coloma. There he would learn to square dance, make cornbread, pitch a tent and pan for gold. Children were encouraged to wear denim overalls, flannel shirts, cowboy hats and neckerchiefs. Parents were encouraged to play up the spirit of the trip (and abate homesickness) by writing letters to our children as if they were forty-niners prospecting for tiny bits of gold. 

My child was excited but I was slightly troubled. As far as I could tell, there was little, if any, discussion of the different ways children might experience this particular period in American history. Had he been alive in the 1840s and ‘50s, my child and a portion of our family may have been enslaved, whereas other members of our family may have been slaveholders. His Asian classmates, particularly those of Chinese descent, would have been the targets of anti-Asian violence and wildly discriminatory legislation. His classmates from Mexico in particular would have been displaced people in their own homelands, to say nothing of the brutal genocide enacted against Indigenous peoples. In my letter to him, I tried to bring some nuance to what he was learning in school. 

Dearest  L, 

Your father and I miss you terribly and anxiously await your return. Is it true that gold can be found most everywhere? What a wondrous site that must be to behold! We’ve heard tell the work can be quite strenuous and even dangerous. Keep safe my love! Keep your wits about you and do your best to eat healthy, nutritious food whenever possible to keep strong. 

Especially hold close your Freedom Papers! As you know, we live in a country where slavery is the law in much of the land, and men, women and children who look like us are not always in possession of their own freedom. Many have gone to seek their fortunes in California gold so that they might purchase the freedom of their families in the South. Thank goodness that burden is not one you must bear. 

I hold steady, in my mind’s eye, the vision of your safe return. No amount of gold in the whole world is as precious to your father and I as you, dear far away child. Your grandmothers both, and papa too, keep you in their thoughts and prayers. Your little brothers and sister keep asking upon when you will return. Nearly every night they ask for what we have come to call a “L Story” and your father obliges them, spinning stories of your learning to work and live off the land, and meeting people from all over the country, perhaps from all over the world - and maybe even striking it rich!  

With or without gold, we will rejoice and celebrate your safe return, and you can regale us with your true tales about what really happened on your adventures. We hope you are not lonesome and promise to write again soon. Please write to us as well. 

Our love, 

Mother and Father

The above is an excerpt from a longer piece I am working on but it got me thinking about the fact that much of what was true in the 1800s remains true today. Anti-Asian sentiment has long been a fixture of American culture. Racist and xenophobic rhetoric about the origins of Covid-19 has resulted in staggeringly high instances of assault, harassment and violence against Asians and Asian Americans, particularly women and seniors, in the US. Novelist Min Jin Lee shares, “This has been happening for as long as I can remember.” 

Thousands of migrants, immigrants and refugees from Central and South America, many of whom are women and children seeking safe haven from violence and extreme poverty, languish in detention centers at the border between the United States and Mexico or die en route. The 2009 documentary Which Way Home follows migrant children as they attempt to journey to the United States alone.

The recent discovery of a mass unmarked grave of Indigenous children on the site of a former Residential School in Canada is yet another testament to the attempted erasure of Indigenous cultures and peoples. Mary Annette Pember writes about the legacy of her mother’s horrific experience at an Indian Boarding School in the US. 

While it seems some things will never change, do not despair. There is much we can do. 

Consider learning how to safely intervene in the wake of verbal or physical violence by participating in a Bystander Intervention Training Program. Donate to organizations such as Stop AAPI Hate and CAA. If you, or someone you know, is in need of mental health support, the Asian Mental Health Collective may be able to assist.

Casa La Paz was founded to reunite families separated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Asylum Access Mexico offers humanitarian and legal assistance to individuals and families attempting to journey from one country to the next. 

And finally, two very easy ways to support higher education for Black and Indigenous young people are The United Negro College Fund and The American Indian College Fund. 

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