LA Chinese Massacre

During the mid-19th century, Chinese immigrants arrived in California seeking economic opportunities, particularly during the California Gold Rush and the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad. However, they faced significant discrimination and hostility from some white settlers who saw them as economic competition and cultural outsiders.

On October 14, 1871, an altercation occurred in Los Angeles between two rival Chinese gangs in which a Chinese man, Ah Choy was killed. However, the incident quickly spiraled out of control when a policeman trying to make the arrest and Mr. Robert Thompson, a popular bar-owner-turned-rancher who was assisting the police, were also shot. Thompson died of the mortal gunshot wound later that day. 

Having learned of Thompson’s death, approximately 500 vengeful white and Hispanic residents gathered outside the building that the gunfight had occurred. Then, what may have started as a vigilante justice quickly became a racially driven killing spree against all Chinese. The mob proceeded to lynch 19 Chinese immigrants, which was 10% of the LA Chinese population at the time, while plundering their properties indiscriminately. Only 1 of the 19 victims was actually involved in the original gunfight.

There was a huge outcry about the injustice and brutality of the mob lynching targeting Chinese.

Eight of the white men were eventually convicted of manslaughter in the aftermath, but the convictions were overturned on a technicality and never re-tried.

Sadly, racial tensions and discrimination against Chinese immigrants persisted in California and beyond for many years. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was one of the most restrictive pieces of legislation targeting a specific ethnic group in U.S. history, severely limiting Chinese immigration for several decades. The act was not repealed until 1943, and it took until 1965 for the U.S. to abolish all racial quotas for immigration.