For my part, I was nominally a Louisville Baker, a name with its own distinguished history but it had always hung oddly on me, adopted from Tonkin ad face that people variously guessed was Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Venezuelan or even Persian.” (Vo 2)
Jordan’s racial identity impacts her interactions with others in a predominantly white society. These interactions have altered her perceptions of her ethnicity, given that she is often viewed as an outsider due to her race. Although she is adopted by a wealthy white family, Jordan's Vietnamese heritage causes her to have a series of experiences where her ethnicity is constantly mistaken. Such experiences highlight how her race impacts her identity, given that it can alter the interactions she has. Her appearance is viewed as an exotic attraction because she is physically different from the white people she surrounds herself with. Despite being aware of her ability to stand out due to her ethnicity, she struggles to stand up for herself in times of prejudice because she yearns to be socially accepted. Her upbringing has distorted her ability to resonate with her racial identity.
The Manchester Act
The Manchester Act is a fictional law that was created by Nghi Vo in the novel to showcase the racism Asian American individuals faced during the 1920s. The Manchester Act is a recreation of the various legislative acts passed by the United States government around the 1900s that had several damaging effects on the Asian community. Due to the Manchester Act, Asian individuals such as Jordan Baker were forced to leave New York City once it was passed at the end of the novel.
Outside of the narrative, laws such as The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1924 increased Asian hate in the United States following the First World War. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Asian Exclusion Act, which were included in the Immigration Act of 1924, prevented the Asian community from immigrating to the United States. Despite this discrimination, the Asian community and their culture continued to be fetishized by the United States, provided that Asian cuisine, entertainment, and artistry became extremely popular during this era. Nghi Vo utilizes The Manchester Act and Jordan Baker's character to call attention to both the racism and infatuation the Americans developed towards the Asian community during the 1920s.
Additional Reading
⬇ Educational articles provided by Nghi Vo in her novel... ⬇
“I was clever enough to know that it was my exotic looks and faintly tragic history that made me such an attractive curiosity, and I was not yet clever enough to mind when they prodded at my difference for conversation pieces at dinner.” (Vo 78)