It is believed that the massacre sprouted from a rivalry between two Chinese American companies called "Huignan" over the kidnapping of a young Chinese woman. Police discovered the Chinese men fighting and then the Chinese opened fire on the police, killing one civilian who assisted the officers, Robert Thompson. Word that the Chinese were killing "Caucasians" quickly spread. At this time, the Chinese were already not well liked and were considered a threat to the economy.
A mob of 500 or 10 percent of the city's population formed that night and they began to attack the Coronel Building, where the Chinese men hid. 2 Chinese men who tried to run were shot and killed. Another man named Wong Tuck was captured by the mob and hung. The Chinese were forced to makeshift gallows at Tomlinson's corral and Goller's wagon shop, where the wagons were actually used to lynch people. The city marshal Francis off the area, recruited volunteer guards to "shoot any Chinese residents who tried to leave", and then fled the scene. By the end of the night, at least 18 Chinese people had been murdered. Most of the hangings occurred at Tomlinson's corral, including a successful doctor who begged for his life in BOTH English and Spanish, but was still shot in the mouth and had his finger chopped off because he had a ring? Some men were even hanged without their trousers. Additionally, almost every single Chinese occupied building on that block was ransacked and almost every resident was either attacked or robbed.
7 men were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced for 2 to 9 years in prison, but the conviction was eventually overturned based on "technicalities". Additionally, this anti-Chinese mentality eventually led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 188.
I was shocked that I didn't know about this and most Chinese Americans don't even know about this and this was the LARGEST LYNCHING IN US HISTORY! This massacre is often forgotten and not talked about, which really came as a shock to me. For example, even though this is the largest lynching in US history, the site where the lynchings occurred are just across the street from the newly built Federal Office Building and a hall of justice is right near the hanging site.
Has much really changed though? A lot of people are still killed today based on their race. Some people even still hear things like "they're taking our jobs". The justice system seems to almost malleable when it comes to people of color and that happens even today. However, it's not just the Asian Race, people are often discriminatory to a lot of different races. It's so sad that a lot of crimes and hate result from racial discrimination.
Some pictures from the lynching:
Thanks for this very eye-opening article. I find it sad that even the newspaper drawings that depict the event show much of the racial biases of the time. We want our news to be unbiased and credible, but in examples like this, it often isn't and we can't do anything about it unless if we notice and acknowledge it.
ReplyDeleteI like your article because it illuminates how deeply seated the historic racism of this country is. I also like how it makes connections to the now-corrupt criminal justice system and how it involves mass incarceration of people of color. I think that we as Californians like to look at lynchings as things that only happened in the South, but this article proves that even seemingly-tolerant Californians are capable of violent and extreme racism.
ReplyDeleteI really like this articular because it sheds light on a topic that is not often discussed. Before reading this I had really only heard of lynchings of black people and did not realize that people of other races were lynched as well. It is very interesting to learn about the other races that were attacked in the late 19th and and 20th century. I also found it interesting that this is where the roots of the Chinese exclusion act came from.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post Anthea. Personally, I never knew that this was such a big issue within the United States and that not only was it a lynching on another race, but it was the largest in America's history. I think it's also really interesting how you connect it back to the Exclusion Act that we talked about in class.
ReplyDeleteI found this post very educating, and after looking more into it, I was shocked at just how much this massacre was let slide. In class, it was often mentioned that lynchings were just let to happen due to the inherent racism where they took place. I think that this provided a very specific example of pure police inaction. In particular, the police chief Marshall Francis Baker himself simply left the scene, literally doing nothing about the mob. Two experienced cops, Harris and Gard, also let the mob slaughter the Chinese victims with very little intervention, only choosing to guard those who they had business connections in. I think that this incident is not only an example of the horrific actions against race committed in this time, but it also shows just how corrupt and incompetent the law force was to deal with all of this.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.laweekly.com/news/how-los-angeles-covered-up-the-massacre-of-17-chinese-2169478
I thought that this post was eye opening and really interesting. Although I knew that there was a lot of discrimination towards the Asian races during this time, I never knew that it got this bad. I thought that lynching was usually specifically targeting African Americans but I guess that this mentality during the time was directed at other races as well. I certainly never thought the the largest lynching in US history would be towards Chinese people. I was also saddened by the involvement of the police during this massacre as Daniel Hu mentioned. The mob killed elderly people as well as a boy the age of 14. Also only ten men were ever convicted after this and all of them were released from prison overturned due to technicalities. The fact that nobody ever faced any punishment for their actions only goes to show how the mentality in the US saw nothing wrong with these lynchings and it was commonplace.
ReplyDeleteI fairly enjoyed reading this post about the lynching. For the amount of racism against blacks in the south, I would have thought they would have been victim to the largest lynching. It's also quite surprising to me how similar this part of the United States was to the south. What I found the most interesting was that you mentioned the lynching happened in Los Angeles, as opposed to the south, where many people would have first thought a horrible thing like this could happen.
ReplyDeleteThis was an incredibly interesting post to read. It's clear to see that America's history is still not entirely taught, especially in the case of atrocities committed against minorities. As a Chinese-American I'm appalled that such an event could occur and even more upset that I was never told it ever occurred. Thank you for writing this and informing me of a horrible offense brought against Chinese people.
ReplyDeleteOften we see American history as oppressive of black people and immigrants, yet the extent of both reach slavery and harsh railroad labor in many minds. However, this kind of direct attack on others (based solely on the fear of the majority against someone's race) shows that people act disgustingly even when racist conditions are no longer in-built in society. I'm glad you wrote this article, highlighting how the dangerous fear of white people, in the time AFTER "equal rights" had been "instilled", resulted in everyone else's suffering.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post Anthea I think that although it is important that we focus on the discrimination that African Americans faced we often forget about the other Minority groups that were treated as second class citizens. I found it sickening that the same excuse used to kill 18 people is now again being used to try and keep immigrants out of America. It shows that although government policy and societal norms may change people don't and we must work as a society to overcome decades of racism.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be very interesting since I presumed that majority of large scale lynchings occurred in the South. But instead their was one in Los Angeles that was a way to send a message to immigrants of what would happen to them if they came to the US.
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