Pacific Grove is on the cusp of issuing a formal apology for the burning of a Chinese village in 1906.

Almost 116 years after the Chinese fishing village at Point Alones in Pacific Grove was nearly burned to the ground in a suspicious fire to the cheers of white residents, the city drew a step closer on Monday, April 25 to formally apologizing for those events and the racism Chinese American descendants have endured for over 170 years. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force approved sending a proposed resolution detailing the apology to the Pacific Grove City Council for consideration on May 11.

Task Force Secretary Kim Bui, the first Vietnamese American library director in the country – serving as director of the Monterey Public Library for 10 years before retiring in 2018 – used her research skills to comb through books, articles and documents to craft the resolution. Along with fellow subcommittee member Nadja Mark, they interviewed over 40 people – descendants, relatives and members of Chinese American groups, as well as Asian and non-Asian residents. They modeled the resolution on those approved by San Jose, San Francisco and Antioch.

Bui read the lengthy resolution aloud, detailing how a growing anti-Chinese sentiment resulted in the attempted eviction of Point Alones residents in 1905, followed a year later by the fire, during which “hundreds of spectators watched, cheered the flames and looted” residents’ belongings. More looters showed up the next day to pick through warm ashes. Remaining residents were forcibly removed and blocked from rebuilding.

The resolution includes the structural racism and discrimination against Chinese immigrants that dates back to the 1850s, including the Chinese Exclusion Act and restrictive covenants written into P.G. property deeds, among others. Also outlined is how the Feast of Lanterns, created in 1905 and celebrated annually since 1958, featured racist stereotypes. (The Feast board announced Feb. 18 it was ending the tradition in the wake of intense public pressure.)

The city “acknowledges and takes responsibility for the legacy of discrimination against early Chinese immigrants,” the proposed resolution reads, then draws a direct line from that discrimination to a more recent wave of anti-Asian and Pacific Islander hate crimes. It calls for using the apology as a “learning moment for the public to move away from prejudice and racism towards inclusion, equity and justice for all.”

“I want to celebrate Secretary Bui’s courage jumping into what’s definitely traumatic,” said Mark, who is Black. “I touched upon it during Black History Month, when you hear stories of such struggles and hardships with people who have your face, it hurts.”

The resolution will be considered on May 11 by the City Council, just three days before the Walk of Remembrance, an annual event along the Recreation Trail from Lovers Point to the Hopkins Marine Station, which sits on the site of the fishing village.

“This is a significant and historic resolution. It does not erase the past but it’s a start in the healing process,” said Randy Sabado, husband of the late Gerry Low-Sabado who created the walk 11 years ago. “We expect many descendants to return to Pacific Grove on May 14 and to hear the public apology will go a long way toward the healing process and welcoming back the Chinese community.”