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Move Forward on 4th!

Move Forward on 4th!Move Forward on 4th!Move Forward on 4th!
Home
Sign the Petition
Email Sound Transit
News
Presentations
Exclusion History
Contact
More
  • Home
  • Sign the Petition
  • Email Sound Transit
  • News
  • Presentations
  • Exclusion History
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Sign the Petition
  • Email Sound Transit
  • News
  • Presentations
  • Exclusion History
  • Contact

Brief History of Asian American Exclusion & Expulsion

Key Dates:

 

  • 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act 
  • Sept. 2, 1885 - Rock Springs, Wyoming Chinese Massacre  "The massacre in Rock Springs touched off a wave of anti-Chinese violence, especially in the Puget Sound area of Washington Territory. "
  • Nov. 7, 1885 - Tacoma Chinese Expulsion, burning of Chinatown 
  • Feb. 7, 1886 - Seattle Chinese Expulsion 
  • 1889 - 1st Chinatown on waterfront moves to 2nd & Washington as waterfront property values increase due to development after the Great Seattle Fire
  • 1920s-1928 - 2nd Ave. Extension goes through Chinatown; forces 2nd Chinatown move to King Street
  • 1934 - Tydings-McDuffie Act reduces Filipino migration from unlimited to 50 per year
  • 1942 - Executive Order 9066, incarceration of Japanese Americans
  • 1951 - Seattle mayor issues proclamation eliminating Chinatown, redlining Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos and African Americans into an International Center, marking BIPOC as forever foreigners
  • Late 1950s-early 1960s - I-5 bisects Chinatown, leaving east Chinatown & east Japantown in Little Saigon when it formed c. 1977, forces out Chinese Baptist Church congregation
  • 1977 & 2000 - Kingdome construction & demolition, disruptions to businesses with detours street closures & game day traffic
  • 1980s - 4th Avenue Metro/Transit Tunnel takes 3 blocks of the Seattle Landmark Historic District portion of Chinatown for bus/transit tunnel, sells rest for Vulcan HQ & private parking garage, no Asian design characteristics, permanent loss of parking; businesses do not return, promised community retail space and housing do not happen
  • 1990s - Closure of 10th Avenue for I-90 ramp construction; Chong Wa fights to have it re-opened as promised
  • 1999 - City vacating of Lane Street between 5th and 6th, closing off another entry to Chinatown
  • 2000-2002 - Century Link/Lumen Field Stadium construction disruptions to businesses with detours, street closures & game day traffic
  • 2010-2014 - Jackson Street streetcar construction disrupts businesses, with street closures, detours, utilities shut offs, especially during Lunar New Year preparation & celebrations when shops get most of the year’s revenues
  • 2014-2015 - 8th Avenue entry to Chinatown turned into one way exit only for Seattle Streetcar access to streetcar barn on 8th & Dearborn
  • 2018 - Sound Transit plans taking of 3 blocks of National Register Chinatown Historic District around the Chinatown Gate; 
  • 2022 - Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for West Seattle / Ballard Link Extension (WSBLE) claims minimal to no impacts to visual qualities, racial equity & noise, air, vibration pollution; 3 of 4 buildings slated for demolition eligible for historic listing: Best Tea building, Bank of America & old Uwajimaya building (Oasis, Nagomi Teahouse) to be replaced by a large bike storage shed, multi-story ventilation building, maintenance & emergency facilities, displacement of estimated 27 businesses with loss of 230 jobs

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