Since August of 2015, our daughter has attended kindergarten at the
high achieving Lincoln Elementary School in the Oakland Chinatown neighborhood.
Our involvement in the school has given us the opportunity to get to know
the neighborhood and its deep connection to the school.
Oakland Chinatown is an important neighborhood in the city of
Oakland’s history. Chinese and other Asian immigrants began to arrive in
Oakland as early as the 1850's and faced large obstacles to find permanent housing
due to racism. Several early Chinese neighborhoods were forced to
relocate due to pressure from city leaders and in one case a mysterious fire.
In the 1870's, Chinese settlers began to move into the area of 8th and
Webster which became Oakland Chinatown. Despite racism and laws passed to
restrict immigration from Asia, Oakland Chinatown thrived. The Oakland Chinatown neighborhood became
self–reliant by forming social and family networks which continue to exist
today.
Today, Oakland Chinatown is primary made up of Cantonese speaking
immigrants. The neighborhood also has
some immigrants from other areas of Asia such as Vietnam, Thailand, and
Mongolia. There are also a small number
of Asian-American middle-class families who has chosen to raise their children
in the neighborhood.
Many of the families in Oakland Chinatown are multigenerational
(grandparents, parents, and children) and live in small apartments due to the
lack of affordable single family homes. Most parents work full-time and
many hold several jobs in order to afford to rent an apartment in the
neighborhood and send their children to an academically high preforming school.
Grandparents help parents by picking-up and/or dropping off children from
school and providing childcare when school is not in session. Children who are not picked-up by relatives
directly from school will go to an after school program. The after school
programs are run by a diverse group of city, non-profit and for-profit
organizations such as the Lincoln Square Recreation Center, Oakland Library -Asian
Branch, Lake Merritt Childcare Center (run by Family Bridges), East Bay Asian
Youth Center (EBAY) and Oakland Asian Educational Services (OASES), Chinese Community
United Methodist Church, Shoong Family Chinese Cultural Center, Kumon Math and
Reading Center, and Starlite Child Development Center.
Many community groups work inside Lincoln Elementary to provide
important services and enrichment opportunities to the children. East Bay
Asian Youth Center (EBAY) and the OASES Mentors Program provide classroom
assistance for teachers and afterschool tutoring for the older elementary
school children. The Purple Bamboo Orchestra & Chorus, run by the non-profit
Purple Silk Music Education Foundation, provides music instruction to students.
Doctors and dentist from Asian Health Services visit the school to
provide free medical and dental care to low-income students. The
librarian from the Oakland Library Asian Branch visits classrooms once a year to
encourage students to use the neighborhood library and participate in library
programs. Wu Sung Community Service Club works to help better the lives
of the children at Lincoln and in the neighborhood. Some of the projects
they have done in the last several years: they successfully raised money to
restore the playground at Lincoln Square Park; they provided scholarships for students
going to college; gave a grant to Lincoln Elementary for Lincoln’s 5th Grade
Yosemite Science Camping Trip; every December, the club arranges a visit from
"Santa Claus" and gives gifts to all the kindergartners at Lincoln
Elementary. The Golden Dragon Project, a
non-profit founded by a group of Lincoln Elementary School’s parents, sponsors
and organizes school events such as Lincoln’s Lunar New Year Celebration and
the spring carnival. The organization
also raises money for enrichment activities for the students such as art
classes and field trips.
The Oakland Chinatown neighborhood is always busy and active. My daughter and I will often take the bus in
the morning to her school and we see people out and starting their day. We often see families shopping for groceries at
the small mom-and-pop run grocery stores. We watch adults practicing
tai-chi and playing badminton in the local parks. When school is not in
session, we see many children playing at the Lincoln Square Playground. We often see adults playing ping-pong at the
recreation center or singing karaoke in one of the community halls. The neighborhood is full of churches and
temples, which have active ministries serving the community. As I mentioned above, the Chinese Community
Methodist Church provides an after school program to Lincoln students. Chinese Independent Baptist Church provides
Chinese language classes to residents.
This past summer, Cassidy and I went to the Buddhist Church of Oakland’s
summer bazaar which was lots of fun.
There is one exception to the neighborhood’s overall health; Oakland
Chinatown’s businesses have struggled to keep their doors open in the last
several years. Sadly, a combination of the economic downturn and growing
competition from Asian-run businesses in the suburbs has caused many businesses
and restaurants to close in the neighborhood.
Vacant storefronts and new graffiti have become an eyesore for the
community. However, there is an attempt
to beautify and bring more business to Oakland Chinatown. The Dragon
School, a nonprofit started in 2015 by Luqman Lin (who grew up in Oakland Chinatown)
is teaching the children in the neighborhood to paint dragons (and other Asian
inspired images) on vacant storefronts and buildings. The Oakland
Chinatown Chamber of Commerce holds a yearly Chinese New Year Bazaar (which
Cassidy and I attended this past January) to cater to those who are preparing
to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The bazaar is full of booths over two square blocks and offer red envelopes,
scrolls, decorations, cut plum blossoms, plants, and holiday fruit trees.
During the last several years, there has been a discussion within
Oakland City Hall to help "revitalize" Oakland Chinatown. My
fear is that an attempt to "revitalize" could bring in businesses and
housing for higher income earners and push out families and the elderly. I hope that Oakland leaders remember that
Oakland Chinatown’s heart and soul comes from the residents who live there.
