California city apologizes for history of hate against early Chinese immigrants

Background: Chinese who immigrated to California in the 19th century repeatedly faced racism, scapegoating and xenophobia, which the city says was at its peak between 1850 and 1870.

• During that period, Antioch officially became a "sundown town," banning Chinese residents from walking city streets after sunset.
• To commute between work and home, Chinese residents built a series of tunnels connecting the business district to their homes.
• Like most of U.S., Antioch participated in "The Driving Out" and forcibly removed Chinese residents. On one particular day in 1876, white mobs gave Chinese residents until 3 p.m. to leave the city before burning Chinatown to the ground — "no exceptions," the city said.

What they're saying: "[T]he story of Chinese immigrants and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of Antioch’s history," the city said in its resolution.

• The city also said it "must acknowledge that the legacy of early Chinese immigrants and xenophobia are part of our collective consciousness that helps contribute to the current anti-Asian-American and Pacific Islander hate."

• Antioch is the first city in the U.S. to officially apologize for mistreatment of Chinese people, Thorpe said in a news conference last month.

Of note: Mexico's president also issued a formal apology this week for a 1911 massacre in which revolutionary troops slaughtered over 300 Chinese people, AP reports.

Go deeper: The centuries-long history of anti-Asian racism and violence in the U.S.