Miasma (a looming materialization)

Miasma

In San Francisco 1899 to 1901, bubonic plague caused an epidemic in the city, though health officials often falsely traced all epidemic outbreaks to Chinatown. Chinese people were already seen as “a social, moral and political curse to the community.” (San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Municipal Reports 1876-1877).  California’s Governor Gage denied the plague for 2+ years and signed several gag orders. Meanwhile police officers created a patrolled border between Chinatown and the rest of the city, keeping its 25,000 to 30,000 mainly Chinese residents inside. The State Board of Health printed a report in 1901 denying the existence of the disease. During the lockdown, all Asian immigrants were restricted from travel, cutting off 20,000 residents from employment, food, and resulting in many deaths.