URBAN MIGRATIONS AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY BARRIOS, GHETTOS, AND CHINATOWNS

SAN FRANCISCO'S CHINATOWN URBANIZATION: UNDESIRABLE SLUM TO ICONIC TOURISM DESTINATION

BY STUDENT

        If you glance quickly at the photos above, what do you see? Clearly they are in different time periods. One is a black and white and has a horse drawn carriage and the other is in color with modern cars on the street. These photos may have been taken at different times, but they are the same place. Chinatown has transformed from a segregated slum to a must see tourist destination in only a matter of years. San Francisco’s Chinatown is home to the largest concentration of Chinese people outside of Asia and was the first segregated neighborhood in America. The white population’s opinion of the immigrants was clear through their discrimination, segregation, and overall poor treatment of the Chinese people. The white population in San Francisco segregated the Chinese population from the rest of the city’s population to about 24 square blocks. In the mid to late 1800s, Chinatown was a stereotypical slum: crowded, diseased, and extremely poor. The crowding and overall poor quality of the area was noticed by the white population and they started leading slumming tours through Chinatown. Chinese merchants and individuals in Chinatown, noticed the influx of tourists and saw it as an economic opportunity. The Chinese in San Francisco transformed Chinatown from a slum to an iconic tourist destination which is now known worldwide (Brooks). I think Chinatown today would not be what it is without the white treatment for Chinese and I will explore my ideas and how they relate to the history of Chinatown in this blog. But, do you think the Chinatown we know today would have been created without the Chinese experience with severe segregation and discrimination by the white population of San Francisco?  

The creation of the modern day Chinatown can be connected to how the white population saw the immigrants as foreigners and not a good as the white population in San Francisco. They initiated forced segregation on many Chinese and those who were not forced, flocked to Chinatown for safety and to be around people like themselves. If the Chinese were not pushed so forcefully to live together in such a small area, they would have never been as concentrated and Chinatown may not exist as we know it today. So from at least some perspectives, the segregation for the Chinese was a good thing, the Chinese concentrated themselves and formed Chinatown. But was it really good? The conditions in Chinatown were horrendous and many of the people lived in constant fear and poverty, there are reasons people called it a slum. The white population found Chinatown fascinating and they started giving the slumming tours to tourists. Although the tours were negative, merchants and other Chinese in Chinatown saw the tours as an opportunity for income. Chinese began creating modern day Chinatown, and after many years and a fire where everything had to be rebuilt, Chinatown turned it into the major tourist destination it is today. As Chinatown’s popularity exploded stores, restaurants, and tours began in the area and Chinatown became a must visit location in San Francisco. Local businesses and tourism became a major part of life in Chinatown, but the neighborhoods around Chinatown were still segregated, forcing Chinese to still live in Chinatown (Brooks).

So I bring up my question again, would the emergence of Chinatown have occurred if there was not so much segregation and discrimination against the Chinese? Would the picture on the left have turned into the picture on the right? Would people’s lives be different? If there was not segregation and such a hate towards the Chinese, the group would not have been so concentrated. Then the slumming tours would have never occurred and Chinese living in San Francisco would have never felt the need to make a positive change for their community and their population. It would not have become the iconic tourist destination it is today and such an epicenter for Chinese culture. Of course, Chinese culture was exaggerated and their oriental identify commodified for the tourism industry, but without that Chinatown would not exist. It would probably still be a slum. But it is not a slum anymore, the Chinese were segregated into a small area and saw an opportunity for upward mobility. Over time Chinatown became the iconic location in the second picture. The transformation would have never have occurred if the Chinese did not experience discrimination and segregation in San Francisco.

Brooks, Charlotte. "Chapter One Chinatown, San Francisco: The First Segregated Neighborhood in America." Alien Neighbors, Foreign Friends: Asian Americans, Housing, and the Transformation of Urban California. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1971. 12-38. Print.

In the Heart of Chinatown, San Francisco USA. 1902. California History Collection, San   Francisco. California History Collection. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.             <https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cbhtml/cbrush.html>.

San Francisco. 2016. San Francisco How to Get Around, and What to Do! Web. 28 Jan. 2016.     <http://www.leslieplustim.com/sanfrancisco/>.