Even as California grapples with its ugly past of discrimination and even pogroms against Asian immigrants and their descendants, a survival of this legacy persists in remote parts of the state. A disturbing escalation is reported in far-north Siskiyou County, where Hmong immigrants from Laos have been getting in on the cannabis economy—sparking a xenophobic backlash. Conservative politicians are making hay of the tensions, even cutting off water to Hmong farms—in a supposed crackdown on unlicensed cannabis cultivation. This finally prompted local Hmong to stand up and protest. This summer, a Hmong evacuee from the region’s wildfires was killed at a police checkpoint on a county road—further enflaming the situation. Bill Weinberg reports for The Progressive.