Harlem (New York, N.Y.); New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel; New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs
Chinese on relief are unheard-of, mainly because of a centuries-old
custom of family unemployment insurance, whereby those who have jobs
help out less fortunate relatives.
Furthermore, Chinese pride and "face" forbid acceptance of gratuities
from strangers or public authorities. How backward they are!
Because of respect for family and elders, juvenile delinquency is
practically unknown among New York's Chinese.
The sons of Cathay continue to be "pacifistic" in their dealings with
white men. If humanly possible, they avoid contact with the white
man's system of courts and police. They settle all their own squabbles
according to their own customs and Oriental laws. If both litigants are
members of the same social or commercial organization, such as a tong
or a family club, the elders arbitrate the argument.
But if they belong to rival organizations, the quarrel is taken
to Shavey Lee, so-called "Mayor of Chinatown," or to the Chinese
Benevolent Society. If either is unable to work out a satisfactory
solution, the Consul General of the Republic of China, with offices in
Radio City, is called on to act as a court of final appeal. His verdict
is always accepted, though one or both litigants may be American-born,
thus American citizens.
Strangely enough, under the provisions of New York State's model
arbitration act, most of these decisions by the representative of a
foreign government are accepted as law. (Another example of how the
Chinese did it first.)
However, should these verdicts be unenforceable in American courts,
all Chinese parties observe them religiously. They have to. Failure
to do so amounts practically to a death sentence--at least exile. For
if a Chinese went contrary to the rules, he would be ostracized from
the community and unable to do business with any other member of the
community.
If he owned a restaurant, he couldn't hire Chinese waiters, buy Chinese
provisions or serve Chinese customers.
There is a movement afoot to tear Chinatown down and relocate its
remaining inhabitants throughout the city. The buildings are fire
hazards and health menaces. But the Chinese are fighting stubbornly to
retain their communal district. They say it is the only Chinatown in
America that looks authentically like China. Also, it smells like it.
The visitor who has been to San Francisco's Chinatown first will be
struck by the almost complete absence from the streets of our section
of Chinese females over the age of 14. New York's Chinatown, much
older, is far more conservative than those in other cities, or even in
China, where the world has moved.
Our Chinese women spend most of their time in the home (which is
regrettable, because they are dainty and pretty) while their men are
out in the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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