Caging the Tiger: The Segregation of Chinatown

Abstract

Many features influenced the segregation of Chinatown. The popular imagination blames Anglo-American society. While society contributed, laws, internal policing, and economic factors also influenced Chinatown's containment. However, there has been progress. In the meantime, Chinatown is still a tourism dependent economy. When news of violence in Chinatown leaks to the media, there is an immediate drop in tourism in the area. Many of Chinatown's residents live barely above subsistence level. They can't afford to think long-term, and they retain their conservative stance against revealing Chinatown's true face. Others are fed up with their internal policing agencies. They are beginning to stage protests and demand attention from the wider Los Angeles community. The rigid seclusion Chinatown suffered under is beginning to lift, allowing the rest of the world to see Chinatown's true face. This dream is far from reality, but maybe someday Chinatown will no longer feel the need to hide.