Description

The Chinese Suburban Immigration and Political Diversity in Monterey Park, California

John Horton uses ethnographic interviews, exit polls, and census data to research the ethnic transformation of Monterey Park (a suburb of Los Angeles), occasioned by the influx of Chinese immigrants and the ensuing economic, social, and political transformations as well as dislocation. In spite of these dislocations, some unity has been forged in a diverse community around common interests– as illustrated in the example presented here of how the community united against a card club that wealthy Chinese and old-time white sectors of the power structure wanted to build, against the wishes of the Latino and Chinese communities. He describes the players, their positions, their strategies, and the outcome in a way that suggests how diverse communities can unite around concrete common interests.

cities; Chinese Americans; immigrants; gambling; ethnic group relations; Latinas-Latinos; multiculturalism; community organizing

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 23, No. 3 (1996): 100-110