The Chinatown War : Chinese Los Angeles and the Massacre of 1871

In October 1871, a simmering, small-scale turf war involving three Chinese gangs exploded into a riot that engulfed the small but growing town of Los Angeles. A large mob of white Angelenos, spurred by racial resentment, rampaged through the city and lynched some 18 people before order was restored. In The Chinatown War , Scott Zesch offers a compelling account of this little-known event, which ranks among the worst hate crimes in American history. The story begins in the 1850s, when the first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in Los Angeles in the wake of the 1849 California gold rush. Upon arrival, these immigrants usually took up low-wage jobs, settled in the slum neighborhood of the Calle de los Negros, and joined one of a number of Chinese community associations. Though such associations provided job placement and other services to their members, they were also involved in extortion and illicit businesses, including prostitution. In 1870 the largest of these, the See-Yup Company, imploded in an acrimonious division. The violent succession battle that ensued, as well as the highly publicized torture of Chinese prostitute Sing-Ye, eventually provided the spark for the racially motivated riot that ripped through L.A. Zesch vividly evokes the figures and events in the See-Yup dispute, deftly situates the riot within its historical and political context, and illuminates the workings of the early Chinese-American community in Los Angeles, while simultaneously exploring issues that continue to trouble Americans today. Engaging and deeply researched, The Chinatown War above all delivers a riveting story of a dominant American city and the darker side of its early days that offers powerful insights for our own time. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 8 Prologue 12 PART I: GUM SAAN 16 1. Let Them Come and Settle with Us 18 2. The Toughest Town of the Entire Nation 38 3. The Companies, the Tongs, and the Law 50 4. Daughters of the Sun and Moon 72 5. “Us” and “Them” 96 PART II: STRIFE BEGETS STRIFE 118 6. Hating Each Other Like Christians 120 7. The Night of Horrors 137 8. The Aftermath 166 9. Shouldering the Responsibility 181 10. We May Hope to See at Least Partial Justice Done 199 11. It Will Be Forgotten in a Brief Time 226 Acknowledgments 238 A Note on the Sources 240 Endnotes 242 Bibliography 280 Index 288 A 288 B 288 C 289 D 291 E 291 F 291 G 292 H 292 J 293 K 293 L 294 M 294 N 295 O 295 P 295 Q 295 R 295 S 296 T 296 U 297 V 297 W 297 Y 298 Z 298 "In October 1871, a simmering small-scale turf war involving three Chinese gangs exploded into a riot that engulfed Los Angeles. A large mob of white Angelenos rampaged through the small town, then mainly a ranching center of a few thousand souls, and tortured and lynched eighteen Chinese immigrants--among them a beloved doctor and several businessmen--before order and sanity were restored. In "The Chinatown War," Scott Zesch offers a white-knuckle account of this little known event"--Provided by publisher