Dark History

The Headlines called it “Justice,” In Reality it was a MASSACRE: the Chinese Massacre of 1871 (5x15)

Air date: May 15, 2025

You know, after living in Los Angeles for a few years, I’ve learned a lot. Like, for example, if you tell people you live in LA, the first thing they ask about is celebrities. Who have I seen? What were they like? Am I friends with Kris Jenner? It’s always the same question. LA is huge and a lot of people don’t realize it has a *crazy* history. Hollywood and celebrity culture is just one small part of it. We’ve covered some LA history here on Dark History a couple of times. We did an episode on the Chicano Movement, and we even did one the Zoot Suit Riots. During my research for those episodes, I came across an event I had never heard of… the Chinese Massacre of 1871. You might think by the name, this massacre happened in China. But turns out, it happened right here in Los Angeles. It was essentially a mass murder killing spree, targeting Chinese American communities.