Chinatown Concern Group‘s Initial Position and Statement on Chinese Canadian Museum 唐人街關注組初步立場和意見：關於華裔加拿大人博物館之計劃

(Photo Source: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/chinesecanadianmuseum/)

“The Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver are working together to have Vancouver’s Chinatown designated a United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site. As part of this, the Province and the City have also committed to establishing a Chinese Canadian Museum.” (See the government’s website here)

Based on our current understanding of this project, this is our present initial position (as of Nov. 29, 2018):

”First, we acknowledge that we are on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.

Currently Chinatown faces continuing gentrification that displaces people from their homes, creating more and more homelessness, and pushes out retail stores selling affordable goods. Remembering the history of anti-Chinese racism and celebrating the resiliency and lives of Chinese immigrants are very important and so we thank the Government of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver for valuing the history of Chinese people living in Canada. At the same time, we also need to acknowledge that these issues continues today and are affecting people who live and depend on Chinatown for their survival. With that being said, Chinatown Concern Group holds the following views on the plan to build a Chinese Canadian Museum in Chinatown:

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“Why the Philadelphia Public History Truck’s latest exhibit examines displacement in Chinatown”

June, 21, 2016 – Geneoricty

Within an hour’s time on a recent Friday afternoon, five people visited the tiny, constructed room nestled in the rear of Asian Arts Initiative to collect socks, water bottles, deodorant and tampons.

The room on the 1200 block of Pearl Street was filled with artifacts of Chinatown past; photographs of old buildings decorated the walls, and a documentary from the 1970s showing residents protesting the construction of the Vine Street Expressway played on loop in the corner.

The toiletries and surrounding items do connect: According to artist Erin Bernard, they both relate to the theme of displacement in the Chinatown neighborhood. It’s why she brought them together for the Philadelphia Public History Truck’s latest exhibit, “A Houseless Museum: Home and Displacement Around the Vine Street Expressway.”

“Rediscovering Toronto’s Lost Chinatown”

June, 1, 2016 – New Canadian Media

Tucked behind Toronto City Hall’s curved towers, on Elizabeth Street, is a modest patch of greenery outfitted with bright red benches and blossoming tulips. It’s from this spot — once a parking lot— that historian Arlene Chan reconstructs an image of Toronto’s first Chinatown.

Chan draws on a mix of personal history and research to inform her audience, who joined her Heritage Toronto tour of Old Chinatown on May 14.  A librarian turned writer, Chan offers a glimpse into the lives of the city’s early Chinese immigrants.

“Why was there a Chinatown? Why was there such a tight-knit community?” asks Chan, before answering her own question. “It was because the Chinese were isolated. ”

“波士頓華埠建設地圖網路上線”

2016-05-27 – 舢舨

紐英倫華人歷史協會於5月23日在麻州歷史協會舉辦了一場招待會，慶祝Chinatown Atlas 華埠建設地圖網路上線。大約50人參加了活動.

Chinatown Atlas華埠建設地圖是前任麻省理工大學建築和城市設計教授李燦輝15年的心血，記錄波士頓華人的起源以及他們如何建造的華埠。曾經這些資料是以橫幅形式展現，現在這些地圖、圖片和海拔效果圖都是一個互動型網站的一部分。

李燦輝的研究團隊包括Randall Imai、紐英倫華人歷史協會成員張大偉、麻省理工大學的學生以及其他很多人。

Chinatown Atlas華埠建設地圖可以在http://chinatownatlas.mit.edu/瀏覽。

“Boston Chinatown development map goes online”

May, 27, 2016 – Sampan

The Chinese Historical Society of New England (CHSNE) hosted a reception on May 23 for the Chinatown Atlas going online at the Massachusetts Historical Society. About 50 individuals attended the event.

The Chinatown Atlas was a 15-year effort by Tunney Lee, former MIT professor of architecture and urban planning, to document the origins of the Chinese in Boston and how they built Chinatown. Formerly displayed as banners, the maps, photos and elevation renderings are now part ofan interactive website.

Lee’s research team included architect Randall Imai, CHSNE member David Chang, MIT students and many others.

The Chinatown Atlas can be viewed at http://chinatownatlas.mit.edu/.

“Space is the place: The history of Philadelphia’s Chinatown”

May, 17, 2016 – News Works

Despite encroachments by big development projects such as the Vine Street Expressway and the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia’s Chinatown has maintained a sense of history and community for more than a century.

But it occupies a tightly confined space in Center City, which has forced new immigrants to settle elsewhere in the region.

“Even if people aren’t settling directly in Chinatown, it’s still the heart — the cultural heart and the symbolic heart — of the community,” said historian Kathryn Wilson. She gained an intimate knowledge of the Chinatown community during her years with the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

“Chinatown Resident Saves Family Store, Launches Series on Changing Nabe”

May, 18, 2016 – DNA Info

CHINATOWN — Shortly after Chinatown resident Mei Lum succeeded in saving the 90-year-old antique shop that has been in her family for four generations, she decided to take it a step further by launching a community engagement initiative to chat with other local businesses about staying afloat and relevant in the ever-evolving neighborhood.

Lum, now the executive director of Wing on Wo & Co at 26 Mott St., on May 19 will kick off a summer-spanning series of conversations and workshops about changing Chinatown, beginning with a panel discussion with local businesses owners called “The (Re) Generation of Chinatown.”

“細看華埠中山公園的過去現在與未來＂

2016-05-17 – OMNI TV (視頻）

“为什么美国的华埠仍然重要”

2016-05-17  – 纽约时报

迪恩·王（Dean Wong，音）1982年的一张精彩照片虽然是自拍，但却看不到他的面孔。照片拍摄于西雅图华埠，片中他戴着光可鉴人的金属头盔，镜头聚焦在头盔后面反射出的一群住在附近的居民。这是一种隐喻：正是这些人与这个故乡的社区塑造了王先生，他们令他着迷。

这张照片收录在王先生的新书《看见光明：华埠40年》（Seeing the Light: Four Decades in Chinatown，Chin Music出版社）中。它聚焦西雅图，不过也收入了旧金山、纽约和不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华的照片。照片配有简短的轶事散文。几十年来，主流文化对华人社区的描述充满偏见，极为单一，仿佛它只是充满异国情调、与外界隔绝而又无关紧要，人们只在这里订快餐，或是在春节时对这里丰富多彩的各种仪式表示一下惊叹，这本书堪称一种有力的反拨。尽管外界对华埠有着顽固的刻板印象，认为它只是一个充满活力与异域风情的地方，这些照片提醒我们，华埠还承担着重要的社会功能，它是新移民的门户与家园；是艺术、历史与传统的守护者；亦是华裔免于歧视的庇护所。为了做到这一点，王先生不是靠精美的图文，而是细致入微地记录日常生活中的仪式，关注那些被主流媒体忽略的人们平凡或不平凡的私人故事。

“Racism, real estate, and the lessons of history”

May, 18, 2016 – Vancouver Magazine

As Prime Minister Trudeau apologizes for a horrendous act of racism in the past, are we creating the conditions for more of them in the future?

On Saturday, September 7, 1907, my great-grandfather Kumazo Nagata was visiting Vancouver from the family homestead on Mayne Island. It was a hot night. He never told his daughter-in-law, my grandmother, why he was in Chinatown that evening, though she speculates it had to do with his fondness for games of chance. Kumazo didn’t know he’d be gambling with his life by night’s end.