Editor,

Great guest perspective in the Daily Journal of Dec. 23 about the history of Anson Burlingame. An impressive renaissance man for sure. As his ideas of mutual respect and tolerance of China of the 19th century and its immigrants to our country were sadly way before their time and not of the mainstream for sure. I wonder what would be his reaction if he happened to stop by his namesake city of today which although he never lived in it, might he relate to the present day lack of respect for the less represented citizens who occupy the “East of El Camino Real” portion of town?

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(6) comments

Patrick Henry

Mike, I think those east siders in Burlingame who want district elections need to get together and create their own city, maybe even link up with the "east-siders" from San Mateo that feel the same way you do. You will be rid of all those that you seem to despise and we will be rid of those who whine about social equity and equality ad nauseum. Deal?

Ray Fowler

Good morning, Patrick

"Ad nauseum" is the Norwegian spelling...

willallen

Burlingame was a bigot. He was a member of the ant-immigrant, anti-Catholic Know Nothing party and was elected to Congress. Check it out.

Mike Caggiano

To Mr.. Wlydeker, I'm just relying on Wikipedia which of course might not be perfect but your comments appear at odds with both the authors and the online info entity. Maybe share your info source?

For Patrick Christoper Conway Henry, Most communities are indeed trying to balance the demographics of their population to ensure diversity and the inclusion of all points of view. The monopoly on power by the wealthy has been our bain as a nation. In fact about the only worthwhile bit in Grocott's column was near the end where he documents the massive preponderance of legislation sponsored by monied interests at the expense of the population at large.

btw, what's wrong with using your given name?

All stay well.

willallen

My source is Wikipedia, among others. It is mentioned in Wiki so I am surprised you didn't notice. The Know Nothing membership is also noted in Britannica, but the one that I find most convincing is this passage from Chinese American Heroes:

Anson Burlingame –The DiplomatPage 2in Massachusetts and in many parts of the United States at the time. Catholic immigrants had beenflooding into the United Statesas a result of the Irish Potato Faminethat lastedfrom 1845 to 1852.Over a million left the starvation in Ireland, many of them to America. The Irish were seen as loyal to a strange foreign leader, the pope, instead of to the United States. They were also maligned as drunks and criminals and many established businesses on the East Coast discriminated against them and wouldn't hire them. The New York Times even reported on the few marriages between Chinese men and Irish women at the time with amusement rather than horror because the American establishment viewed and treated the Irish as n

willallen

here is the Chinese American Heroes site.. I am having problems cut and paste.

Anson Burlingame - Chinese American Heroes

http://www.chineseamericanheroes.org › history › Anso...

PDF

Anson Burlingame is unique in the annals of American diplomatic history and ... Also known as the Know-Nothings from their origins as an amalgam of anti- ...

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