When workers building a commuter rail line in the Boyle Heights neighborhood found the skeletal remains of 108 people, rice bowls, jade bracelets, Chinese burial bricks, and Asian coins, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) initially tried to sweep the discovery under the rug. The MTA did not want to delay its $898 million subway project connecting East Los Angeles with downtown and said it found no reason to halt construction after the remains and artifacts had been removed.

According to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, the excavation site is part of a Chinese cemetery, the last known public record that dates from the 1920s. Archival documents indicate that 902 Chinese were buried at the site in a corner of a potter’s field.

It remains to be settled whether the remains will finally receive a respectful burial. Irvin Lai, 78, a long-time member of the Chinese Historical Society and its past president, is demanding the MTA re-inter the bodies at Evergreen Cemetery, where in the early 1900s the Chinese were not allowed to enter, let alone be buried.

Lai said the remains belonged to men who lived at a time when the Chinese were relegated to the lowest rung of society. An estimated 10,000 Chinese lived in Los Angeles in late 19th century. From the moment of their arrival, they were exploited as cheap labor, working under harsh conditions as ditch diggers, canal builders, and domestic servants. They were segregated into ghettos, they could not marry, own property, and they were banned from most shops and public institutions.

They were also the target of racist violence. On Oct. 24, 1871, a mob of hundreds of whites rampaged through the local Chinese community, attacking every Chinese person they encountered. The “Chinese Massacre” resulted in the murder of around 20 people. No one was ever arrested, charged, or prosecuted.

“They treated the Chinese just as bad when they were dead,” stated Lai. “They were treated like animals.”

“Don’t throw away our history,” Lai told MTA representatives at a March 23 meeting of the MTA Review Advisory Committee. “A child wants to know, ‘Where is my grandfather buried?’” The gathering of 75 was held in Boyle Heights, a largely Chicano and Mexican neighborhood.

“I told the MTA to stop digging,” Ernestina Montellano said at the meeting. “The train is not for the community but for the rich people and for condos. I want to thank the Chinese people for helping us publicize this fight.”

It is unlikely many surviving relatives in the United States will be found. Chinese women were prohibited from entering the country in that period. In 1882 U.S. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. No immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States was permitted for the next 10 years, and those living in the U.S. were not allowed to become naturalized citizens.

In 1904 the Chinese Exclusion Act was extended indefinitely. It was not repealed until Dec. 17, 1943. Chinese could then become citizens, but the exclusion was still enforced. Congress restricted the immigration of Chinese to a measly quota of 105 per year.
 
 
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