Ehh it's testing the kids to see how much they learned of the racism Chinese people faced on the West Coast (North America) back then. It's also a good way to have students emphasize empathize with those experiences too by making them write from that perspective.
Without the context of the class it's hard to know if "talk about your contributions" is meant as "large parts of America were built on the backs of abused Chinese immigrants," or if it's meant to whitewash the experience. E.g., "the immigrants loved the opportunity to contribute to a free western society!"
Hmm, I see what you mean. I know when I was a student I'm pretty sure I had a similar kind of question on this subject and the context there was definitely on the abuse they suffered, but I see how it could also mean the other option.
The wording is sort of forceful, but I assume the goal of the question is to have the students empathize with how things were for a Chinese immigrant at that time.