Editing Knights of Labor (section)

===Racism and wages===
The Knights of Labor supported the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]], claiming that industrialists were using Chinese workers as a wedge to keep wages low. To stop companies from doing this, they supported Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and also the Alien Contract labor law 1885. Even though the Acts were useful to pass the laws they wanted, they weren't satisfied so they attacked Chinese workers and burned down their places.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Knights of Labor - Definition, Goals & Leader|date= 7 October 2021|url= https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/knights-of-labor#attacks-on-chinese-workers|access-date= 5 May 2023|archive-date= 28 May 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230528024909/https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/knights-of-labor#attacks-on-chinese-workers|url-status= live}}</ref>

Not only did the Knights of Labor speak poorly about the Chinese, but they happened to be one of the only groups they excluded from their group. Immigrants of countries from non-Western Europe were considered to be second-class citizens at this time. A major factor in why the Chinese were excluded from the Knights of Labor. “Only at accepting Chinese did the Knights generally draw the line,” Alexander Saxton wrote. <ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Weir |first=Rob |date=November 2000 |title=Blind in One Eye Only: Western and Eastern Knights of Labor View the Chinese Question |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/002365600449137 |journal=Labor History |language=en |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=421–436 |doi=10.1080/002365600449137 |issn=0023-656X |access-date=3 May 2024 |archive-date=3 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403011730/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/002365600449137 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Knights of Labor consistently made efforts towards many problems in the workforce but often left out any advances that would benefit the Chinese communities. 

Anti-Chinese rhetoric and violence were more prevalent among the western chapters of the Knights. In 1880, San Francisco Knights wrote, "They bear the semblance of men, but live like beasts...who eat rice and the offal of the slaughter house." The article also calls Chinese "natural thieves" and states that all Chinese women are prostitutes. In March 1882, Knights joined the San Francisco rally to demand expulsion of the Chinese.<ref name=":3" /> Several years later, [[Seattle riot of 1886|mobs]] led by the Knights of Labor, a loosely structured labor federation, rounded up Seattle's Chinese-born workers and campaigned to prevent further immigration.

Historian Catharine Collomp notes that "Chinese exclusion was the only issue about which the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor constantly lobbied the Federal government."