“The Lungs appreciate the recognition and acknowledgment of the past injustices of not only the anti-Chinese race riot but the destruction of Chinatown,” she said. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Linda Lung, whose great grandmother used to live in and own a business in Chinatown. He said the coalition envisions adding murals to LoDo and finally they hope to create a museum to continue telling the stories of Denver’s Chinese communities. Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsĪt the event Monday, Wei said Colorado Asian Pacific United plans to erect several historical markers in LoDo to further explain the riots and continue to educate Denverites on the city’s historic Chinatown. Linda Lung carries away a plaque from a LoDo neighborhood wall on 20th Street across from Coors Field, on Monday, August 8, 2022. Let me say that I applaud the heroes who came to their aid, but it does reflect a certain attitude that persists today. “Instead, it focuses on the heroes who came to their rescue. “If you read this plaque carefully, you notice that it does not actually dwell on the victims of this race riot, the Chinese,” Wei previously told Colorado Public Radio. For example, the plaque applauds and names several white residents “who showed remarkable courage” in assisting Chinese residents but never names Lee or the victims. Wei previously said the plaque tells the story of the anti-Chinese riot through the lens of white historians. Hart Van Denburg/CPR Newsįor advocates, the first step toward promoting more awareness of Denver’s Chinatown was to replace the existing, and easily missed, plaque near 20th and Blake streets. William Wei, board member of the Colorado Asian Pacific Union, removes a plaque from a LoDo neighborhood wall on 20th Street across from Coors Field, on Monday, August 8, 2022. Look Young, a Chinese laundry worker, was fatally beaten during the riot.Ĭhinese-owned properties were also destroyed and Chinatown never fully recovered from the incident. When the Chinese patrons left, they were followed and attacked. An argument broke out between Chinese and white patrons. Many migrants settled in Colorado and later in LoDo because of its central location. In the 1870s, Chinese immigrants moved to the West Coast with the hope of striking it rich in the Gold Rush, according to History Colorado. The project’s goal was to shed light on the historical details and context surrounding Denver’s once bustling but now destroyed Chinatown. The idea to remove the marker came from the Re-Envisioning Historic Chinatown Project, started by the Denver Asian American Pacific Islander Commission, along with other organizations and Asian-American leaders in the city. “Racist relics of the past like the plaque need to be replaced with public statements that accurately represent the community and its contributions to the city of Denver and the Centennial state.” William Wei, a board member of Colorado Asian Pacific United. “For the Colorado Asian Pacific community, removing the plaque is a significant event, for it illuminates a misleading narrative about Denver’s historic Chinatown that has stigmatized the Chinese people then and now,” said Dr. The “Hop Alley/Chinese Riot of 1880” marker’s removal was the most recent step in an effort to further improve relationships between the city and its Chinese residents, which included the city’s formal apology earlier this year for its role in anti-Asian violence at the time. Denver officials on Monday removed a downtown plaque which critics had targeted for its misrepresentation of city history.
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