Advocates from New York, San Francisco, Chicago and 15 other cities met in Vancouver for the first time to share their challenges with racism and gentrification in Asian communities.
June 20, 2023
Across North America, Chinatowns from San Francisco to New York have been battered by challenges intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic and a surge in anti-Asian racism. Public safety, gentrification and the struggles of small businesses pose existential threats to historic neighborhoods.
Such problems prompted representatives from 18 US and Canadian Chinatowns to convene in Vancouver for the first intra-Chinatown conference last month. More than 50 attendees represented chambers of commerce, law enforcement, social service providers, museums, advocacy groups and others serving Asian American communities, as well as the US and Canadian governments.
“The pressures you face are not unique or imagined,” said David Cohen, US Ambassador to Canada, to the Chinatown Solidarity Conference in Vancouver Chinatown, which is battling blight and economic decline. He hoped lessons could be learned from each other to “chart a path forward.”
Attendees from far-flung cities — Honolulu, Boston, Montreal, Los Angeles, Chicago and more — convened to discuss revitalization and cultural preservation. One goal of the conference was for people to share experiences and support as Chinatowns navigate complex challenges. Crime, condos and commerce were recurring themes.
“Our communities have been profoundly impacted, both economically and socially,” said Carol Lee, chair of Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, an organizer of the Chinatown Solidarity Conference. “So many of our problems are common ones. If we work together, we can solve some of them.” For example, Lee noted that cultural spaces like the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, launched by Vancouver Chinatown Foundation in 2021, could be replicated in other cities.
A report compiling learnings from the conference will be released in a few months by Deloitte Digital, a conference supporter.
Surging Anti-Asian Racism
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, people of Asian descent in North America were targets of racism and violence. In the US, more than 11,000 anti-Asian acts have been reported to advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate since March 2020. Hate crimes in Canada based on race or ethnicity jumped 83% in 2020, according to government statistics. In 2020, Vancouver experienced the highest number of anti-Asian hate crimes of any major city in North America.
Chinatown in Edmonton, the capital of Canada’s Alberta province, is plagued by crime and violence, including arson and two homicides last year, as reported by Canadian media. Metal security shutters over storefronts have become so common that it is becoming known as “shutter Chinatown,” said Lan Chan-Marples, secretary of Chinatown Collaborative Society of Edmonton.
Those broader public safety concerns hamper economic vitality. Before the pandemic, many businesses in Oakland Chinatown stayed open late, observed Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Restaurants were usually open until 10 p.m. or later every day. Now largely because of fears about safety, shops close earlier. About 20% of 400 to 500 small businesses are entirely shuttered, Chan estimated.
High-profile robberies and attacks, especially of seniors, have happened in Oakland Chinatown. Chan was even attacked in 2021 while on his way to visit an assault victim one afternoon.
Displacement is another shared problem. Cohen pointed out that Philadelphia and Seattle Chinatowns are among 11 endangered US historic places on this year’s annual list from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
In Philadelphia, Chinatown advocates oppose a proposal to build a $1.3 billion NBA arena for the 76ers basketball team they say will threaten nearby Chinatown. In Seattle, sports stadiums and a highway demolished parts of Chinatown, one of the West Coast’s oldest Asian American neighborhoods. Today the city is considering more infrastructure expansion in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District.
18 Cities at First US-Canada Chinatowns Conference
Other Chinatowns and big Asian enclaves exist in North America
Source: Vancouver Chinatown Foundation
Chinatowns are “examples of what makes cities special,” Cohen said. In spite of historical obstacles, their “triumphs remind us how important our task is today.”
Gathering in Vancouver Chinatown
The setting for the conference was significant since Vancouver Chinatown, established in the early 1880s, is the largest in Canada. The origins of Vancouver Chinatown and others such as those in San Francisco and Los Angeles are also rooted in anti-immigration laws and racial discrimination.
Vancouver mayor Ken Sim told participants: “We must not romanticize Chinatown’s history, for it is not a fairy tale of exotic curiosities. It is a narrative of sacrifice, exploitation and unwavering determination.” Sim added, “Our ancestors faced deplorable working conditions, endured racial violence, and battled systemic prejudice. Yet, from these ashes of adversity, they built a foundation that we stand upon today.”
Sim was elected as mayor of Vancouver in October 2022 and is the first Asian Canadian in that role. In the 1980s and 1990s, Vancouver Chinatown was still a bustling enclave of shops, restaurants and residences. But over the years, it has declined and the pandemic only accelerated vandalism, disorder and store closures.
A year ago, the neighborhood’s future seemed bleak. But a recent influx of funding has given advocates hope for revitalization. As the conference kicked off, Canada’s federal government announced C$5.18 million for the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver Chinatown. That’s on top of C$48.5 million that British Columbia has committed since plans for the museum were announced in 2017.
The new attraction will open in its permanent home in Chinatown’s oldest building on July 1, the 100th anniversary of Canada’s Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese Canadian Museum is the country’s first government-funded museum devoted to a racial or ethnic group, said Chief Executive Officer Melissa Lee.
British Columbia also pledged C$2.2 million in May to revitalize Vancouver Chinatown. That followed $1.8 million from Canada’s federal government announced early this year. And Vancouver’s City Council in January announced a restoration plan, including $500,000 for graffiti removal. The Chinatown Solidarity Conference also strengthened camaraderie in the fight to keep Chinatowns alive.
“We had never met before,” Lee said. “But there was an incredible sense of joy, love and affection.”
Amy Yee 