[rubashov]

The debate around the original asian exclusion acts is kind of interesting to read. A lot of articles from the time are reproduced online. The common sentiment was that white americans didn't want to compete with people willing to work 16 hour days. The fear was a generally compromised quality of life. Of course all this nuance gets boiled down to mere "toxic racism" by the NYT. I mean it's not like large numbers of asians willing to study huge numbers of hours a week have had any affect on quality of life or opportunities for today's students...

[subsystem]

The important word being "compete". As far as I know Americans are fine with poor people working multiple jobs for minimum wage. In fact the sentiment often seems to be that they are not working hard enough. If you want to avoid a "race to the bottom" you raise the bottom.

[jacques_chester]

> The common sentiment was that white americans didn't want to compete with people willing to work 16 hour days.

Upon Federation in Australia, the first Act of Parliament that passed was the Immigration Act.

Its key objective? Keeping out asian, particularly Chinese, workers.

Why? Because they would work harder. "Asiatics" were naturally better suited to the North than the white man, you see.