The Chinese Massacre of 1871

The Chinese Massacre of 1871 (TW: anti-Asian racial violence and death)

On Oct. 24 1871 in Los Angeles, 1 7 Chinese men and a 15-yo boy were murdered & lynched by a mob of 500 people. Other residents were attacked, harassed, and robbed. None of the attackers were persecuted.

This is the largest mass lynching in California history. This uprising was one part of an avalanche of anti-Asian

and sinophobic rhetoric that followed racist politicians and American workers' anger that Asian immigrants were "stealing their jobs" as they completed the back-breaking work of building the Transcontinental railroad.

The result was the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was the first legislation in the US to specifically target a racial

group, and upon which all racially motivated anti-immgration laws remaining today are still built.

This legislation was set for a decade, but ended up lasting 61 years in iterations. Part of the reason I wear my hair cut in a queue is to stay linked in sartorial homage to the Chinese immigrants before me (all amab people were required to wear this

haircut- see political cartoons). When people ask why I look like this it allows me to enumerate history & heritage

in spaces where we are often so prone to forgetting- (using this same tactic on the internet) & to remind myself to remember what they underwent to

make this world safer to navigate, and that sinophobia and anti-Asian rhetoric today is a creature with old roots

that must continue to be cut, whether by art, education, community efforts, & steady, continual work towards something better

The Chinese Massacre of 1871 (TW: anti-Asian racial violence and death)

In Los Angeles in 1871, two Chinese men got in a gunfight, killing a bystander and wounding a police officer. As word spread, a mob formed, and they Used the incident as an excuse to act on long-standing anti-Chinese hatred.

A mob of around 500 people - about ten percent of L.A.'s population at the time - turned violent on the Chinese community. 19 Chinese immigrants were killed, 15 of them were later hanged after already being shot. Ten percent of the Chinese population of LA. was killed.

After the riot, ten men were prosecuted, and only eight were convicted of manslaughter. Their convictions were eventually overturned on appeal due to technicalities, and they never faced

justice. The Chinese Massacre is just one of our country's litle-known history of white violence against communities of color, and a reminder of how important it is to push back against racism.

Enjoy Christmas 2023 with these promotions offers and its benefits. Special offer for our readers and it's free. Hurray