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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Ctown Detroit (4 of 11)
HEADLINE: From Laundries and to the Almond Boneless Chicken, Chinese Americans Make Their Mark in Detroit
TEASER: Chinese immigrants catered to the employees of U.S. automakers in the history of Detroit’s Chinatown.
PUBLISHED AT: 05/30/2024 AT 9:15AM
BYLINE: Chris Casquejo
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Detroit
VIDEOGRAPHER: Yu Chen
VIDEO EDITOR: Yu Chen
ASSIGNING EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Elee;KE
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:55
VID APPROVED BY: sb
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Editors, this is a part of a series about Chinatowns.))
((INTRO))
[[The Midwestern U.S. city of Detroit is known as the home of American automakers. What's less known are the contributions of the Chinese residents in the city's history. Some of them did the laundry of the autoworkers and others even cooked up what's become a local favorite. VOA’s Chris Casquejo has more on Detroit’s two Chinatowns and what happened to them.]]
((NARRATOR))
Detroit may be known for its car industry ((nat pop of honking))
But there is something else famous among locals that can be found in the city and suburbs of Detroit
((nats of chicken in the fryer))
This signature dish: almond boneless chicken.
[[FOR RADIO: Gary Mui owns Alma Kitchen which also makes almond boneless chicken]]
((Gary Mui, Alma Kitchen Owner))
“Detroiters really know almond chicken. It’s something that’s true and dear to a lot of Detroiters.”
((NARRATOR))
While its exact origins in the new world are unknown, local lore claims the dish is the product of Chinese immigrants from the early 1900s. It's hugely popular in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs – a region with some 70,000 Chinese Americans. There used to be a centralized Chinatown here.
((Lily Chen, Detroit Historical Museum Assistant Curator))
“So we start by welcoming you to Chinatown.”
((NARRATOR))
… Now, Detroit’s Chinatowns are only remembered in this museum exhibit.
[[FOR RADIO: Lily Chen an assistant curator at the Detroit Historical Museum. She says...]]
((NARRATION))
The first Chinese immigrants arrived in 1872, and established laundry businesses, which attracted more migrants from China. Some opened restaurants.
((Mandatory Courtesy: Google Maps))
Most of them were from Guangdong province in Southern China.
((End Courtesy))
((Lily Chen, Detroit Historical Museum Assistant Curator))
“People come from this area, called Taishan, in Guangdong, China, and make it over to the U.S. in order to escape the level of poverty that they were dealing with at the time.”
((NARRATION))
Many Cantonese-speaking immigrants faced new obstacles in their new home. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. with only a few exceptions. Those already living in the U.S. had to get permission to re-enter if they left the country. Chinese immigrants could only live in certain neighborhoods, but they kept coming.
[[FOR RADIO: Wing Lim Wong points to a photo of his father.]]
((NAT POP of Wing pointing to picture on display))
“This is my father. He came in… this is 1939.”
((NARRATION))
Four years later, the U.S. repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act.
((Mandatory Courtesy: Carolyn Chin))
Wing Lim Wong and his sister grew up in Detroit’s second Chinatown...
((End Courtesy))
...after the first one was forced to move for a new freeway in the 1960s.
((Mandatory Courtesy: Carolyn Chin))
Their father worked in a restaurant, which he later bought.
((End Courtesy))
((Wing Lim Wong, Former Detroit Chinatown Resident))
“At the age of like maybe 11 years old, you start learning, maybe you help out with waiting the tables.”
((NARRATION))
The second Chinatown was in a rough part of Detroit remembers Curtis Chin. He wrote about his family’s restaurant.
((Curtis Chin, Author))
“The red light district. Yeah, it was terrible. I mean, it was tough. We were exposed to a lot of things growing up as a kid.”
((Mandatory Courtesy: Curtis Chin))
((Curtis Chin, Author))
“You would see the prostitutes on the road all the time...”
((End Courtesy))
“...and coming into our restaurant too.”
((NARRATION))
Most of the businesses in Chinatown closed due to rising crime, including Wong’s. The area eventually revitalized with new businesses, but this no longer feels like Chinatown.
[[FOR RADIO: ...says Wong.]]
((Wing Lim Wong, Former Detroit Chinatown Resident))
“It's not a Chinese community anymore down there and that's the sad part.
((NARRATOR))
Similar to many U.S. cities, the nexus of the Chinese community in Detroit assimilated into the suburbs and strip malls. But the memories of the Chinatowns live on out here and inside Chinese restaurants where almond Chicken is still served.
((Chris Casquejo, VOA News, Detroit.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMay 30, 2024 09:48 EDT
BylineChris Casquejo
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
