Terry Lewis

The Chinese Question was an illustration by Thomas Nast published in Harper's Weekly on February 18th, 1871. In the illustration, Columbia, the female personification of America, is depicted shielding a Chinese immigrant. Nast created this illustration to criticize the prevailing sentiment of the "Chinese invasion" and to promote inclusivity. Surrounding them are various derogatory comments made against the Chinese during this era. One of the comments reads, "Chinese paganism has, by its fruit, a practical immorality fouler by far than that known among any Europeans or Christian people." Additionally, a sign held by the mob reads, "If our ballot will not stop them from coming to our country, the bullet must." A few months after the publication of this illustration, one of the worst racial massacres occurred in Los Angeles, California, on October 24th, 1871. Leading up to the massacre, rumors circulated that a policeman and a rancher were killed during a conflict between two rival tongs. These rumors escalated into false claims that the Chinese were "killing whites wholesale." A mob of around 500 people gathered in Old Chinatown and initiated attacks, robberies, and killings. Tragically, 19 Chinese immigrants lost their lives, with 15 of them being lynched. Historian Paul De Falla describes the gruesome aftermath: "The dead Chinese people in Los Angeles were hanging at three places near the heart of the downtown business section of the city: from the wooden awning over the sidewalk in front of a carriage shop, from the sides of two 'prairie schooners' parked on the street around the corner from the carriage shop, and from the cross-beam of a wide gate leading into a lumberyard a few blocks away from the other two locations. One of the victims was hanged without his trousers and minus a finger on his left hand." Although ten men were eventually prosecuted, all their convictions were overturned on technicalities. It's worth noting that Chinese witnesses couldn't testify in court because, in 1863, the state of California passed a law that prevented Asians from testifying against whites.