Marlon Meyer
Northwest Asia Weekly
Figure: Hanbu
Community leaders in the Chinatown International District (CID) say mainstream society has encroached on Asians and their lands for more than a century. Now, they say, it wants to take the rest.
Betty Luke
Last week, Bettie Luke and others denounced Sound Transit (ST) plans to build through the CID and leave the area overrun by noise, pollution, traffic and business congestion within a decade. It was another intrusion in a series of attacks on their communities.
“Enough! No more land grabbing and exploitation of our communities!” she wrote in an open letter to the Sound Transit board and the Seattle City Council.
The letter, which was CC’d to other leaders in the Asian American community, drew backlash and sparked similar outrage over what the leaders say is institutional racism that has been inscribed in their throughout the history of the region. They say ST’s plan to tear up and kill CID is the result of these efforts. Therefore, Luke writes, “the most sensible and humane option is to have no bus program in the CID.”
Luke said she had made a proposal before and now she wants to revise it.
“I initially thought ST’s 4th Avenue option would work, but after much thought and research, I am opposed to any form of encroachment on the CID,” she wrote. (see full text).
a century of erosion
The harm done to the Asian community has persisted throughout its history, but today it constitutes “the last remaining ethnic community,” Luke wrote.
“Any transit plan by CID would be extremely disruptive to this historic neighborhood. The intrusive encroachment on CID over the past few years has led to a common undercurrent of racial disregard for our people, resulting in increased land use loss and safety concerns.”
Luke is the sister of the late Wing Luke, assistant attorney general for Washington state who went on to become the first person of color on the Seattle City Council. Recalling her childhood memories of Chinatown, Betty Luke listed the catastrophic encroachment that the Asian American community had to endure because the transportation program at the time no longer existed.
“Second Avenue access was cut to get from downtown to the train station faster. That road helped demolish the old Chinatown neighborhood. We lost our place. Chinatown then moved southeast for about half a mile, and built in the current neighborhood – CID, now subject to new transit plans,” she wrote.
The next incursion was the construction of the interstate highway, which bisected the community and caused choking emissions from highways and other traffic.
“As construction of I-5 crossed the eastern half of CID, we lost CID land, destroyed business and housing blocks, and brought severe, never-ending auto pollution. CID residents, workers Air quality for tourists and visitors has been severely affected. This severe and harmful encroachment is currently continuing day and night,” she wrote.
The third attack was to build the kingdom in the 1970s.
“When the kingdom was built, we lost CID’s land. The stadium demolished a lot of affordable housing for Asian seniors and brought a constant stream of sporting events to CID,” she wrote. “As additional stadiums were built, the encroachment of traffic and air pollution greatly increased. The two stadiums do not take people to eat and shop at the CID. Instead, the CID is used as a car park!”
The result, she added, was that the CID was affected as stadium spectators ran out of parking spaces that the business needed.
“Additional losses for CID businesses are due to people who are not sports fans but want to eat or shop at CID, skipping trips because they can’t find a parking space,” she wrote.
What followed was the construction of a railway line, as well as the creation of bus stops on every corner of the northeast side of the block.
Another loss to CID was that Eighth Avenue South became a one-way street, meaning it could no longer be used as an entry street into the area.
Then the city built a navigation center in the CID — flooding the community with homeless people.
“Without notice, without neighborhood input, it becomes housing for homeless people who face greater barriers, such as mental health and addiction,” Luke wrote. “To me, this risky approach listens to It looks like institutional racism.”
“Immediately, safety concerns became a growing concern for seniors, community organizations, businesses and tourists who wanted to eat and shop at CID,” she wrote.
Finally, the northeast corner of CID, 12th Avenue and South Jackson Street, has a bus stop on “each of the four corners.”
“Day and night, buses criss-cross in every direction, bringing more ongoing pollution, exhaust, safety and walking problems into an endless encroachment,” she wrote.
Connie
Reading Luke’s letter, Connie Sue, chair of the OCA Asia Pacific Advocacy Group for the Greater Seattle Area and professor of American Ethnic Studies teaching at the University of Washington, added events that have helped expand understanding of how Asians are hurting in the region, while bringing ST’s endorsement of the region’s culture is described as plausible.
“ST describes CID as a ‘center of cultural significance to Seattle and its Asian American community,’ without acknowledging the historic, systemic displacement and gentrification of the community by local government agencies,” she wrote.
So there was a riot in 1886 that attacked and looted the homes of the Chinese who lived here and forced them out of the city.
She also referred to the 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans held in concentration camps during World War II. Their imprisonment is often used by white supremacists as an excuse to plunder their land.
Sound Transit: The latest predator targeting people of color?
Luke said CID was singled out because it was a community of people of color.
“These proposed CID encroachments will not be planned in Midtown or Pioneer Square – it would destroy so many buildings and businesses. These encroachments will not happen in white neighborhoods!” she wrote.
So ST treats the white community differently than it treats people of color.
“ST has a history of discriminating between Black, Indigenous, and communities of color and predominantly white communities. For example, when the Roosevelt community pushed and advocated for underground alternatives, ST acquiesced. By contrast, South Seattle Communities have not offered alternatives to address their concerns about retail and residential displacement, traffic congestion and public safety. ST’s history of neglecting community concerns of color continues to be seen in the proposed section of the CID Regional Station,” she wrote.
Luke stressed that the current CID has for many years been the only place Asians could live. Beginning in the early 20th century, real estate agents and community associations found ways to write in contracts that land in other parts of the city could not be sold to people of color (and in some cases Jews).
Even as U.S. Supreme Court rulings overturn such illegal “restrictive covenants,” brokers and communities have found ways to enforce them, such as threatening violence against children of color families if they move into white neighborhoods. Real estate agents are also threatened if they sell homes to blacks, Asians or Jews.
“It’s interesting that in the early days, restrictive covenants, red lines and discriminatory practices restricted Asians to the CID, the only place we could live. We’ve used the CID as our home base and cultural hub for years, but we There is now a new threat to outside interests who want to take our lands and affect our communities,” Luke wrote.
Of ST’s current options for CID, Luke said the options on both Fourth and Fifth Avenues would destroy as many as 21 CID businesses and result in the loss of jobs, residents and customers.
“A long 10-year construction will create ongoing barriers to restaurants, stores, businesses, events and organizations,” she wrote. “CID cannot survive and thrive under these circumstances.”
“Systemic Racism Bull##t”
Luke also condemned what she called ST’s verbal service to the “Race and Equity Toolkit.”
“I found no evidence that it was actually used,” she wrote. “This is an act of systemic racism without an active, honest and realistic application of the Race and Equity Toolkit.”
If it were used, “it would conclude that the shipping program would be a disaster for CID.”
Al Young
Al Young, the first Chinese-American to become a nationally recognized drag racing champion and a lifelong educator, joined Luke in condemning the proposed construction route.
“This systemic racist bull##t must be called out,” he wrote. Both routes are “unacceptable”.
Young suggested building through Pioneer Square, a “historic district” that is neither a true historic district nor a neighborhood. What story does it really tell? Who really lives there? “
As for the CID, he said, it is “a chronicle of American resilience, perseverance and community.”
Others likened the threat of CID to a possible harbinger of what has already happened in the black community.
“It reminds me of what happened in Midtown Seattle, a historically black community that was a haven for black Americans and played a major role in building this country. Building high-speed in an already vulnerable, marginalized and impoverished community Roads and infrastructure are always okay. When we as a society do not respect and respect our diverse communities, we all fail. Will we continue this colonial legacy in the name of ‘progress’?” wrote community member Irmtraut Brielmaier road.
Losing the CID would be catastrophic for the region, like losing Pike Place Market decades ago, when development wanted to destroy the tourist attraction and community advocacy saved it.
Jean Chen
“I implore each of you to make the bold and necessary decisions to preserve and protect a vulnerable and diverse community as valuable as Pike Place Market,” wrote retired Boeing continuous quality improvement consultant Jean Chen. “This will cement Seattle’s continued reputation for supporting families and helping local businesses thrive.”
ST contacted ST the day before publication and has not responded by press time.
However, according to Transit Equity for All (TEA) co-founder Betty Lau, the city of Seattle has notified ST of a six- to nine-month moratorium.
Liu also provided the community with action steps that members can take:
smallStay up to date by checking the TEA website: https://transiteequityforall.org/
Two-minute public comment (half printed page) at the June 23 Sound Transit committee meeting (https://www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/news-events/calendar/board-directors-meeting-2022-06-23)
After posting a comment, email a copy of your comment to emailtheboard@soundransit.og and Council@seattle.gov with cc Nicole.kistler@seattle.gov
ST’s board of directors is spread across the region. Find a friend, relative or colleague to contact their representative: Everett (Mayor Cassie Franklin: cfranklin@everettwa.gov), Auburn (Mayor Nancy Bucks: nbackus@auburnwa.gov), University Square (Kent Keel, ST President and UP City Council Member: kkeel@cityofup.com), Renton (City Council Member Ed Prince: eprince@rentonwa.gov), Lynnwood (Mayor Christine Frizzell: mayor@lynnwoodwa.gov), Tacoma (Council Pos. 8 Kristina Walker: Kristina.walker@cityoftacoma.org), Kenmore (Mayor David Baker: dbaker@kenmorewa.gov) and Fife (Mayor Kim Roscoe: kroscoe@cityoffife.org).
Please also contact Snohomish Executive Dave Somers: dave.somers@co.snohomish.wa.us and Pierce County Bruce Dammeir: https://www.piercecountywa.gov/FormCenter/Executive-20/Executive-Contact-Us-176.
Pick up the SAVE the CID poster from the Chong Wa office and stick it in the shop window. Please contact TEA for pickup times.
Anyone can contact Sound Transit Board Member and Minister of Transportation Roger Millar: https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/contacts/send-us-your-feedback
Mahlon can be contacted by info@nwasianweekly.com.
