Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community this week removed an anti-Chinese plaque from a street in what used to be the city’s Chinatown.
The plaque, which read “Hop Alley/Chinese Riot of 1880,” marked an anti-Chinese riot that destroyed the city’s Chinatown and left one person dead. Advocates have long decried the plaque as racist for its derogatory references to “Hop Alley,” or opium dens in the Asian American community. The marker’s removal follows the city’s formal apology in April for the 1880 riot.
The ceremony was led by city officials, descendants of Chinese families and Colorado Asian Pacific United, an advocacy group for Denver’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
“We had a chance to right a wrong,” Hancock said, according to NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver. “It’s never too late to apologize for something that’s happened.”
In a letter earlier this year, officials said they wanted to condemn the city's lengthy history of anti-Asian violence and discrimination.
“While the city cannot erase past injustices against Chinese immigrants and the Asian American and Pacific Island communities, the city owes them a long-overdue apology,” the city officials wrote. “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.”
The anti-Chinese riot of 1880 started after an argument in John Asmussen’s Saloon, which eventually led to a white mob descending on the city’s Chinatown and destroying businesses. A young man named Look Young was beaten and killed.
Cities such as San Jose, Los Angeles and San Francisco have also issued apologies for a history of racism targeting Chinese American residents.
