coolieismn.
/ˈkuːliːɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈkuliˌɪz(ə)m/ Now historical.
The introduction into a country (esp. the United States) of coolies from Asia (esp. China) to work as labourers; the use of coolies as labour. Cf. coolie n. 1a.
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1867 B. Harte in San Francisco News Let. & Calif. Advertiser 23 Mar. 8/2 Col. Bungstarter then dwelt upon the evils of Black Republicanism, upon Coolie-ism, and ended by drawing a vivid picture.
1870 Congress. Globe 21 Jan. 654/1 [To seek to encourage manufacturers] by reductions on labor alone..is to depress labor, not protect it. To seek it by Chinese immigration in the form of coolieism is still worse.
1936 Pacific Hist. Rev. 5 205 The presence of aliens ineligible to become citizens was declared dangerous to the welfare of the state, and Asiatic coolieism was outlawed as slavery.
1972 E. Sandmeyer in R. Daniels & S. C. Olin Racism in Calif. x. 78 Of the charges which may be designated as economic none was more frequently nor more persistently used than that of coolieism.
2000 B. Tong Chinese Amer. ii. 37 Though charges of ‘coolieism’ were unfounded, Chinese laborers were still, erroneously of course, compared to American black slaves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1867