Metro - File #: 2021-0502

• File #: 2021-0502
• Type: Motion / Motion Response
• Status: Passed
• File created: 7/16/2021
• In control: Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
• On agenda: 7/22/2021
• Final action: 7/22/2021
• Title: APPROVE Motion by Directors Garcetti, Solis, Dupont-Walker, Hahn, and Sandoval that the Board adopt as policy full support for temporary and permanent commemorations to the 1871 Anti-Chinese Massacre. WE FURTHER MOVE that the Board direct the CEO to: A. Designate Metro representatives to participate in and advise the Civic Memory Group's 1871 Steering Committee in its efforts to commemorate the 1871 Anti-Chinese Massacre; B. Begin identifying Metro-owned land at or near Union Station that may be used as a potential memorial site; C. Collaborate and work with the City of Los Angeles Civic Memory Working Group and the 1871 Steering Committee to implement a memorial, should the steering committee identify Metro-owned land as a potential location for a temporary and/or permanent memorial; D. Develop recommendations related to a permanent marker of the history of Old Chinatown to be placed on Metro property at Union Station; E. Recommend strategies and consider additional opportunitie...
• Sponsors: Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
• Indexes: Central Los Angeles subregion, Chinatown, City of Los Angeles, Construction, Eric Garcetti, Grant Aid, Hilda Solis, Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, Janice Hahn, Los Angeles Union Station, Metro Rail A Line, Motion / Motion Response, Project, San Fernando Valley subregion, South Bay Cities subregion, Steering, Tim Sandoval, Westside Cities subregion, Westside/Central Service Sector

Date	Action By	Action	Result
7/22/2021	Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting

Meeting_Body
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
JULY 22, 2021

Preamble
Motion by:

DIRECTORS GARCETTI, SOLIS, DUPONT-WALKER, HAHN, AND SANDOVAL

Memorial to the 1871 Anti-Chinese Massacre

Metro must be able to reflect on and deepen understanding of Los Angeles' past if it is to succeed in orienting Los Angeles County towards a more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable future.

In November 2019, the City of Los Angeles convened the Civic Memory Working Group, a collection of 40 local leaders, scholars, and activists charged with engaging more honestly and productively with Los Angeles' past. In April 2021, the Working Group released Past Due, a landmark report with 18 key recommendations to better mark Los Angeles' history. One key recommendation is to develop temporary and permanent commemorations to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1871 Anti-Chinese Massacre, which took place near the Old Plaza. This effort will be led by a newly-established 1871 Steering Committee.

On October 24, 1871, 18 Chinese people were murdered in what is considered the largest mass lynching in United States history. Eugene Moy, former President of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, describes the massacre in the Civic Memory Working Group's Past Due report:

On the afternoon of October 24, 1871, a shootout between two groups of Chinese residents just south of the plaza drew the attention of the small Los Angeles police force. Officer Jesus Bilderrain was wounded in the crossfire. A local rancher and former saloon owner, Robert Thompson, attempted to intervene, even though he was told to stay away. He shot into a Chinese store in which there was an active shooting scene, got hit by return fire, and died an hour later. In the two hours that followed, an angry mob killed a total of 18 Chinese people who were pulled from the Chinese quarter and shot, beaten, or hanged. One of the victims was Dr. Tong; one was a teenage boy. Other victims included cooks, a storekeeper, and a lau...