A century after arson decimated its Chinatown, San Jose to apologize for past racism and injustices

The public apology would come as anti-Asian hate incidents have resurged.

Local lawmakers in San Jose, California, are expected to vote on a resolution next week that would apologize to Chinese immigrants and their descendants for the role the city played in "systemic and institutional racism" more than a hundred years after one of the city's thriving Chinatowns was burned by arsonists.

San Jose was once home to five Chinatowns built up by immigrants arriving to the U.S. in the late 1800s, according to a memorandum posted to the city's website that acknowledges the pain and unequal treatment suffered by these early Asian American communities.

"These early Chinese immigrants were met with virulent, systematic racism, xenophobia and the violence of anti-Chinese forces from early on and were regularly denied equal protection before the law," the memo states. "In addition to federal legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, City policies, resolutions, and other actions of the City of San José and the City Council directly contributed to the xenophobic discrimination and racial violence faced by Chinese immigrants."

The public apology would come as biases related to the COVID-19 pandemic's suspected origins in Wuhan, China, have led to a new surge in anti-Asian hate incidents throughout the country.