California

Leading up to the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 (and for many years after), there was a plethora of propaganda painting Chinese people as dirty and uncivilized carriers of disease—including tuberculosis. While it was true that overcrowded conditions in San Francisco's Chinatown led to generally high rates and spread of disease, a large factor in that was the Chinese peoples' mistrust of American health officials and lack of medical care facilities in Chinatown. Racist propaganda against Chinese people was further exacerbated by the fear many Americans had that the Chinese laborers would replace them, and zeroing in on their public health habits allowed Americans to push for the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act.