Better to cherish this night, and I still have the spirit of a young man."
From a traditional Lunar New Year poem by Su Shi, Northern Song Dynasty
The Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association (SOCCA) celebrates Lunar New Year in the historic gold rush town of Jacksonville, Oregon, four miles west of Medford.
When gold was discovered in Jackson Creek in 1851 the town of Jacksonville became a boomtown -- until the gold played out. Chinese workers were among those who came to work the placer sluices. Jacksonville had Oregon's first "Chinatown."
For a decade the Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association has hosted annual commemorations of that Chinese heritage. There is a simple point to it: People from China aren't newcomers. Outsiders. Interlopers. Other. Southern Oregon is not just the history of White settler "pioneers" from New England, the people who named Oregon's cities Medford, Portland, Salem, Ashland, Albany, and Springfield. People from Asia were here at the start. For a century Asians were mostly pushed out and kept out. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 stopped almost all immigration. Local residents of Japanese extraction were put in internment camps during World War II.
The event this year was a display and celebration of Asian people and culture. There were lots of children, children's books, Asian food, martial arts displays, historical fashions, a bit of history, and drums.
Asians were here at the start and they are still here.
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| Youtube. The band is called "Elbow Room." |
Happy disclosure: My wife, Debra Lee, is the current president of SOCCA. She has been an active participant in Lunar New Years' presentations in Jacksonville for many years. She was born in China. She came to America to escape threats to her family from the Chinese Communist Party. She is an attorney and has been the Executive Director of the local Legal Services program for 33 years. She is pictured here staffing the information booth.
I am happy to be one of the financial sponsors of the event.
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12 comments:
What a wonderful contrast between the celebrations of diversity we see now and the anti-Chinese, anti-Black discrimination rampant in our earlier history. I realize not everyone feels this way, but I hope it’s the direction we continue to go.
In an interview this morning on "This Week" (ABC), "Biden Ally Governor Shapiro" the popular Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania made a strong case for the re-election of President Biden, who was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
This uber-privileged, white male blogger has repeatedly ignored/dismissed political comments made by the diverse, all-female group of hosts of The View (the talk show created by legendary journalist Barbara Walters 25+ years ago, also on ABC) perhaps because he "doesn't understand women."
Will the blogger have the guts to publish this comment about Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro, since we all know how the blogger feels about the 2024 election?
And let's not forget that you often publish vile, nasty comments submitted by you know who...interesting editorial policy. The women on The View are banned from this blog, but not the local Republican lunatic.
Thanks for the post, Pete. Also thanks to you and Debra for your participation and support of this important celebration! We have come a long way, but, as we all recognize, we have much more to achieve. As an aside, I've been married to a Hong Konger for almost 30 years so see both the improvements and the failures of addressing racism in America. Kung Hei Fat Choi! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Is Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro "in denial"?
I don't happen to watch "The View" and nobody from that show writes comments to this blog that I am aware of.
Whoever writes under the pen name "unknown" should write a guest post if he/she has something to say.
I have donated substantially to the 2024 Biden campaign. I don't think he is a strong candidate but he has been a good president, which is why I contributed time and money to him back in 2020. If the author of the comments that think I don't support Biden were to match my own contributions, I would be happy to add another $1,000 to the campaign, but I need to be careful saying this, because I am up against the legal limit. Please 1. Join me in putting your money where your mouth is. 2. Write a guest post making the best case for Biden.
Peter; Kudos for challenging the venomous "anonymous" to
1: put his or her money where his or her mouth is
2: Write a guest opinion with a name attached. Come out from hiding behind "Anonymous ".
I am in near total agreement with you on the Candidacy of President Biden. He has been a splendid President, although, imho, he has tarnished his Legacy with his two faced support of Netanyahus policies in what amounts to Genocide against the Palestinians. Telling Netanyahu to clean up his act with one hand while sending him more lethal weaponry to blow up hospitals and women and children with the other is hurting him Politically, which is notvwhere he needs to be going into the Campsign Season.
Has The View ever contributed anything insightful or beneficial to society?
"Anonymous" sounds like a bed-wetter to me.
Most of the women on The View are uneducated, and complex politics is above their comprehension level. Besides that, I doubt that any of The View panelists have ever posted to this blog.
What you term as "vile nasty comments" made by me are shared and agreed with by at least 50% of the adults in the Rogue Valley. You must live in communist Portland. I'm a main-stream Jackson County conservative.
Joe Biden has more warts than a frog. He's taken bribes from foreign countries, he's failed on the economy and foreign affairs, he raped Tara Reade, and he's a racist to boot. He'd be a miserable neighbor, let alone a President.
If there were a prize for insane posts, then you'd take the cake.
Curt Ankerberg
Medford, OR
I will explain in a subsequent post why I published Ankerberg's comment. The brief explanation is that the local GOP has become so Trumpified that it is entirelly possible for Ankerberg to win the primary. It would only require that he run a competent campaign. It is in his power. In fact I am almost certain he will not run a competent campaign, and therefore he will lose. But if he runs and wins the primary, then comments like this will be useful to explain to voters Ankerberg's appeal. I expect him to have competent Democratic opposition in the general, and comments like this will enthrall some Republican voters, but turn off others. Democrats should not be confident that Curt would not win the general election, but at least voters would know who they were voting for. This is a much milder version of Ankerberg than some other comments, but this is recent. Ankerber is not stupid, but he is stubborn and will run a very stupid campaign--actually two of them, If he loses in the GOP priary I expect him to run for City Council in Medford. People look for more decorum in the City Council race than in a GOP primary, so this will look rough to many voters. But again, I warn Democrats: GOP voters have developed a taste for exactly what Trump, Tucker, Mark Levin, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Curt Ankerberg serve up. Indeed, the cruder the better. My guess is that Ankerberg is one notch too crude.
I think Curt.A. overestimates his popularity index in this County, else he might have won at least one of the multiple Election Contests he entered over the years, when not trying to keep his Accountants license, another Contest he lost.
How fascinating. “Anonymous” calls Peter stupid names for posting vile, nasty comments by the local Republican lunatic and said lunatic calls her a bed-wetter who takes the cake for insane posts. Regardless of their differences in viewpoint, they sound just like each other. They should get together – what a cute couple they'd make!
Curt also describes himself as “a main-stream Jackson County conservative” (or was that “lame-stream”?). I’m afraid he might be right. Remember, this is the county where Republicans proudly advertised how crazy they are by issuing a proclamation parroting the boldfaced lies of True the Vote, which Peter commented on the other day.
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