Denver’s Chinatown was once a bustling community of Chinese immigrants who came to the city in search of a better life. The Chinese community in Denver was established in the mid-19th century and flourished until the early 20th century. However, Denver's Chinatown was not immune to the racial tensions and violence that plagued Chinese communities across the United States during this time. The infamous Halloween Riot of 1880 was a significant event that marked the beginning of the end for Denver’s Chinatown. This paper will explore the rise and fall of Denver’s Chinatown and the events leading up to the Halloween Riot of 1880.
The rise of Denver's Chinatown can be traced back to the mid-19th century, when Chinese immigrants began to settle
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This store was followed by a number of other businesses, including restaurants, laundries, and saloons. By the 1870s, Denver's Chinatown was a bustling and thriving community, with a population of over 1,500 residents.
In addition to establishing businesses, Chinese immigrants in Denver also formed social and cultural organizations. One of the most notable of these was the Chinese Freemasons, a fraternal organization that provided support and networking opportunities for Chinese immigrants. Other organizations included the Chinese Baptist Church, which provided spiritual support and social services to the community.
Despite the challenges and discrimination that Chinese immigrants faced in Denver, they were able to establish a vibrant and successful community in the city. Denver's Chinatown became a hub of activity, with markets, restaurants, and businesses catering to both Chinese and non-Chinese residents. The success of Denver's Chinatown was not without its challenges, however. The Chinese community faced ongoing discrimination and hostility from white residents in the city. In 1880, this hostility erupted into the Halloween Riot, which marked the beginning of the end for Denver's
Chapter six examines the anti-Chinese sentiment with the emerging class antagonism and turmoil between white capitalists and workers. The unwelcomed arrival of Chinese immigrants brought along their own social organizations such as the huiguan, fongs, and tongs. These types of social organizations secured areas of employment and housing for Chinese immigrants in California. This social structure that was unknown to Anglos led them to also categorize Chinese on the same level as Indians by depicting them as lustful heathens whom were out to taint innocent white women. These images were also perpetuated onto Chinese women, thus, also sexualizing them as all prostitutes.
Social and economic disparities within the Cincinnati and Detroit communities led to civil unrest and riots. Although Detroit had a vast African American middle class, jobs weren’t abundant. Impoverishment caused racial stereotyping that infected the police department. In the summer of 1967, Detroit experienced five days of chaos including flames, looting, and deaths. Similarly, downtown Cincinnati in 2001 endured high-tension rioting from alleged police brutality and racial profiling.
The Tulsa Race Riot was the destruction of Black Wall Street in 1921, which was caused by an allegation of a white woman accusing a black man of rape. It lasted from May 31st to June 1st. The Tulsa Race Riot caused plenty of damage from “dozens of deaths [and] hundreds of injuries” to the destruction of Black Wall Street leading to unemployment of the black community (Hoberock n. pag.). An estimated property loss was over $2.3 million. This was an important event in our Nation’s history because “it teaches how far hatred [and violence] can go” (Hoberock n. pag.).
In The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire it states “Any who ventured out beyond its borders risked A severe beating, or worse by white street thugs.” This proves that if the chinese left chinatowns border they will most likely be beaten and mugged by gang members and no one else will care because no one liked the chinese and they were racist. In Dragonwings it states “My own grandfather has been murdered about thirty years before by a mob of white demons almost the moment he had set foot on their shores.” This proves that in both stories the chinese have been beaten or even worse killed just
East St. Louis Race Riot on July 2, 1917 On Sunday evening, July 1, a black Ford, filled with whites, drives into the “black quarters” of East St. Louis. The armed whites fire shots into African American homes. The second time this Ford passes through their neighborhood several black people, now armed, fire back. The police are called and unwittingly drive to the neighborhood in a black unmarked Ford.
The Chinatown-Lake Merritt area is very populated. There was a variety of many different kinds of people- differences that ranged from race to gender, from age to height, and from dressing style to personalities, and from transportation to job. Laconically speaking, the greatest difference of the Chinatown-Lake Merritt area was the transportation. Near American Indian Public Charter School II were two people sorting luggage in the trunk of their car. There were many different kinds of cars and trucks on the hectic streets.
During the mid 19th century and the early 20th century ethnic and racial groups such as Chinese and African Americans suffered through the indignities and laws opposed by white settlers/citizens of America. African Americans given the right of freedom and citizenship during 1865 and 1868, were still being looked down with hatred and anger by whites of the south, and being tolerated by the white people of the North. The immigration wave of the Chinese to the west during the Gold Rush and the building of the railroad only brought fear to the citizens that Chinese population would increase, ending in white citizens looking for ways to diminish Chinese immigration and progression. Even with the lack of physical and political protection towards
The Red Summer was an extremely violent and significant movement in America’s history, and it intensified racial tensions significantly in Chicago. “Drawn by the promise of employment and dignity, Chicago's black population more than doubled from 1916 to 1918” (Armstrong, 2016). This resulted in multiple instances of competition for jobs and housing, creating lots of tension between black and white people. Whites tried to prove their superiority in each neighborhood and created race riots that were the “...most severe of approximately 251 race riots throughout the U.S. in the ‘Red Summer’ (meaning “bloody”) following World War I; a manifestation of racial frictions intensified by large-scale African American migration to the North, industrial
Roger Daniel’s points out that there is masses of evidence pre dating the 1920s which can argue that hostility toward immigrants was certainly not a new development in America. This is an equally important factor as it shows there was always a flaw with the ‘melting pot’ theory and hostility was always a major part of America’s history. In the 1860s large numbers of Chinese immigrants flocked to America as cheap labour for projects such as the Union Pacific Railroad and by the 1870s there was over 1000,000 Chinese immigrants in the United States. They were often threatened with racial violence and driven out by WASPs who were threatened by the cheap labour they were willing to offer.
The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 was an extremely shocking and violent event in American history that unfortunately resulted in the absolute destruction of the prosperous African American neighborhood of Greenwood. In the book, "Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921," Scott Ellsworth provides the readers with a comprehensive account of the not just the riot, but also its causes, and most importantly, its aftermath. The author shifts his focus throughout the book about the economic, political, and social factors that contributed to the extremely high tensions between the African American and white communities that were in Tulsa. By doing so, light can be shined on what many believe was the root cause of this atrocity. He also vividly
One of this week’s readings focused on Ch. 5, “Caged Birds,” in Professor Lytle Hernandez’s book City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771-1965, and this chapter was particularly interesting because it further explained the development of immigration control in the United States. As a continuation from the last chapter, there was a huge emphasis in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Geary Act of 1892. This essentially prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States, as well as eventually requiring these people to comply with regulations. “Caged Birds” encapsulates the events afterwards, as the book heads well into the early-1900’s. The disenfranchisement of immigrants develops towards further exclusivity because “[by] 1917, Congress had banned all Asian immigration to the Unites States and also categorically prohibited all prostitutes, convicts, anarchists, epileptics, ‘lunatics,’ ‘
These institutions were a way for Chinese immigrants to cling to their culture and allow them to seek economic and social improvement. “During the 1850s, Chinatowns in San Francisco was already a bustling colony of thirty-general merchandise stores, fifteen apothecaries, five restaurants, five herb shops, three boarding houses, five butcher stores, and three tailor shops” (Takaki, Pg.195). Certainly, these establishments exemplify the commitments made by the Chinese population as to developing an infrastructure for proceeding generations. These close net communities were often designed to establish social ties to the United States; ideally, the earlier mindset of many Chinese immigrants had changed; however, for some Chinese immigrants, they were uncertain of their future in the country and as a result “the Chinese tended to invest their money in personal property rather than in land, preferring to take long leases in order to sublet” (Chinese in America Life, Pg. 202). As this mindset was only the minority of the Chinese population, many immigrants contributed to the development of Chinatown by creating their own businesses.
The focus of this study is on the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma race riot. Although there was a major impact on the entire community, this paper will only focus on the riot’s impact on the “black” community and the local government’s actions in response to the impact. I will evaluate the extent of which the local government’s response to the race riot of 1921 increased the negative effects on the black community. I will compare the records the Red Cross, the National Guard, and other groups to find consistency between the recorded death tolls and other relevant information. Then, I will compare an interview with Olivia Hooker, a survivor of the riot, to online sources to better understand the social climate which the local government was operating
During the Gilded Age, racism wasn’t uncommon in fact, it was probably at its peak during that time. During the California Gold Rush, many poor Chinese immigrants migrated to the U.S. for an opportunity. Due to the different work ethics of the east and west, they would be given the most hard-working jobs. In fear of domination, whites would riot and commit hate crimes. As more and more Asian immigrants moved to California for opportunity white people saw this as a threat.
These old fashion traditions and values are visible throughout the short story “Yin Chin,” written by Lee Maracle. This story follows the oppression of the Chinese and First Nations communities in early Vancouver and the internal and external conflicts they faced due to racism. From the very beginning of the story, we get a sample of what went on through the heads of individuals of different ethnicities and the old fashion values they possess. At the beginning of the story “Yin Chin,” the narrator walks into a restaurant filled with Chinese and explains “It is my reflexive action on my part to assume that any company that isn’t Indian company is generally unacceptable,” showcasing the reflexive thought process that went through people’s minds if they weren’t the same skin pigment (156). They found the restaurant full and that there were no places to sit because “there aren’t any Indians in the room” (156).