Brief History of Asian American Exclusion & Expulsion
Key Dates:
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
Sept. 2, 1885 Rock Springs, Wyoming Chinese Massacre
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 vacation 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) 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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