It’s hard to tell a city’s story. In many cities, there’s a tension between pointing with pride and bowing in shame. Los Angeles—where I have lived and worked for most of my life, including my years as an elected official—has long preferred the civic booster side of its identity, promoting itself as a city of the future. But L.A. also struggles to face the dark, violent, and racist episodes in its past. One of the bloodiest nights in Los Angeles history took place 150 years ago, on October 24, 1871, when at least 18 Chinese (about 10 percent of L.A.’s Chinese population at the time) were slaughtered by an angry mob of Angelenos. Why does almost no one know about it today? Why didn’t I, the first Asian American on the L.A. City Council, know this history until less than a decade ago? Los Angeles was an unremarkable Far West town of about 5,700 residents in 1871, overshadowed by its … Continue reading After 150 Years, Is L.A. Ready to Remember the Chinese Massacre?