Denver formally apologizes for the 1880 anti-Chinese riot that destroyed Chinatown

What was once Denver's Chinatown is now a busy commercial district visited by tourists.

Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock signed a resolution officially apologizing to the descendants of Denver’s Chinese immigrants for the city’s role in the racist violence, which destroyed the city's Chinatown. He called to anti-Chinese riot of 1880 “a shameful chapter in Colorado history.”

Hancock, called the riot by a White mob a "shameful chapter of Colorado history," adding that he hopes the apology provides a sense of closure for the descendants of the victims of the riot, some of whom were in attendance.

“We hereby sincerely apologize to the early Chinese immigrants and their descendants,” Hancock said. “To heal we must be willing to face and address things we have avoided, apologize for wrongs we have committed and follow through with the actions that are true to ongoing positive change.”

Speaking at the April 16 event held at the University of Colorado, Denver’s Lawrence Street Center, Joanne Liu, chair of the Colorado Asian Pacific United which supported the apology said the city's recognition of the unjust attack and racist covenants against Asians that the followed, was a "monumental milestone" that "signifies a great step forward" in Denver valuing the contribution of Chinese immigrants and their descendants.

Linda Jew, a member of the Chin family, had a grandfather settled in Denver after working on the transcontinental railroad that was completed in 1869. She recalled the racism and discrimination her family had to endure growing up.

“My mother graduated from Denver Women’s School, which is now the University of Denver. Even with a degree, she was refused a job,” Jew told Denverite. She remembers people throwing rocks at her and her sister when they were young kids, before the family moved to a safer part of the city in Park Hill. “This apology from Denver is very important to me and my family.”

Prior to the riot, Denver's Chinatown thrived with businesses and homes. Much of it was destroyed after a white mob started an anti-Chinese riot in 1880 in what is now a thriving neighborhood known as LoDo near the baseball stadium Coors Field. The former Chinatown existed between 15th to 20th and from Market to Wazee.

Two years ago, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock signed a proclamation making October 31, 2020, “Denver’s Chinatown Commemoration Day.”

“While only a small plaque commemorates this tragic event at 20th and Blake streets in LoDo today, we all share a responsibility every day to share this history and build bridges across communities to ensure something like this never occurs again,” Hancock wrote as part of the proclamation.

The 2-year old Chinatown plaque created a controversy itself.

The plaque Hancock mentioned, however, is not without controversy. It was not a Chinese riot, as the plaque proclaims.

William Wei, a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the former Colorado State Historian told PBS in 2020 the title of the plaque — which includes the phrase “Chinese Riot” — is misleading. “It wasn’t a Chinese riot,” he explained, “it was an anti-Chinese race riot.” Wei also pointed out that the plaque’s location at the intersection of 20th and Blake is not where the violence occurred.

“As a historian, I’m very interested in ensuring that we have a complete and accurate understanding of our history. And when I say ‘our history,’ I’m talking about American history, which includes Chinese Americans and other people of color.

While the plaque names four of the White rioters, Look Young, the Chinatown resident who was lynched, was not mentioned.

In the 1870s, anti-Chinese sentiment spread to Colorado, as Euro-Americans increasingly viewed Chinatown with suspicion. Journalists published articles arguing that the Chinese were descendants of the Mongol Empire, suggesting that the Chinese threatened to take over the United States, according to History Colorado.

They also linked Chinatown to societal vices, such as gambling, prostitution, and opium dens. Although there was no evidence that the Chinese engaged in these activities to a greater degree than Euro-Americans, Chinatown became a scapegoat for many of Denver’s issues.

The presidential campaign of 1880 inflamed these racist passions further and was embraced by the Republican Party. On the last day of October prior to election day, a White mob invaded Denver’s Chinatown, attacking its residents and burning most of the Chinese businesses.

The Chinese community never recovered from the riot and residents were never compensated for lost businesses and destroyed buildings.

The city and it's mayor hopes to establish an Asian Pacific Historic District with murals and new businesses.

Denver's letter of apology signed by Mayor Hancock reads, in part:

"An admission of the wrongs committed and its failure to correct them is a first step towards recognizing and honoring their contributions and can contribute to racial reconciliation. It will also serve to educate those who are ignorant of this shameful chapter in Colorado’s history and hopefully bring some closure to the families whose loved ones suffered racial violence and abuse. In doing so, Denver can deal with the continued consequences of past violence and discrimination such as the current surge in anti-Asian hate crimes sweeping the nation. As part of this process, the city is committed to supporting the establishment of an Asian Pacific Historic District, sponsoring the painting of public murals depicting the history and culture of Asian Pacific Coloradans, partnering on the development of a public education program about Asian Pacific Coloradans, and founding an Asian Pacific American community museum, which will be the first of its kind in the Rocky Mountain Region."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Amache concentration camp for Japanese Americans during WWII to become historical site

In the grasslands of Colorado stands an old watchtower that used to look over the the concentration camp that housed thousands of American citizens of Japanese descent. It will become part of the future Amache National Historic Site.

Late Monday (Feb. 15), the US Senate unanimously passed legislation to establish the Amache National Historic Site, located outside of Granada, Colorado, as a part of the National Park System.

“I have waited many, many years to see the day where we can be certain that Amache, as a place of reflection, remembrance, honor, and healing, is protected for our current and future generations,” said Amache survivor and advocate, Bob Fuchigami, in a statement. “My parents did not live to see this day. The time is not only right; it is long overdue.”

“This is an important action by our nation in acknowledging the injustice that was inflicted upon the Japanese American community by our government," said David Inoue, executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League.

"This will be an opportunity to share not only the injustice of what happened to those incarcerated at Amache, but also puts their story in the context of Colorado’s history and the bravery of Governor Ralph Carr, who was the rare politician who stood up for the rights of Japanese Americans and opposed the incarceration. His steadfast values cost him his political career.”

The legislation was led by Colorado Senators Michael Bennet (D) and John Hickenlooper (D) and Colorado US Representatives Joe Neguse (D) and Ken Buck (R).

To get the Senate's full support, backers agreed to a last-minute amendment in order to address the concerns of Utah's Republican Senator Mike Lee, who held up its earlier passage last week.

"Senator Lee does not object to this specific historical site. He does object to any increase in the total amount of land owned by the federal government as the federal government fails to adequately care for the land already in its vast holdings," Lee's spokesman, Lee Lonsberry, told The Associated Press.

After negotiations between Lee and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, the final version of the bill merely requires the National Park Service accept the land, less than a square mile of public land maintained by volunteers, as a donation from the nearby town of Granada, reports Colorado Public Radio.

With the amendment, the bill will have to return to the House for final approval. It originally passed that chamber 416-2. The bill will then go to President Biden for his signature.

HISTORICAL FILE

The Amache camp housed 7,000 Japanese Americans during WWII.

Amache was one of the 10 American concentration camps where nearly 120,000 people of Japanese descent were incarcerated during WWII under the false pretense of national security. Over 7,000 men, women, and children were at Amache, formally known as the Granada War Relocation Center.

The passage of this legislation this week is particularly poignant as on February 19, we commemorate the 80th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066 which paved the way for the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans in the following months. The result was thousands of families uprooted from their homes with little to no time to pack any belongings or set their affairs in order. The government issued a formal apology for what it had done through the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

“I’m thrilled the Senate passed our bill to establish Amache as a part of the National Park System,” said Sen. Bennet after the passage of the legislation. "The incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II at sites like Amache is a shameful part of our country’s history. Our bill will preserve Amache’s story to ensure future generations can learn from this dark chapter in our history.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Congress must take the next step in creating a national museum telling the AANHPI story

Rep. Grace Meng pushes for a national museum for AANHPI

One of the first things Congress will tackle when they return to the Capitol in 2022 is the issue of an Asian Pacific American museum.

The proposal championed by Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, would create the first national museum dedicated to preserving the history, culture and accomplishments of Asian Pacific Americans.

Meng (D-NY), Vice Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, announced that she sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee requesting that he hold a committee vote on her legislation.  

“The story of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) is interwoven within the history of America, but frequently our history is forgotten or ignored in the greater narrative of American history,” the letter said. “That is why we urge you to markup this bill as a first step to creating a national museum dedicated to the history and culture of AAPIs. 

"Our experiences – both good and bad – provide an opportunity for us to celebrate our accomplishments, honor the challenges we have overcome, and press forward toward a more perfect union.”

Meng asked Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) to make her bill the first measure that the panel takes up in January 2022. If the legislation is approved by the Committee, it would then head for a vote on the floor of the House. 

 

The New York lawmaker's request follows her appearance earlier this month before a Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing where she testified in support of her bill. The hearing also included supportive testimony from journalist Lisa Ling and Stop AAPI Hate Co-Founder Dr. Russell Jeung. The House Natural Resources Committee is the panel that has jurisdiction over this issue.

 

Entitled the “Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act,” Meng's legislation would create a panel of individuals with various expertise in museum planning or APA research and culture to look into the viability of establishing, maintaining, funding and operating such a facility in the nation’s capital, possibly as part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the world’s largest museum and research complex. 

If there is one thing that could come out of this pandemic and the anti-Asian hate that has marred the past two years, it is a growing awareness among AANHPI about their history and the necessity to share that history with the rest of the nation to remove the onus of being the perpetual foreigner and that AANHPI have been part of the making of the United States.

Illinois has already realized the importance of educating the general llpublic of the history and contributions of the AANHPI by making it part of the state's public schools K-12. New Jersey is also awaiting the signature of its governor for a similar mandate.

Even if Meng's bill is ultimately passed by tCongress, it would likely be years before a national museum of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders opens for visitors. It took 13 years after Congressional approval before the National Museum of African American History and Culture could open its doors in 2016.

"Museums are gateways to learning about ourselves, our communities, and our history. They provide space to memorialize the accomplishments of ancestors, learn from the past, and be inspired by the richness of where our country can go," stated Meng's letter.

 

"The history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is filled with immense contributions and sadly embedded with stories of disenfranchisement," Meng wrote. "From the thousands of Asian immigrants who helped build vital pieces of U.S. infrastructure, to the thousands who were denied entry and citizenship because of immigration laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act, AAPIs have shaped and been shaped by America for generations."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and reviews from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd

Pearl Harbor: Don't miss 'NCIS-Hawaii' episode 9 of the first season

Scene from "NCIS: Hawaii's" ninth episode, "Imposter."

OPINION

NCIS: Hawaii, episode 9, titled "Imposter," is really special. If you don't watch anything else on TV this week, watch this episode. It is chock-full of AAPI history and what the AAPI community is experiencing now with this current  surge of anti-Asian hate.

Seeking an hour of escape, I was caught by surprise by this history lesson offered by NCIS: Hawaii. I'm reminded of the lyrics of a Mary Poppins song, "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down." Maybe this is the way to "educate" the non-Asian audience about our history and how we feel about being the perpetual foreigner in the room and just to remind people we've been here for a long time and we're here now and we're not going away. Just by casually watching an American TV detective show viewers can get a brief history lesson and for a few minutes of walking in another person's shoes. 

During the hour-long show, the viewer learns about Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, how the Japanese Americans were incarcerated, the exploits of Japanese American during WWII, how Hawaii imported workers from Asia, the Japanese Exclusion Act of 1907 and how AAPI feel about being questioned about our Americaness. 

My favorite scene was the scene when leading character, special agent in charge Jane Tennant (portrayed by Vanessa Lachey), explains to her 10-year old daughter her own experience of being told to go back where she came from.  I'm still waiting for Tennant or her kids say that they are Filipino Americans or that their racial roots trace back to the Philippines.

That's a lot to pack into a few minutes while telling an inspiring fictional story, of a Japanese American hero.

Kudos to the writers and producers who created this episode for doing their homework and willingness to make a statement by linking it to the current season of anti-Asian hate. To gain the episode's specific perspective and the messages that emanated from the show, it probably helps that Asian Americans are part of the producing (Larry Teng) and writing teams (Yalun Tu).  

The episode easily could have been heavy-handed and turn off a lot of viewers who don't like being lectured to, but they were able to pull it off and entertain at the same time. It was a risk to worth taking.

And I'll admit to getting a little teary-eye watching the final scene of the show. To cap it off, it ends with white letters on black background: "Dedicated to all those who were impacted on December 7, 1941, and to those who served - of all race, ethnicity, creed and citizenship status," thinking of the Japanese Americans who fought and died for America even though their own families were incarcerated; and all the men and women of color (including my own father) who served a nation they loved despite the racist slurs and barriers thrown at them. Oh, my!

After a slow start, the freshman series has gained momentum and CBS ordered a full season. A second season is up in the air.

It stars Vanessa Manillo Lachey, the second Filipina American to lead a U.S. TV series, and features an AAPI supporting cast. (The first Filipina American to star in her own series is Vanessa Hudgens in the short-lived Powerless.) It's refreshing to watch a show filmed in Hawaii with its cast reflecting the diversity of the Aloha State.

NCIS: Hawaii airs on Mondays, on CBS at 10 p.m.. Past episodes available for streaming on Paramount-plus, or click here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

Virginia selects historical highway markers will include AAPI history for the first time

AAPI historical markers similar to this one will be placed near Virginia's roads.

Virginia residents and tourists will be reminded about the contributions of Filipino sailors and Vietnamese immigrants as they drive the state's highways and byways.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced five new state historical highway markers that highlight topics of national, state, and regional significance to Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) history in the Commonwealth. These markers were submitted by Virginia students through the inaugural AAPI Heritage Month Historical Marker Contest. 

“Throughout history, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities have made significant contributions to our Commonwealth and our country, but too often their stories remain untold,” said Northam last Tuesday, April 3. “As we continue working to tell a more comprehensive and inclusive Virginia story, I am grateful for the efforts of Virginia students and educators in helping elevate the voices of prominent AAPI Virginians with these five new historical markers.”

Launched in May, the AAPI Heritage Month Historical Marker Contest invites students, teachers, and families to learn more about Asian Americans who have made important contributions to Virginia history and submit ideas for new historical markers to the Department of Historical Resources.

“Through the Governor’s historical marker contests and various other initiatives, the Department of Historic Resources is determined to highlight untold stories and I am grateful to all the students and educators who have helped make this vision a reality,” said Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Matthew J. Strickler. “These students have made a meaningful contribution to our historic justice efforts and worked hard to ensure our markers are inclusive, diverse, and tell the full Virginia story.”

The student winners and descriptions of the five new markers selected for installation are as follows:

• “Filipinos in the U.S. Navy” (Virginia Beach), nominated by students from Cherry Run Elementary School in Burke, Virginia and by the adult English as a Second Language (ESL) program in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
  
  Filipino members of the U.S. Navy have served in Hampton Roads since at least the Civil War. A full Filipino-American community began emerging after the Philippines achieved independence in 1946 and the Navy began recruiting Filipinos for all positions. Today, spurred by the Navy and a large nursing community, Hampton Roads is the second-largest Filipino community on the East Coast. 

• “Kim Kyusik” (Salem), nominated by students from Cumberland Middle School in Cumberland, Virginia.
  
  In 1903, Kyusik graduated from Roanoke College, which today funds a fellowship in his memory. He held several roles in the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea including foreign minister and vice president, and was a representative at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. He was kidnapped by North Korean factions after World War II and died in captivity.

• “Arthur Azo Matsu” (Williamsburg) nominated by students from Cumberland Middle School in Cumberland, Virginia.
  
  Matsu graduated from William & Mary in 1927, where he was the first Asian American student. The son of a Scottish mother and a Japanese father, he became a leader on campus even as Virginia introduced a series of laws in the 1920s to prevent “race mixing.” He became the first Japanese-American football player in the National Football League as a quarterback, after guiding William & Mary’s high-octane offense from 1923–1926 and leading the program to its first postseason win. 

• “W. W. Yen” also known as Yan Huiqing (Charlottesville) nominated by students from Hunters Woods Elementary in Reston, Virginia.
  
  Yen graduated from the University of Virginia in 1900, where he was the first international student to earn a bachelor’s degree and the first Chinese student to earn a degree. One of China’s key early 20th century leaders, he served as premier five times and held a series of important cabinet and diplomatic posts. The University of Virginia now has a dorm and scholarship fund named after him. 

• “Vietnamese Immigrants in Northern Virginia” (Falls Church) nominated by students at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church, Virginia.
  
  The Vietnamese community began solidifying in Arlington’s Clarendon neighborhood during the 1970s, becoming known as Little Saigon by the end of the decade. The fall of the South Vietnamese government spurred a surge in immigration, with the D.C. area becoming the third-largest Vietnamese community in the country. Climbing rents pushed much of the Vietnamese commerce west to the Eden Center in the 1980s, which over the ensuing years has expanded and became at one point the largest Vietnamese shopping district in the country.

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced the winners of the historical marker contest.

“The Historical Marker Contest helped me learn more about Virginians who made a big impact, like Arthur Matso, the first Japanese American to play in the NFL,” said Andrew Crenshaw, a rising 6th grader at Cumberland Middle School. “As I researched Arthur Matso, I learned how much he did for the sport of football and for Virginia. He played quarterback at William & Mary and coached football at several Virginia high schools, inspiring students like me to work hard and do their best.”

Virginia’s historical highway marker program began in 1927 with installation of the first markers along U.S. Route 1 and is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Co-managed by the Department of Historic Resources and the Virginia Department of Transportation, the program is an effort to recognize and chronicle events, accomplishments, sacrifices, and personalities of historic importance to Virginia’s story. The signs are known for their black lettering against a silver background and their distinctive shape.

“The AAPI Historical Marker Contest gives students, teachers, and families another way to think critically and intentionally about Virginia history,” said Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Janice Underwood. 

“The incredible students who participated in this contest are helping advance the ONE Virginia mission of telling a more complete version of our shared identity as Virginians, which includes contributions by our diaspora of AAPI residents.”

Virginia has erected more than 2,600 state historical markers. The five new markers will be formally submitted to the Board of Historic Resources in September and are expected to receive approval in the coming months. Once installed, they will be among the first to focus on Asian American and Pacific Islander history in Virginia.

PBS documentary, 'Asian Americans,' premieres tonight

It has been years in the making but Asian Americans will finally air on May 11 and 12, at 8 p.m. on your local PBS station.

The 5-part documentary series examines what the 2010 U.S. Census identifies as the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States. Told through individual lives and personal histories, Asian Americans explores the impact of this group on the country’s past, present, and future.

The television series chronicles the fastest growing racial/ethnic group's history in the United States and examines the role Asian Americans have played in shaping America. More specifically, the Asian American-led series explores the impact Asian Americans have had on the country, from the1850s Asian immigrants lured by the California Gold Rush to modern refugee crises to the fight for desegregation and education equality.

"Although Asian Americans have significantly shaped national identity through educational change, most Americans may be unfamiliar with such efforts," says Stewart Kwoh, Executive Director and President of Advancing Justice – Los Angeles and who championed the need for such a comprehensive documentary.


Kwoh continued, "It is fitting the documentary launches this month during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month because there is so much people do not understand about our culture and how much we are woven into the fabric of this country's historical tapestry."

Summaries of each episodes are below:

EPISODE 1: BREAKING GROUND (Monday, 8 p.m.)

In an era of exclusion and U.S. empire, new immigrants arrive from China, India, Japan, the Philippines and beyond. Barred by anti-Asian laws they become America’s first “undocumented immigrants,” yet they build railroads, dazzle on the silver screen, and take their fight for equality to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

EPISODE 2: A QUESTION OF LOYALTY (Monday, 9 p.m.)

An American-born generation straddles their country of birth and their parents’ homelands in Japan and Korea. Those loyalties are tested during World War II, when families are imprisoned in detention camps, and brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the battle lines. 

EPISODE 3: GOOD AMERICANS  (Tuesday, 8 p.m.)

During the Cold War years, Asian Americans are simultaneously heralded as a Model Minority, and targeted as the perpetual foreigner. It is also a time of bold ambition, as Asian Americans aspire for the first time to national political office and a coming culture-quake simmers beneath the surface. 

EPISODE 4: GENERATION RISING (Tuesday, 9 p.m.) 

During a time of war and social tumult, a young generation fights for equality in the fields, on campuses and in the culture, and claim a new identity: Asian Americans. The war’s aftermath brings new immigrants and refugees who expand the population and the definition of Asian America. 

EPISODE 5: BREAKING THROUGH (Tuesday 10 p.m.)

At the turn of the new millennium, the national conversation turns to immigration, race, and economic disparity. As the U.S becomes more diverse, yet more divided, a new generation of Asian Americans tackle the question, how do we as a nation move forward together?

Asian Americans joined the civil rights campaigns in the late 60s and 70s.

Five hours doesn't seem enough time and there are sure to be some questions on what is not included in what has been described as a comprehensive look at Asian Americans' impact on the US. Fears have been expressed that the series will emphasize an East Asian perspective and overlook the contributions and history of Hmong Americans, Filipino Americans and South Asians. The producers say they took great pains to make sure that the voices go beyond the Japanese, Chinese and Korean communities.

Hopefully, teachers and students working out of their homes will take advantage of this series for their social studies, government and history classes. A full K-12 education curriculum will bring this historical significance and more to light with engaging digital content from the series. Through the new curriculum, the history of the Asian American experience will be available for current and future generations and for all communities of color to explore the history, contributions, and complexities of Asian Americans.

“These are American stories: stories of resilience in the face of racism, of overcoming challenges as refugees from war and strife, of making contributions in all sectors of society: business, technology, military service, and the arts, said Stephen Gong, Executive Director of the Center for Asian American Media. 

"These Asian American experiences and voices provide a vital foundation for a future fast approaching, in which no single ethnic or racial group defines America, in which shared principles will define who we are as Americans.”

Asian Americans is a production of WETA Washington, D.C. and CAAM for PBS, in association with the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Flash Cuts, and Tajima-Peña Productions – the company behind Who Killed Vincent Chin? and No Más Bebés. 

So, where were all the Chinese workers when famous transcontinental railroad photo?

There's not a Chinese owrker in sight in the historical photo.

On the 150th anniversary of the last spike driven in to complete one of the grandest infrastructure jobs in the history of the United States, let's take a look back a bit.

One of the greatest examples of marginalizing  or omission of minorities in the history of the United States is the famous photo taken upon the completion of transcontinental railroad.

Despite having up to 12,000 Chinese working on the western portion of the railroad that connected the eastern and western parts of the U.S., not a single Chinese is in the historical photo.

It's the same photo that appears in all the U.S. history books taught in school. By ommision, the photo teaches students that the Chinese workers didn't work through the Sierra Nevada, blasting tunnels and carving mountainsides to lay the tracks for the Central Pacific Railroad.

It turns out the Chinese were out to lunch.

A report from  the San Francisco Newsletter, May 15th, 1869, described the final moments of the celebration at Promontory:

"J.H. Strobridge, when the work was all over, invited the Chinese who had been brought over from Victory for that purpose, to dine at his boarding car. When they entered, all the guests and officers present cheered them as the chosen representatives of the race which have greatly helped to build the road ... a tribute they well deserved and which evidently gave them much pleasure."

There was only one photograph that gave any indication of Chinese involvement in laying down the last few rails of the railroad. A stenographic view was taken by A. J. Russell titled "Chinese at Laying Last Rail UPRR."

The view clearly shows at least one Chinese worker and a partner with rail-laying tools appearing to adjust the last rail laid (from the CPRR side), with a wooden track gauge stick still in place while two others look on.

The final tasks of laying down the rails and connecting East and West -- as the stereograph depicts -- was described in the report from End of Track, November 9, 1868, as quoted in the Southern Pacific Bulletin, August, 1927:

"Long lines of horses, mules and wagons were standing in the open desert near the camp train. The stock was getting its breakfast of hay and barley. Trains were shunting in from the west with supplies and materials for the day's work. Foremen were galloping here and there on horseback giving or receiving orders. Swarms of laborers, Chinese, Europeans and Americans were hurrying to their work. On one side of the track stood the moveable blacksmith shop where a score of smiths were repairing tools and shoeing horses and mules. Close by was the fully equipped harness shop where a large force was repairing collars, traces and other leather equipment. To the west were the rails and line of telegraph poles stretching back as far as the eye could reach. The telegraph wire from the last pole was strung into the car that served as a telegraph office. To the eastward stretched the grade marked by a line of newly distributed earth. By the side of the grade smoked the camp fires of the blue clad laborers who could be seen in groups waiting for the signal to start work. These were the Chinese, and the job of this particular contingent was to clear a level roadbed for the track. They were the vanguard of the construction forces. Miles back was the camp of the rear guard–the Chinese who followed the track gang, ballasting and finishing the road bed. Systematic workers these Chinese – competent and wonderfully effective because tireless and unremitting in their industry ... The rails, ties and other material were thrown off the train as near to end of the track was as feasible, and then the empty train was drawn back out of the way. At this point the rails were loaded on low flat cars, and hauled by horses to end of track. The ties were handled in the same way. Behind came the rail gang, who took the rails from the flat cars and laid them on the ties. While they were doing this a man on each side distributed spikes, two to each tie; another distributed splice bars; and a third the bolts and nuts by which the rails were spliced together. Two more men followed to adjust and sent back for another load ... Back of the track builders followed a gang with the seven more ties necessary to complete the foundation for each rail. These were put into position and spiked by another gang, which also leveled up the track and left it ready for the ballasters. ..." 

Now, a cynic might say -- a conspiracy theorist might say -- the lunch was a ruse so the Chinese would be occupied while the famous photograph was taken so that the Irish and other white workers would get the credit. There's no other evidence to support this theory, but, I'm just saying ...
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State building to be named after pioneer woman politician

ASAM NEWS

Pioneering politician March Fong Eu will be the first woman in California to ever have a state building named after her.

The Secretary of State’s office in Sacramento will be named the March Fong Eu Secretary of State Building, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Eu served as Secretary of state from 1974 to 1994. Prior to that, she served four terms in the California State Assembly, becoming the first Asian American in the United States to serve in a state legislature.

Eu who died in 2017 at the age of 95 graduated from UC Berkeley.

” When she was secretary, all the divisions of the secretary of state’s office hadn’t been under the same roof in decades,” Caren Daniels Lagomarsino, Eu’s longtime press spokesperson, told Berkeley.edu. 

“The building was a longtime goal of March Fong Eu. It’s kind of a shame she never got to work in it; during her time, the department was spread out over three different buildings.”

The idea of honoring Eu with the naming of the building came from current Secretary of State Alex Padilla in 2018. He announced his intentions during the memorial for Eu, reported Berekeley.edu. earlier this month, Women's History Month.

Eu gained notoriety when she smashed a toilet with a sledgehammer to symbolize her opposition to paid toilets.

March Fong Eu's campaign to end paid toilets in California was exemplified by this feat.

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Bill introduced to award Congressional Gold Medal to Fred Korematsu

KOREMATSU INSTITTUE

Karen Korematsu, stands before a portrait of her father, Fred Korematsu.

On what would have been his 100th birthday, Congress introduced bicameral legislation Tuesday (Jan. 30) to award Fred Korematsu the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his fight against the illegal incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and his work to advance civil rights.

“Fred Korematsu stood up for the rights of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, and continued his fight for decades to expand civil rights and overturn his own false criminal conviction,” said Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, one of the sponsors of the legislation. “Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest civilian honor, to Fred Korematsu is a fitting tribute to his lifelong pursuit of justice and equality.”

Sponsoring the bill in the House, is Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif. “Mr. Korematsu was an outspoken activist, a fighter for justice, and a hero to many – including myself," says Takano. 

"As a son of Japanese Americans who lived through Japanese internment during World War II, I find Mr. Korematsu’s legacy to be a guiding light for the work that I do in Congress. His life’s work placed civil rights at the forefront and it has been one of the cornerstones in the movement to build an America where everyone can be treated equally under the law."

In 1942, at the age of 23, Korematsu was arrested for refusing to enter the internment camps for Japanese Americans. After his arrest, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld Executive Order 9066 based on military necessity. 

Four decades later, on Nov. 10, 1983, Korematsu’s criminal conviction was overturned in a federal court in San Francisco. Korematsu remained a civil rights advocate throughout his life and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Bill Clinton in 1998. He passed away on March 30, 2005 at the age of 86.

“My father, Fred T. Korematsu, was born in Oakland, California 100 years ago today. A civil rights pioneer, he dedicated his life to ‘stand up for what is right,’ and he worked to ensure what happened to him and other Japanese Americans will never happen again to any other minority group,” said Karen Korematsu, founder and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute and daughter of Fred Korematsu. "Through this bill, it is a reminder that we must Stop Repeating History and, like my father, continue to champion civil liberties and the Constitution for all.”

“This legislation is an important acknowledgement of the injustice suffered by my grandparents, parents, and more than 115,000 others who were relocated and imprisoned based on nothing more than their heritage,” said Takano. “This stain on our history must serve as a warning of what happens when we allow fear and hate to overwhelm our basic respect for one another."

“The specter of the Korematsu decision haunts us to this day,” said National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) president Pankit Doshi. “With this bill, Congress has the chance to repudiate the Supreme Court’s ruling and prevent the country from repeating a dark chapter of our nation’s history."

“This legislation is an important acknowledgement of the injustice suffered by my grandparents, parents, and more than 115,000 others who were relocated and imprisoned based on nothing more than their heritage,” said Takano. “This stain on our history must serve as a warning of what happens when we allow fear and hate to overwhelm our basic respect for one another."

Tuesday's legislation is a follow-up to a bill introduced Dec. 18, 2018 the anniversary of the widely-condemned Korematsu Supreme Court decision that led to the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth, D-IL and Hirono introduced the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2017 (S. 2250) to prevent similar civil and human rights travesties from happening on U.S. soil ever again. 

Their legislation is named in honor of the late U.S. Congressman Mark Takai from Hawaii for his long-time leadership on this issue prior to his passing. 

With President Trump’s continued efforts to restrict minority and immigrant civil and human rights, the bill would help our nation stop repeating history by ensuring that no individual is imprisoned or detained based upon a protected characteristic such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. Takano introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We, as a nation, must never forget or repeat the horrors thousands of Japanese Americans experienced as prisoners within our own borders, said Duckworth. "We must also continue to do everything we can to ensure such a national travesty never happens again. I’m proud to introduce this bill with Senator Hirono in remembrance of my dear friend and former colleague Mark Takai to reinstate our commitment to protecting civil liberties and strengthen our resolve to ensure we never again repeat such shameful acts.”
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1968 -- when Asian Americans discovered each other and a movement took hold

1968 WAS A HELLUVA YEAR! Fifty years later, the calamitous events of that landmark year continue to impact today's Asian Americans.

A half-century allows us to view that year with more perspective, minus the passion experienced by those of us who cheered, fought, rallied and cried through those 365 days.

Recent specials recalling that landmark year by CNN do a good job covering that year but it left out the chapter on Asian America and the AAPI communities.

It was  the year that marked the shedding of the quiet and separate communities of what used to be called "Orientals" -- primarily Japanese, Chinese and Filipinos -- scattered throughout the country. It was the year that gave birth of Asian-Americans (with the hyphen), a term that united the disparate communities under a common banner and combined gave it a new-found leverage in political circles and a voice that could not be ignored.

it's become popular to blame Baby Boomers for the state of our country today: Everything from our degraded environment, growing traffic jams and distrust in government to the redefining of the American Dream and the election of the Donald Trump.

But we need to take a new look at what came out of that year and the many simultaneous revolutions that were nurtured or was born in that mixture of radical free-thinking and questioning of the status quo. 

It was my first full year at UC-Berkeley in the College of Environmental Design to fulfill a lifetime dream of becoming an architect. Little did I know of the twists and turns that was in my future that would steer me down a different path. 

I also didn't know that Cal -- along with San Francisco State and other college campuses -- would play important roles for Asian/Americans that year. 1968 marked the beginning of a decade of social consciousness, self discovery and political reckoning for Asian Americans.

1968 did not occur in a vacuum. Earlier in that decade, the Civil Rights Movement, the student-led Free Speech Movement, the Filipino-instigated UFW grape strike and the fledgling movement against the Vietnam War provided a bubbling cauldron of social unrest and dissatisfaction with the status quo. 

Asian America was born
Activist and historian Yuji Ichioka coined the term “Asian American” to serve as what sociologist Dina Okamoto now calls a “rallying cry to build this broad, collective identity around.” The Japanese, Chinese and Filipinos saw what was growing in the African American and Latino communities and felt left out of the battles for civil rights. Calling yourself Asian American meant self-identifying a people that rejected the derogatory “Oriental” label. It meant discovering a sense of kinship in a population that remained quite small until the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act loosened quotas set in place for non-European immigrants and further changed the AAPI communities, a revolution within a revolution that continues to this day.

Tet Offensive
The year started with the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War. The U.S. government and politicians kept telling the American TV viewing audience that the U.S. military sees "The light at the end of the tunnel. Though militarily a failure, the Tet Offensive showed how wrong U.S. leaders were. The nd of the war was not near, as the U.S. military and the President Lyndon Johnson administration claimed. The boldness of the strategy and its implementation belied the belief that Americans would easily steamroll over Asians.

My Lai Massacre
The murder of Vietnamese villagers - men, women, children - by U.S. troops in March of 1968 was, for many Americans, the turning point in a war for the hearts and minds of the U.S. public. The military campaign in Vietnam became a moral issue and raised the question, "What is happening to our young American men?" Americans, used to being depicted as the good guys, begin questioning that image. The war and its atrocities fed the growing anti-war movement and placed Asia and (by extension) Asian Americans into the consciousness of Americans. The following month, President Johnson declared that he would not run for a second term.

Third World Liberation Front
Also in March, at San Francisco State, Asian American students joined with other students of color to form the Third World Liberation Front with the Black Students Union, the Mexican American Student Confederation, the Philippine American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE), the Intercollegiate Chinese for Social Action (ICSA), the Latin American Students Organization, and an American Indian student organization. They allied themselves with the the more militant Brown Berets and Black Panthers to form an historic partnership. The Asian American Political Alliance joined TWLF by summertime. A member of PACE was elected as the TWLF first chairperson. In an age before social media, chapters were quickly formed in other campuses including UC Berkeley, UCLA, San Jose State and throughout the U.S.

The assassinations of MLK and RFK

The assassinations of the great civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Robert Kennedy was like a one-two punch in the gut. It convinced the legions of their followers that "the system" didn't work. If change were to come, it would have to come from outside conventional means. Both men sought the end of the Vietnam morass. In the last few years of his life, MLK began preaching against the Vietnam War, bringing the lexicon and values of the Civil Rights Movement -- which up to then was considered a black-only movement -- to emerge within the Asian/American movement. Kennedy was supposed to be the man who would bring the troops home. He was supposed to be the standard bearer for a reform of the government institutions to accommodate the new, diverse America. With the death of these two leaders, hope for an orderly and peaceful change also died. 

Growing militancy
In May, the Asian American Political Alliance was formed at UC Berkeley. The AAPA S.F. chapter became active in the increasingly militant SFSU TWLF. The liberation front staged a sit-in at SF State President Summerskill's office. Resulted in opening of 412 admission slots for students of color applicants over the next two semesters, and the creation of at least 10 faculty positions for minority professors. Sit-ins also involved first major act of police violence against student demonstrators with clubbings, 10 injuries requiring hospitalization, and 26 arrests. Summerskill resigned a few months later and there was no fulfillment of earlier agreements. Student frustration leads to divergence from traditional protest channels.

Student movement goes international
In June 30, 1968 Berkeley mayor Wallace Johnson declares a state of emergency and a three day curfew in the city in response to violence in the wake of student demonstrations at Cal in support of Paris May Uprising of students and workers the previous month. Student uprisings in Columbia University, Great Britain, Manila, Tokyo and other cities gave the impression of real revolution and pundits shaking their heads and asking, "What the hell is going on?" This is when I got my first exposure to tear gas as the city, Alameda County and the state brought the full force of law enforcement to control the student demonstrators.

Olympic protest

That summer, two African American sprinters, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, were on the Olympic podium in Mexico (which had recently violently slammed down student demonstrators at the University of Mexico) and when the national anthem was played, they each raised a gloved fist to bring international attention and to show solidarity with the (what was considered the more radical) Black Power movement. The two students of San Jose State were the peers of thousands of college students of color who saw the sprinters' unconventional protest as a signal to take the so-called revolution off the campus and into streets and institutions of power.

The International Hotel
On October 28, 1968, the first eviction notice was served on 150 elderly Filipino and Chinese tenants of the International Hotel in the Manilatown district of San Francisco. This marked the beginning of a nine-year long anti-eviction campaign against financial district redevelopment interests. Widespread student and community grass-roots support imprinted this event as a milestone in Asian American civil rights history. Students allied themselves with the manongs. An attack on the senior citizens' home was an attack on Asian American heritage. "Remember the I-Hotel" became a rallying cry for thousands of Asian American students for the following decade. The campaign culminated in 1974 with the deployment of over 300 riot police, mounted patrols, anti-sniper units and fire ladders in an early morning eviction raid. A 3,000-person human barricade that surrounded the three story brick structure was brutally cleared away by authorities before the elderly tenants were physically removed from the premises.

The International Hotel was located on the final block in a once thriving Filipino American enclave. Originally consisting of over ten square blocks and located near the edge of San Francisco Chinatown, Manilatown was considered home to many Filipino farmworkers, merchant marines and service workers. 

Student strikes

In November, "On strike! Shut it down!" became a famiiar cry as the student strike at San Francisco State began in which PACE played a leading role. The strike at San Francisco State College lasted five months, longer than any other academic student strike in American higher education history, and, miraculously, was less violent than any that were to come. The strike inspired sympathy strikes on various campuses in California. As the militant students linked up with the anti-war movement and civil rights movement, the feeling of a genuine revolution was in the air, much to the dismay of the status quo which unintentionally created a simmering backlash that was kept under wraps for decades but has finally emerged, full-throttle, under the Trump administration. The student strikes at SF State resulted in the nation's first College of Ethnic Studies and the first Filipino American Studies courses. Similar efforts results in ethnic studies becoming a legitimate course of study at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA and schools throughout the country.

Nixon elected
Partly as a backlash against 1968's turmoil most Americans wanted more stability, Richard Nixon was elected after sabotaging the peace talks in Paris, thus, allowing the Vietnam War to continue until 1974 at the cost of thousands of lives. It was the first election when the Dixiecrats, southern Democrats, showed their true racist colors and voted for Nixon. Nixon would go on with his dirty tricks leading to Watergate his eventual resignation in disgrace. America lost their trust in government. The Presidency hasn't been the same since.

* * *

With the luxury of time, it strikes me what seemed like social progress to many of us, was a threat to many more. What was happening on the campuses affected only a tiny fraction of America. One only had to drive a few miles to California's suburbs and into the Central Valley to discover that what many of us saw as necessary and progressive, was filling the people of the Heartland and South with fear and resentment. 

A generation gap developed between parents who came of age in the 1940s and ’50s and the more experimental views of 1960s youth. The gap was even more pronounced among first generation immigrant parents and their children who have become too "Americanized." Some saw long hair and bell bottoms as signs of anarchy while others saw explorations with drugs and sex as immoral. Critics often labeled student protesters as self-indulgent and inexperienced. 

And they represented the broader American citizenry who saw these uppity people of color as a threat to their established social and economic position on top of the heap.

It's important to remind ourselves that while Asian Americans were struggling with identity, social unrest was going on throughout American society. Besides the anti-war movement which had taken over the so-called hippie movement which culminated in the Summer of Love the year before, women were asserting themselves, environmentalists were organizing, African Americans were still being beaten in American cities, Chicanos were walking off of campuses. 

It also wasn't just the United States that was in tumult. Violent student riots in Japan, France, Great Britain and Germany roiled the status quo in those countries. And just to remind students how bad a backlash can be, Russia invaded Czecholslovakia to quash any dreams of creating a democracy.

With all this upheaval going on in the world, it is no wonder that the generation that fought WWII would feel that the world was falling apart. When the Beatles sang "Revolution," all that middle America heard was the word "revolution," and not the rest of the lyrics:

But when you talk about destruction; 

Don't you know that you can count me out

The lessons of 1968 are continually being  relearned -- in each wave of new immigrants who come to this land -- from South Asia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, South Korea or the People's Republic of China. Newcomers have no idea what it means to be Asian in this country. Every time a door is closed, a promotion denied, a person is attacked or belittled because of his or her looks or accent, every time a just cause is ignored -- that is happening to all of us. 

Today's Harvard discrimination case threatening affirmative action, the cultural phenomenon of #AsianAugust giving AAPI people representation and immigration trends that indicate more people coming from Asia may or may not auger a new Asian American Age as some pundits have proclaimed, but opinion columnist Ross Douthat may have hit on something when he wrote in the New York Times about the dawning of this era.

"So after the Trumpian moment passes, our ethno-political fights will be gradually reshaped by how Asians relate to American culture, how American politics relates to them, and how they (because 'Asian' contains multitudes) relate to one another."

In 1968, we had no idea that we would still be fighting the same causes, but today, our battle fields have  extended far beyond the east and west coasts and Hawaii, but in areas we don't usually associate with Asian America -- the Midwest and the Deep South. 

The struggles for equality, equity and recognition have gone beyond the college campuses and are now being fought in the courts, the halls of academe, the nation's newsrooms and corporate boardrooms, Congress, state legislatures and the city halls and school boards scattered across our country. 

Fifty years later, the so-called "revolution" as it turns out, was one of mind and spirit as well as political and cultural. Again, as the cultural icons of 1968, The Beatles, say -- it wasn't a revolution, but more of an evolution.

Don't you know it's gonna be 

 All right, all right, all right

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