OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
April 16, 2018
Volume 28 Number 8
April 16, 2018
ISSN: 1094-9453
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MY TURN
n Dmae Roberts
Portland Chinatown Museum
scheduled to open in June
grew up in a rural town in Oregon. I remember
the excitement of our family trips to Portland’s
Chinatown. Besides being the only location I
saw anything related to Asian-American culture, it
was also an adventurous excursion to pick up
much-needed items, such as a 50-pound bag of rice,
tofu, Chinese greens, and treats — steamed buns
and dim sum.
Ever since I moved to Portland in 1989,
Chinatown has been declining, with businesses
closing down or moving to the Jade District on 82nd
Avenue. The gentrification of Chinatowns is a
concern nationwide. A report that aired on National
Public Radio more than a year ago shined a light on
the issue, citing a study by the Asian American
Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) that
said the number of white residents in three east
coast Chinatowns — Boston, Philadelphia, and New
York City — has been “growing at a faster rate than
the overall white population.”
Many longtime residents of Portland’s China-
town have struggled with gentrification and the
increasing erasure of the area’s history. I recently
spoke with Jackie Peterson-Loomis, who was
instrumental in bringing “Chinese American:
Exclusion/Inclusion,” a national exhibit, to the
Oregon Historical Society two years ago, as well as
curating a companion exhibit called “Beyond the
Gate: A Tale of Portland’s Historic Chinatowns.” A
retired history professor, Peterson-Loomis has been
a tireless advocate for the area since 2000, when she
collaborated on a project with elders and other
residents who lived and worked in Old Town.
Peterson-Loomis said that “because Asian
Americans in Portland could not apply for
citizenship or legally buy property until after 1943,
Chinatown residents were universally renters and
had no control over available housing or the
improvement of properties in their neighborhood.”
That meant there wasn’t much housing for single or
extended families that could keep them in the
area.
Many buildings were three- and four-story
structures built as “single-resident apartment
hotels in the 1920s to serve the incoming
white-collar workforce.” She said that by the 1950s,
the hotels had “deteriorated into flea-ridden flop
houses.” Chinese organizations and businesses still
flourished during this time, but many families and
young married couples began to move out.
Chinatown was soon home to mostly single
residents and new immigrants.
What remains of Portland’s Chinatown is the
iconic Chinatown Gate, Lan Su Chinese Garden,
I
and some restaurants and shops that still bring life
to the area.
In the midst of a changing Chinatown, some
former Chinese residents and Peterson-Loomis
formed a nonprofit called the Portland Chinatown
History Foundation. They have begun renovations
on the Kida Building, located near the corner of
N.W. Third Avenue and Davis Street, which will
house the new Portland Chinatown Museum, an
organization for which she is the tireless executive
director.
The museum is scheduled to open to the public on
June 7, 2018. The first featured exhibit will be
“Made in the USA: Portland’s Chinatown,” a display
of photographs by Dean Wong. A new version of the
“Beyond the Gate: A Tale of Portland’s Historic
Chinatowns” exhibit will be permanently installed
in late summer, accompanied by a gala celebration.
Before the official opening, however, the Portland
Chinatown Museum will premiere “A Tale of Two
Ghettos,” Portland artist Horatio Law’s new
multiple site installation, on May 16. In addition, a
live stream of a panel discussion held the same day
will begin a dialogue between those in Chinatown
and the Jade District about what they have in
common and what keeps them apart.
In the meanwhile, Peterson-Loomis believes the
most pressing issue is gentrification, including the
new construction in the area of N.W. Third and
Fourth Avenues known as the New Chinatown/
Japantown Historic District.
Just this month, a 16-story building on Block 33
(currently a parking lot bound by N.W. Fourth &
Fifth Avenues and N.W. Couch & Davis Streets)
was approved by the Portland City Council. She
thinks having this tall building in the heart of
Chinatown will not only raise property values
drastically in Chinatown, but also accelerate the
gentrification. More poetically, she feels the tall
building will “hide the blue sky above Chinatown”
and “the intimate streets lined with small brick
buildings.” For her, a building like this also erases
memories of “Chinese neon signs, roasted ducks
hanging in the window, and the strains of the Yat
Sing Music Club practicing in the basement at
midnight.”
More than a dozen Chinese-owned buildings re-
main in Chinatown, including the Chinese Consoli-
dated Benevolent Association (CCBA) and the
Chinese tongs. Peterson-Loomis said, though, that
most of Chinatown’s remaining small businesses
are struggling. For her and the foundation, the
challenges are “undoubtedly formidable,” but “so
are the community’s hopes of revitalization.”
Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.