On April 30, 2018, CHSA hosted a press conference where a coalition of city officials and advocates called for the renaming of Julius Kahn Playground, due to the anti-Asian policies and rhetoric of the U.S. congressman after which it is named.
“The fact is, history matters,” said Hoyt Zia, president of the Chinese Historical Society of America’s Board of Directors. “The names of places should reflect The City as it is now.”
Congressman Kahn represented San Francisco from 1899-1903 & 1905-1924. The Chinese Exclusion Act was first signed into law in 1882, but as it was set to sunset Kahn introduced a bill to make it permanent. That act barred Chinese immigration to the United States, and required people of Chinese descent living in the United States to obtain certifications to re-enter the United States if they left. Advocates also said Kahn was openly racist toward Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups, including Japanese people.
Read more at sfexaminer.com