

I think that's a beautiful thing about Chinese restaurants and Chinatowns in particular that they're so popular and really one of the few places in our country where you can see a cross section of people. "I saw all of Detroit come through our restaurant, from the old Chinese bachelors, to the pimps and prostitutes, to the mayor. Curtis Chin, great-grandson of Joe, spent his childhood in the back kitchen of Chung's. "We never saw this area have a heyday, but we saw it go from not-too-bad to worse."ĭespite the turbulent history of Detroit's Chinatown, people who lived there still vividly remember it as a safe gathering space for the community.
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"If they had left Chinatown where it was, it probably would have developed into a Greektown," Philip Chung, then co-owner of Chung's Restaurant, told the Free Press at the time. The Detroit Free Press reported that by 1989, only about 100 Chinese residents remained in the neighborhood.
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Most left after a series of violent crimes in the 1970s and 1980s, including the holdup robbery and homicide of restaurant owner Tommie Lee in 1970 and the murder of Vincent Chin later in 1982. Butte, MontanaĬhung's Chop Suey operated for over 80 years before closing for good in 2000, long after the majority of residents had abandoned the area. Each Chinatown highlights the unique challenges and triumphs of being Asian in this country, and the often overlooked stories of American history. And in Atlanta, Georgia, a nondescript strip mall has become an oasis for Asian Americans in the South. In Detroit, Michigan, a Chinatown that all but disappeared is now being pieced back together by artists and activists. In Butte, Montana, generations of restaurant owners and shop keepers work tirelessly to preserve their family legacies, even when the Chinese American population in the town is on a decline. Some of these early Chinatowns have completely vanished, while others still show subtle reminders of their past: a derelict paifang gate left standing, faded Chinese characters on abandoned buildings. Most, however, experienced a natural decline in population after the slowdown of their respective labor industries, including mining and railroad construction. Many were forced to relocate or were destroyed by acts of arson. Countless other Chinatowns, however, did not survive. Several prominent, urban Chinatowns that formed in the 1880s continue to evolve and thrive today, the most notable being the Chinatown in Manhattan, New York, which holds the distinction of being the largest in the country, and the Chinatown in San Francisco, California, which is thought to be the oldest.

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