You may not think it, but theres a direct relationship between plunging your chopsticks into that white, quart-sized box of cheaply priced Chinese food and a laborer diligently driving a spike to lay the railroad tracks that became the gateway to the American West.

May, which is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, marks the anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. It was largely built by Chinese immigrants from 1864 to 1869, working at a grueling pace for less money than white workers. And these labor practices have an impact today on how much were willing to pay for Chinese food rooted in a perception that Chinese labor is inherently cheap, historians say.

The earliest Chinese restaurants in America were created for Chinese railroad laborers, who were under contract and lacked negotiating power as they laid tracks from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California cutting through the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. With Chinese laborers earning an estimated two-thirds of what white workers made , owners had to keep restaurant prices low, Beatrice Chen, programming vice president at the Museum of Chinese in America, explained to HuffPost.

This perception of Chinese restaurants has stuck, even though high-end Chinese restaurants in Asia are common and popular, Chen said. The mainstream American consumer mindset is that there is a ceiling to how much were willing to pay for Chinese food, even if they are made with the same fresh ingredients and intricate cooking techniques as say, French or Japanese cuisine.

Cheap Labor And Job Stealers