Talk:United States v. Wong Kim Ark/Archives/2005

NPOV

NPOV problem: The article needs editing to reflect the fact that there was sharp disagreement between the court's majority and minority regarding the applicability of English common law on citizenship in the US, and regarding the meaning of "jurisdiction" in the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause. As written, the article presents the dissenting opinion of two of the Supreme Court's justices pretty much as if it were unquestioned fact. Richwales 02:03, 10 November 2005 (UTC) [This concern was addressed years ago. Richwales (talk · contribs) 04:52, 19 December 2010 (UTC)]

Untitled

It would also be good to include references to subsequent Supreme Court cases that cite Wong Kim Ark (such as Perkins v. Elg and Afroyim v. Rusk). Richwales 02:03, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

I went ahead and did a major rewrite of this article. I hope readers will agree that I've presented both sides fairly, even though I, personally, happen to agree strongly with the majority opinion of the court and feel the minority was grasping at straws in a desperate, futile attempt to justify an untenable position. Richwales 05:55, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

I would love it if someone who knows Chinese could add the Chinese characters and pronunciation details for Wong Kim Ark's name (in the "Facts" section). Any volunteers? Richwales 05:58, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

I understand that some Chinese immigrants who left the US were allowed to return — the Chinese Exclusion Act apparently excluded specifically "laborers". Also, Chinese immigrants already in the US were allowed to sponsor their children for immigration — a loophole which was widely exploited via "paper children" schemes. Richwales 06:18, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

I found an article in SF Weekly (1998-11-04) about a great-granddaughter of Wong Kim Ark who went to the National Archives office in San Bruno, California (a San Francisco suburb) in search of information about her famous ancestor. This article mentioned that Wong "spent most of his life as a cook in various Chinatown restaurants" in San Francisco. Richwales 06:35, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

I spent a few hours today (Fri. 25 Nov. 2005) at the National Archives office in San Bruno, CA. I was able to photocopy material from Wong Kim Ark's immigration file, as well as the files of three of his four sons — Wong Yoke Fun, Wong Yook Thue, and Wong Yook Jim. This material includes some biographical details on Wong and his family, and it contains Wong's name written in Chinese. I've added a 1931 photo of Wong, plus his signature. As soon as I can get a transcription of his name in his native See Yip (Taishan) dialect, I'll add that to the article. Richwales 02:51, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

A Usenet acquaintance, who speaks Cantonese and has some familiarity with the Taishan dialect, provided me with a transcription of the pronunciation of Wong Kim Ark's name. Richwales 16:00, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

The same source also provided me with Cantonese and Mandarin readings of Wong's name. Although I'm not totally sure how relevant these are in this case (since there is no evidence that Wong ever pronounced his own name in either of these languages/dialects), I've added this additional information for the sake of completeness. Richwales 23:43, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

The material I photocopied from the Wong immigration files at the National Archives also includes birthdate info for Wong Kim Ark's sons. I'll add this when I get a chance. Richwales 08:47, 26 December 2005 (UTC)