Oakland Chinatown will always have a place in my heart, because despite all of the waves of newbies arriving to set foot in America, the Chinese lumpens and working-class who settled Oakland Chinatown never gave up on their core soul. They just keep plugging away, inspite of and despite of rough and tumble Oakland.... with its high violent crime rate, gang-bangers, predators, hoodlums and thugs which makes it unsafe after dark. And Bill Wong, (I will always remember William Gee Wong, as Bill Wong, one of the many Bill Wongs out there among ABCs)...... is one cool dude who can write eloquently and with much poignancy about our Chinese-America, not the whitestreaming America.William Gee Wong, the author of this fascinating piece about Oakland (CA) Chinatown..... is the dean of Chinese-American journalism. He was one of the few Chinese-American journalists who was able to break through the little ole white boys wall in mainstream print journalism.... and spent time writing for the Wall Street Journal, then through the Black publisher and owner of the Oakland Tribune, the late Robert Maynard ( Robert C. Maynard (1937–1993) editor, was the first African-American editor in the papers history. In 1983, Maynard—who by this time had become publisher and with Gannetts blessing—consolidated the Tribune and Eastbay TODAY into a single morning newspaper under the Tribune name)...... Bill Wong became one of the few articulate and polished Chinese-American professional journalists who never lost touch with and from his roots..... unlike the honorary-white Asian white-streamers, or revolving license-plate yellow media people..... yellow for affirmative action, white inside. I always knew William Gee Wong, as Bill Wong...... interestingly, in this gem of a piece about Oakland Chinatown, Bill has adopted his middle name, Gee. I guess there are just way too many William Wongs, or Bill Wongs out there. In my heart, as a news junkie..... I will always remember Bill Wong as one of the early pioneers in pushing the envelope for yellow journalists to smash through those white doors in print journalism. I still miss his weekly columns in the now defunct Asianweek, the weekly newspaper published by the late John Fang and his family. Read this about the old Chinatown of Oakland.... it is a fascinating vignette retracing the genesis, evolution, and change of one of the most enduring ghetto of the global ethnic Chinese Diaspora. The newbies from China mainland arriving today may have no historical interest..... focused on American suburbia, shopping megamalls..... and keeping up with the Joneses... the Lao Wangs, the Lao Chens, Lee Tai Tai, Ah Mei of suburban tony enclaves like Palo Alto, Cupertino, Fremont, Milpitas, Saratoga, Mountain View........ but little do they know that it was the early lumpen pioneers from Chinas Pearl River delta region...... who really paved the way for the latter arrivals. Wong Kim Ark will always remain in my heart, as the ancestor who fought so hard for us Chinese in the global ethnic Chinese overseas Diaspora. That saga continues..... thanks to Bill Wong for reminding us of one sliver of our past..... in Oakland Chinatown. Never forget, Lao Wang, Lao Chen, Lee Tai-Tai, Ah Mei. Never forget the wells from where your draw your water from...... your ancestors in North America.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 16:36:34 +0000
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