Chinese migrant workers encountered considerable prejudice in the United States , especially by the people who occupied the lower layers in white society , because Chinese " coolies " were used as a scapegoat for depressed wage levels by politicians and labor leaders . Cases of physical assaults on the Chinese include the Chinese massacre of 1871 in Los Angeles and the murder of Vincent Chin . The 1909 murder of Elsie Sigel in New York , of which a Chinese person was suspected , was blamed on the Chinese in general and led to physical violence . " The murder of Elsie Sigel immediately grabbed the front pages of newspapers , which portrayed Chinese men as dangerous to " innocent " and " virtuous " young white women . This murder led to a surge in the harassment of Chinese in communities across the United States . " Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans , who had once been subject to similar prejudice themselves , were often involved in such assaults , believing that their condition had been worsened by the influx of Chinese laborers
Chinese massacre of 1871
Chinese massacre of 1871
Sinophobia