HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence - #36 ASIAN AMERICAN SENIOR CITIZENS SERVICE CENTER
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April 29, 2022
Santa Ana City Council
Santa Ana City Hall
20 Civic Center Plaza
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Dear Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council,
On behalf of the Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center (AASCSC), I am writing in
support of Agenda Item #36 to "Discuss and Consider Directing the City Manager to Direct Staff
to Prepare a Resolution Apologizing to Chinese Immigrants and their Descendants." More than
thirty years ago, Chinese American community leaders founded AASCSC to address issues
facing their aging parents with the philosophy of"caring for elders as if they were our own."
Since then, AASCSC has become a trusted community organization and partner with a history
of ensuring our most vulnerable low-income seniors and immigrants have equitable access to
quality social and health programs and services.
AASCSC is supportive of this resolution so that the Chinese immigrants and their descendants
who were forcibly removed from their homes and businesses and helplessly watched their life's
work and investments burn to the ground are recognized by the government institution that
caused them tremendous harm. The historic use of government authority to deliberately set fire
to Santa Ana's Chinatown to gain control of land to build a new City Hall must not be overlooked
and must be remembered as to prevent future instances of government abuse against a
targeted group.
As we enter the month of May, which has the significance of being Asian Pacific American
Heritage Month, we implore the City of Santa Ana to acknowledge and take responsibility for its
role in this dark moment of Santa Ana's history. While we recognize the City of Santa Ana's
efforts to highlight the Lau family's long history in and contributions to the city, this is also a long
overdue opportunity for the City of Santa Ana to utilize this as a teaching moment for all to learn
from in order to move forward collectively as a community that values reconciliation and justice.
Sincerely,
Jennifer S. Wang, Chief Operating Officer
Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center
"Caring for elders as if they were our own"
DRAFT
A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA ANA APOLOGIZING TO CHINESE IMMIGRANTS
AND THEIR DESCENDANTS FOR ACTS OF
FUNDAMENTAL INJUSTICE AND DISCRIMINATION,
SEEKING FORGIVENESS AND COMMITTING TO THE
RECTIFICATION OF PAST POLICIES AND MISDEEDS
WHEREAS, Chinese Americans have a long and rich history in the United States,
California, Orange County and Santa Ana; and
WHEREAS, the many contributions of Chinese Americans, both past and present,
should be acknowledged and celebrated; and
WHEREAS, since the late 19th century, the United States Congress, the State of
California, and the City of Santa Ana enacted adverse laws specifically targeting Chinese
people on the basis of race, most notably with the federal passage of the Chinese
Exclusion Act of 1882, the first federal law ever passed excluding a group of immigrants
solely on the basis of race or nationality. The Chinese Exclusion Act set the precedent for
racist foreign and national policy that led to broader exclusion laws; and
WHEREAS, Chinese immigrants were met with virulent racism, xenophobia and
the violence of anti-Chinese sentiment in Santa Ana and denied equal protection under
the law; and
WHEREAS, during this period, growth in the Chinese population, combined with
economic regression and pervasive anti-Chinese sentiments lead to the use of
government authority to remove Chinese Americans in Santa Ana; and
WHEREAS, the policies, resolutions, and other actions of the City of Santa Ana
and President George A. Edgar (Mayor) and the Board of Trustees (City Council) A.C.
Tiede, John Cubbon, George L. Wright, and James Sleeper directly contributed to the
xenophobic discrimination and racial violence faced by Chinese immigrants with the
support and encouragement of City Attorney Colonel W.F. Heathman and Orange County
District Attorney Horace Head; and
WHEREAS, the City made plans to remove Chinese residents and merchants in
Santa Ana's Chinatown as part of an urban renewal effort to gain control of those
properties for the building of the new City Hall and on May 25, 1906, the Board of Trustees
passed a resolution and issued an order to the Fire Marshal to deliberately set fire to
Chinatown leading to the destruction of homes and businesses and the displacement of
Santa Ana's Chinese community; and
Resolution No. 2022-XXX
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WHEREAS, on May 25, 1906, a mass rally of 1 ,000 citizens gathered to watch and
celebrate as the area known as Chinatown on 2nd, Main, and Bush Street was burned to
the ground; and
WHEREAS, the Chinese Exclusion Laws were repealed in 1943 and subsequent
federal legislation officially banned racial bias in immigration and citizenship, a
fundamental step in the struggle for racial equality and justice in the United States;
WHEREAS, the recent rise in anti-Asian violence and racial discrimination
demonstrates that xenophobia remains deeply rooted in our society and that Chinese and
Asian-Americans are still stereotyped as perpetual foreigners; and
WHEREAS, the story of Chinese immigrants and the dehumanizing atrocities
committed against them in the 19th and early 20th century should not be minimized in the
telling of Santa Ana's history; and
WHEREAS, the City must acknowledge and take responsibility for the legacy of
discrimination against early Chinese immigrants as part of our collective consciousness
that helps contribute to the current surge in anti-Asian and Pacific Islander hate; and
WHEREAS, a genuine apology for the City's role in this history and legacy is an
important and necessary step in the process of racial reconciliation; and
WHEREAS, an apology for grievous injustices cannot erase the past, but
admission of the historic wrongdoings committed can aid us in solving the critical
problems of racial
discrimination facing America today;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Santa
Ana
Section 1 . Apologizes to all Chinese immigrants and their descendants who came to
Santa Ana and were the victims of systemic and institutional racism, xenophobia, and
discrimination;
Section 2. Acknowledges acts of fundamental injustice, terror, cruelty, and brutality,
including the dismantling and destruction of the City's Chinatown;
Section 3. Recognizes the contributions and resilience of the Chinese community and
their commitment to fostering reconciliation and friendship; and
Section 4. Resolves to rectify the lingering consequences of the discriminatory policies
of the City of Santa Ana, and to use this resolution as a teaching moment for the public
to move forward. towards justice for all.
ADOPTED this day of May, 2022.
Resolution No. 2022-XXX
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Vicente Sarmiento
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
By:
AYES: Councilmembers
NOES: Councilmembers
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers
NOT PRESENT: Councilmembers
CERTIFICATION OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, DAISY GOMEZ, Clerk of the Council, do hereby attest to and certify the attached Resolution
No. 2022-XXX to be the original resolution adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Ana
on
Date:
Clerk of the Council
City of Santa Ana
Resolution No. 2022-XXX
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