San Jose Apologizes for Decades of Discrimination Against Chinese

The metropolis of San Jose, Calif., apologized this week to Chinese immigrants and their descendants, acknowledging its relation successful astir a period of unit and discrimination, including the dismantling and demolition of the city’s Chinatowns.

A solution that the City Council unanimously approved connected Tuesday besides recognizes the contributions of San Jose’s Chinese community. It besides acknowledges “acts of cardinal injustice, terror, cruelty and brutality” and aims to usage the apology arsenic a teachable moment. Officials successful Antioch, Calif., approved a akin solution successful May.

San Jose was location to 5 Chinatowns, the archetypal of which flourished connected Market Street from 1866 to 1870, erstwhile the metropolis was a halfway for agriculture, the solution says.

Chinese immigrants faced racism and xenophobia and were denied adjacent extortion nether the law. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricted Chinese migration and declared that authorities and national courts could not assistance citizenship to Chinese immigrants.

As anti-Asian favoritism became institutionalized successful the years that followed, San Jose moved to dismantle the 2nd Market Street Chinatown to marque mode for a caller City Hall. In 1887, the City Council declared the vicinity a “public nuisance” and “dangerous to the wellness and payment of each citizens.” City officials astatine the clip besides said the Chinatown marketplace was a “standing menace to some nationalist and backstage morals, peace, quiescent and bully order.”

Before enactment could beryllium taken, an enactment of arson destroyed the market, homes and businesses, displacing 1,400 members of the Chinese community. A petition for permits to rebuild was declared retired of bid by the mayor.

In 1949, the metropolis demolished the Ng Shing Gung Temple, the past vestige of the city’s Heinlenville Chinatown, implicit the objections of historians and Chinese American residents. The Chinese Historical and Cultural Project built a replica of the temple, with exhibits astir Chinese American past successful the Santa Clara Valley, and gave it to the metropolis successful 1991 arsenic a token of relationship and forgiveness.

The apology solution was drafted aft a caller drawstring of hatred crimes against Asians and Asian Americans crossed the metropolis and country, which prompted discussions among metropolis officials, Raul Peralez, a City Council member, said earlier the ballot connected Tuesday. Mr. Peralez said the solution was a “profound moment” for the Chinese assemblage and the city.

Passing the resolution, which did not look to person important absorption successful the city, was an accidental for the assembly to “personally talk to our Chinese community,” Mr. Peralez said, and to “say atrocious to our assemblage for what they person endured, and that we are committed to proceed to physique a amended aboriginal for each immigrants present successful San Jose.”

Mr. Peralez and different metropolis officials did not instantly respond to requests for remark connected Thursday.

Connie Young Yu, a historiographer and a descendant of residents of 2 of San Jose’s Chinatowns, shared her idiosyncratic transportation to the solution astatine the City Council gathering connected Tuesday.

“My gramps ne'er expressed bitterness for the hardships helium and his kin suffered during and from the Market Street fire,” Ms. Yu said, “but I felt, each these years, anger, a gnawing consciousness of injustice and thing unresolved until now.”

The metropolis held a ceremonial connected Wednesday to admit the apology. Sam Liccardo, the politician of San Jose, told KNTV that it was “important for each procreation to measurement up and to admit the darkest parts of our corporate history.”