Race And Homicide In Nineteenth-Century California

Chapter TwoChinese TongsGroup Solidarity

32 Chapter Two Chinese Tongs Group Solidarity The great majority of the Chinese in America know nothing about the laws of this country. On the other hand, they know that the Six Companies hire good American lawyers to advise them. —Walter N. Fong,“The Chinese Six Companies” In nineteenth-century California Chinese accused of committing crimes were well represented by counsel in the courts. However, an important question needs to be asked: were Chinese who were accused of homicides treated the same way as other defendants were? Recent research has opened a dialogue on the fairness accorded Chinese within criminal justice systems in the American West. John R. Wunder discovered that Chinese“lost seventy percent of their appeals in criminal cases and fifty-nine [percent] of their civil actions”in the Pacific Northwest.1 While there is extensive scholarship on the physical abuse of Chinese in California , especially during the gold rush,2 and, to a lesser degree, their experience within the criminal justice system,3 the treatment of Chinese accused of homicide during the nineteenth century remains largely undocumented.4 While this case study is supported by statistical data and criminal case files collected from records in seven California counties, it will focus mainly on the experience of Chinese accused of homicide in Sacramento and Stockton. In California Chinese were less likely to kill outside their own race than any other group (Table 2.1). Clan solidarity and isolation within their Chinatowns help to explain this low interracial homicide rate. Chinese seldom mixed with whites in social situations. They preferred the company of their countrymen in gambling parlors and brothels operated by Chinese businessmen. Of thirty-eight cases involving Chinese as killers in Sacramento County, only one of the victims was not Chinese, and the murderer in that case was never identified.5 Fiftyeight Chinese were indicted for murder in these thirty-eight cases, but charges against twenty defendants were dismissed.The high number of indictments ending in dismissals reflects the tendency by law enforcement officials to“round up the usual suspects.”Indictment information and newspaper accounts suggest that Chinese Tongs 33 Sacramento police officers often arrested any“suspicious-looking”Chinese in the vicinity of the crime.6 The typical Chinese homicide in Sacramento almost always occurred in Chinatown, tended to be an affair between two males,7 usually involved rival companies or tongs, and was accomplished with a handgun.8 For example, about 7:00 p.m. on July 16, 1862, AhYuen walked into a gambling parlor on I Street in Chinatown and fired several shots from a revolver into Ah Cow, the business manager for the SeeYup Company in Folsom. During the coroner’s inquest one witness claimed that a rival group had hired AhYuen from San Francisco to assassinate Ah Cow.9 A similar shooting occurred in the same vicinity a decade later involving Ah Ow. In this case one or more assailants met Ah Ow on I Street between Second and Third and fired several shots. They immediately turned and ran down I Street. Eventually, police arrested Ah Toy, Ah King, Ah Yan, and Ah Lue.10 Although arrested and detained, none of the alleged assailants was indicted for the killing. As will be seen, Chinese defendants had a distinctive experience before the bar of justice in California. Because they killed within their own racial group, they faced fewer difficulties than other minorities did.The strong group solidarity and the support of legal representation that they received made their journey through the criminal justice system unique. Throughout the nineteenth century Chinese immigrants in the United States suffered a great deal of verbal and physical abuse from the white majority. Newspaper editors, city officials, and common citizens used a variety of stereotypes to label them and set them apart from white society. Nevertheless, some white table 2.1 Chinese Murderers by Victim’s Race, 1850–1900 Race Number Percentage White 6 6.5 Hispanic 0 0.0 Indian 0 0.0 Chinese 86 93.5 Black 0 0.0 Totals 92 100.0 Sources: Coroners’ Inquests, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and San Diego Counties, 1850–1900. 34 Race and Homicide citizens in nineteenth-century California had positive things to say about Chinese immigrants. For example, during an 1886 congressional hearing on Chinese behavior , the chair asked whether the “Chinaman”was equal in his civilization and morals to European...