As I did more research and formatted my essay draft, my argument evolved that discrimination has impacted Chinatown’s development and community over time. This is because legal acts based on racism like the Chinese Exclusion Act changed Chinatown’s trajectory by banning Chinese immigration and forcing the community to look for ways to survive when the law wasn’t friendly to them. Discrimination in ethnicity is also a motivator as the Cantonese did not like the Fujianese coming into Chinatown in the late 1900s which caused a small enclave to form on the outskirts of eastern Chinatown for the Fujianese. Discrimination also influenced the founding of Chinatown since many Chinese fled states like California to flee anti-Chinese sentiment and violence on the west coast.

Before, my argument was vague, stating only that problems influenced Chinatown over time. As I researched more, I narrowed down my argument to be more specific since my previous argument could be applied to literally anything.