A California city wrestles with its history of discrimination against early Chinese immigrants

ANTIOCH, Calif. — In 1939, after attending the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, Alfred Chan and his friends were headed back home to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But without that first step, we have no progress.” In May 2021, Thorpe had issued a formal apology for Antioch’s mistreatment of early Chinese immigrants, including the torching of Chinatown and driving out its residents, which has been documented by local newspapers and historians. It’s become popular local lore that Antioch was a “sundown town” and Chinese residents used tunnels to skirt the rules. I still suspect it existed.” Before getting involved with the Antioch Historical Society and becoming committee chair for its Chinese History Project, Hans Ho said he had no idea a Chinatown once existed there. “ said that they wanted this to be an ‘American’ museum,” said Dwayne Eubanks, a past president of the historical society, who is African American.