San Jose apologizes to Chinese American community for 'a century of discriminatory actions'
ABC News
A descendant of a survivor of the 1887 Chinatown arson said this brings "peace."
San Jose officially apologized to its Chinese American community for being complicit in a "a century of discriminatory actions" via a city council resolution that comes more than a century after arson eviscerated the city's once-thriving Chinatown.
The public apology also comes as biases related to the COVID-19 pandemic's suspected origins in Wuhan, China, have led to a surge in anti-Asian hate incidents throughout the U.S.
San Jose was once home to five Chinatowns established by immigrants arriving in the late 1800s, according to a memorandum posted to the city's website that acknowledges the "virulent, systematic racism, xenophobia" and "violence" endured by these early Asian American communities. One of the most well-known of San Jose's Chinatowns that began on Market Street succumbed to arson in 1887 after the city council at the time declared the site a public nuisance and ordered it removed to make way for the construction of a new city hall.
The blaze destroyed homes and businesses and displaced some 1,400 people -- including the teenage grandfather of Connie Young Yu, a local historian and author of "Chinatown, San Jose, USA."
