v115qrmf@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Lixin Shao) (02/13/91)
The following article is from "Op-ed" column of <The Spectrum>,
a student periodical of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
(Feb. 11, 1991)
Why so much attention to Asian gangs in New York
(The original title is: New Knowledge about the Asian Immigrants,
Especially about the Chinese and their Culture)
I was so excited at reading a report in the Jan 6. New
York Times by Mr John Kifner that I think it would be self-
ish of me if I did not share the new ideas I got from it.
The very titles of the report are innovative. The
smallest title reads "Asian Gangs in New York." Have you
ever read stories about "European gangs," "African gangs,"
"South American" or "North American gangs" in New York City?
The middle size title tells us: "New Immigrant Wave from
Asia Gives the Underworld New Faces." What a great power
the Asian immigrants have! The title of the largest size
type is the most spectacular: "A Tide of Asian Immigration
Brings a Wave of Gang Crime."
Like its titles, the photos of the report are also
ingenious. The smallest one shows emergency medical tech-
nicians tending victims shot by gangs. Its caption is dif-
ferent from the corresponding passage of the report. The
former reads: "Outsiders are exposed to the traditionally
closed world of the Chinatown gangs only when their violent
crimes attract publicity. . . ." The latter runs like this:
"Law-enforcement officials, struggling to penetrate a tradi-
tionally closed society that rarely cooperates with police
or prosecutors or talks to outsiders, concede that they can
see only the tip of the iceberg. The outside world becomes
aware of the level of crime there only when a startling
shooting occurs. . . ." At first glance, the caption looks
a little odd: are there ANY gangs in New York City which are
NOT "traditionally closed" to outsiders? But the passage in
the text seems weird also: What the hell are the "law-
enforcement officials" doing with "struggling to penetrate"
Chinese society, traditionally closed or not? Why don't
they penetrate the gangs instead? If they are interested in
Chinese society, why don't they simply recruit more offi-
cials from Chinese society? But stop asking questions! Mr.
Kifner means what he has written, in the caption and in the
text: the Chinese society and the gangs are one and the
same, both are "traditionally closed" and have to be "pene-
trated" by the police.
A slightly larger photo shows an ordinary section of
Chinatown, where pedestrians are strolling peacefully
against a background of shops and banks with English-Chinese
bilingual signs. While the picture looks innocent enough,
the caption under is revealing: "The On Leong gang dominates
Mott street . . ." If not for Mr. Kifner, you would proba-
bly have thought that Chinatown streets, just as other
streets of New York City, though plagued by crime, are still
governed by New York City municipal administrations and pro-
tected by law-enforcing officials.
The biggest photo is the most creative one. It also
shows an ordinary Chinatown street, but in an unordinary
way: on the dimly lighted street, there is not one person or
one stray dog. In the caption, Mr. Kifner tell us: "In
Chinatown, rival Asian gangs fight over territory. Along
Pell Street, which is controlled by the Hip Sing gang, the
police say, a high-stakes gambling den operates from the
basement of Chung Shing Tea Parlor, left. Houses of gam-
bling and prostitution, while held illegal by the larger
society, have traditionally been accepted in Chinatown."
With the caption, a house of gambling on the left, and the
sinister darkness and abandonment of deep night, you surely
feel that hookers or compulsive gamblers could be lurking in
any or all of the houses along this street or other
Chinatown streets. All are "dominated" or "controlled" by
one gang or another instead of by the government.
Mr. Kifner's new knowledge has the power of undermining
whatever you have hitherto believed or learned. You might
have learned that gambling is a folly which is,
unfortunately, prevalent among many people; and that in this
nation, there is legal gambling as well as illegal gambling
going on. (One statistic revealed that wagering in gambling
in the United States in 1986 totals to $ 198.7 billion,
almost six percent of the nation's personal income. Illegal
gambling is also a widespread social phenomenon. [John
Rosecrance, Gambling without Guilt, 1988.]) You might have
learned that the legal status of prostitution has undergone
changes in American society just as in other societies.
Before early 20th century, a policy of segregating and con-
fining prostitution to certain quarters known as "red light"
districts used to be favored by local authorities and police
in most urban centers. In three states (Louisiana, Arkansas
and New Mexico), "red light" districts were legal. You
might not be able to imagine that women and girls in ANY
society would accept prostitution out of their own will, or
that men and women in ANY place would like to see their
daughters or sons going to houses of prostitutes. You are
wrong. According to Mr. Kifner, "Houses of gambling and
prostitution, while held illegal by the larger society, have
traditionally been accepted in Chinatown." Or "High-stakes
basement gambling dens and houses of prostitution. . .
although held illegal by the larger American society, were
part of Chinese culture."
You might think that most New York City residents
including Chinese immigrants are victims of organized crime
and they are anxious to have more protection from law-
enforcement officials. But again you are wrong. Mr. Kifner
quotes an official as saying that the Chinese immigrant com-
munity "does not feel comfortable with . . . law-enforcement
officials"; that it is a "very insular community," which has
a "natural cultural problem," "an inherent distrust from bad
experiences in China or Hongkong." Mr. Kifner characterizes
the Chinese community in New York City as "a traditionally
closed society that rarely cooperates with police and prose-
cutors or talk to outsiders." If you were a police official
and a Chinese sought protection from you, wouldn't you think
twice before doing anything?
While the whole report is devoted to the Chinese com-
munity and Chinese immigrants (Of other Asian immigrants,
there are only two references to Vietnamese gangs and one
reference to Korean prostitutes), in its titles, however,
Mr. Kifner deliberately refers to Asian immigrants in gen-
eral. With such generalized titles, he is able to establish
for readers, who either read the report or just glance at
the titles, the association of Asian immigrants and gang
crime so that readers are well prepared psychologically for
similar new "knowledge" about other Asian immigrants and
their cultures as well. Kifner is eager to tell his readers
that the U. S. society comprises two parts: a morally
upright "larger American society" and a minority immigrant
community which is traditionally inclined towards crime.
Nearly one month has passed since Mr. Kifner's report
appeared in one of the most influential newspapers in the U.
S. (it happens to be my favorite paper), there has no
applause rising from readers yet. Well, since his report is
about Chinese and Asian tradition, you might have remembered
Confucius who teaches people not to care what other people
think of them, but seek their own perfection; or the Buddha
who asks people to transcend their liking and disliking,
grief and joy; or Lao Tse who proclaims that "the greatest
wisdom resides in silence." But aren't you living in a dem-
ocratic society full of dynamism? Don't you know that "new
knowledge" such as Kifner's about an ethnic minority could
have enormous influence on the lives of the ethic minority
concerned, and on the democratic system all of us treasure
so dearly. Genius needs encouragement. If you do not
applaud, how can you expect people like Mr. John Kifner to
continue making new discoveries, one after another, about
immigrants and ethnic minorities?
Lixin Shao
Graduate Student
Department of History