THE TRAGIC UNTOLD STORY OF THE 1871 CHINESE MASSACRE

[Judi Lynn]

BY MARINA MANOUKIAN/APRIL 6, 2021 1:34 AM EDT

In 1871, the city of Los Angeles witnessed what would become one of the worst lynchings in the history of the United States when a majority white mob of Americans tortured and murdered over 15 Chinese boys and men. The next day, their bodies could be seen hanging in the makeshift gallows.

Despite the fact that a handful of people were put on trial for some of the murders committed during the massacre, all of the convictions ended up being overturned soon after the trials. And when several Chinese business owners sued the city of Los Angeles for the damage done to their stores during the mass lynching, the court ruled that people who have their "goods" destroyed during a riot aren't entitled to damages unless they had known that a riot was going to happen and had notified the mayor or sheriff about it.

Accounts of what preceded the massacre differ, but while many of the stories describe gang violence and jilted lovers, the real story appears to be much more complicated. And despite whatever happened before, nothing can justify what happened on the evening of October 24th. And as the massacre in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16th, 2021 demonstrated, the deep-seated roots of anti-Asian violence in the United States have yet to be fully addressed and reckoned with. This is the tragic untold story of the 1871 Chinese massacre.

CHINESE IMMIGRATION IN THE MID-1800S

While Chinese people have been immigrating to the Hawaiian Islands since 1778, and there are reports of Chinese people in Pennsylvania before the 1800s, more and more began to immigrate to the mainland United States in the mid-1800s. In 1848, Congress considered a proposal to connect San Francisco to the Atlantic states via a transcontinental railroad, before gold was even discovered in California. And according to Strangers From A Different Shore, from its conception this plan involved the exploitation of Chinese laborers. In his proposal, Aaron H. Palmer wrote that "no people in all the East are so well adapted for clearing wild lands and raising every species of agricultural product... as the Chinese."

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/375042/the-tragic-untold-story-of-the-1871-chinese-massacre/?utm_campaign=clip

[speak easy]

1. Today, we acknowledge blacks and browns as Citizens

without a moment's thought.

Asian Americans - east asians - still get asked - 'Which country are you from'?

[secondwind]

2. Could it be that the person asking wants to know a more

specific country, like are you Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc.

Just wondering.

[speak easy]

3. The woman was 4th generation American

The answer - (if it mattered was Chinese) - as were most who came to CA in the 1800s.

[jimfields33]

4. I ask all the time

I’ve been to many Asian countries and enjoy talking to them about my travelers. They enjoy it too.

[Karadeniz]

5. Saving for later. Doesn't sound good. Schools need to teach our violent past and that it doesn't

Help.

[Nululu]

6. They ignore Chinese American history

They contributed to much of Civil Rights law, created much of California's industry and fisheries, etc.