Urban Cultural Playground (3 of 3)

1 <2

Conclusion
When examining the revitalization proposals of the key investors in Chinatown, the targeted customer base can be extracted. It would be foolish to assume that the working families had access to the capital needed to reside in any one of the living spaces now being constructed. Although these new residential complexes will help alleviate the housing issue in Los Angeles, they are being created for a privileged few who have historically utilized L. A. Chinatown space to fulfill their colonial demands. Larry Bond of Bond Companies stated in a recent L. A. Times article that,

“We're focused on creating solutions to the housing crisis in Los Angeles and we're also focused on creating innovative developments in neighborhoods of interest… We define neighborhoods of interest as communities with strong local constituencies and architectural interest. We feel that Chinatown contains all these characteristics as well as a great proximity to a significant workforce with downtown Los Angeles just blocks away."⁸

Clearly, the housing is not being built for the immigrant Latino Chinatown restaurant worker or the sweatshop laborer trapped in the store on Chunk King Rd., but for the managerial, professional class Angelino with a salary paying job downtown. The orientalist and racial consumerist relationship between capitalist White America and Los Angeles Chinatown continues on with its legacy of disenfranchisement and displacement. Cultural consumerism still maintains its stronghold, even when disguised as multicultural respect for ethnic American communities. “The project will also include the construction of a plaza and cultural center to reflect the heritage of the Chinatown community and help draw visitors to the area." ⁹

Gallery owners on Chung Kind Rd. and those sprinkled through out Chinatown have served as the catalyst for investment bankers and wealthy developers to come into the area in the name of revitalization and community redevelopment. They embody the reality that White constructs of racial identities plays a crucial role in the business dynamics of Chinatown urban development. Critical analysis of the manners in which the cultural concept of “Chinatown” is marketed, bought, and sold in this racialized consumer society reveals that both Asian Americans and Non-Asian Americans alike are guilty of the perpetuation of stereotypes and stigmatism. Although immensely problematic in general, the situation is worsened when the latter comes to commodity this sense of Chinatown-ness because notions of White racial superiority are deeply rooted in such businesses ideologies. This false sense of rightful ownership makes evident the colonial mind set that is directly connected to the gentrification of ethnic communities, especially when marketed as urban revitalization. As Vicky Muniz writes in Resisting Gentrification and Displacement: Voices of Puerto Rican Women of the Barrio, “Revitalization and gentrification have generally been considered beneficial for the cities involved; by contrast, negative consequences have also been identified through a concern with displacement and its deleterious effects.”¹⁰ The deleterious effects, when applying this statement to the development of Los Angeles Chinatown, is exposed once the reality of who the city is being revitalized for (White middle class residents with upward mobility) and why (restructuring of the new capitalist marketplace) is established. When confronting these truths, it becomes clear that the working Latino and API families of Chinatown must prepare for a tough battle in order to maintain their ground.

¹Rohrabacher, Rhonda. “Livin' Large in L.A.” Newsmax.com, July 12, 2001:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/7/12/172101.shtml.
²Anderson, Steven L. “Mass Transition: The Gold Line's Challenge to N.E. Los Angeles.”
la.indymedia.org. March 11, 2003: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/03/35086.php.
³Ihara, Nathan. “Boy-Oh-Boy: A burgeoning art movement or something.” LA Weekly magazine.
Nov. 2-8, 2001.
⁴Ihara, Nathan. “Boy-Oh-Boy: A burgeoning art movement or something.” LA Weekly magazine.
Nov. 2-8, 2001.
⁵“LACBC Agenda and Minutes, 2003” Chinatown Business Improvement District minutes. Feb 22, 2003.
www.chinatownla.com/Board%20Agenda/Board%202003/Febboard.htm.
⁶Stewart, Jocelyn Y. “Magic Johnson May Back Retail, Housing Complex in Chinatown.” Los Angeles
Times. August 26, 2003.
⁷“Chinatown Development: 2. Capitol Milling Building.” Chinatownla.com:
www.chinatownla.com/Dev-CM.htm.
⁸Stewart, Jocelyn Y. “Magic Johnson May Back Retail, Housing Complex in Chinatown.” Los Angeles
Times. August 26, 2003.
⁹Stewart, Jocelyn Y. “Magic Johnson May Back Retail, Housing Complex in Chinatown.” Los Angeles
Times. August 26, 2003.
¹⁰Muniz,Vicky. Resisting Gentrification and Displacement: Voices of Puerto Rican Women of the Barrio.
New York: Garland Publishing. 1998, 3.