Editor’s note: The 1960-70s Asian American Movement has had a significant impact by raising awareness, expanding career choices, emphasizing community needs, and creating other positive changes. Growing up in a low-income, working-class minority community did not deter Diane Tan from pursuing higher education opportunities during the late 1960s to the 1970s. In the 1980s, Diane served in leadership positions in some Asian American community-based and professional organizations founded in the 1970s. In the 1990s, she helped to establish various additionally needed advocacy and support groups for minorities and women in law. In the 2000s, Diane continues the purpose and objectives of the Asian American Movement with her volunteer community work in Chinatown Community for Equitable Development (CCED), Chinatown Community Coalition of Los Angeles (CCC-LA), and Save Our Seniors Network (SOSN).
Diane is a retired Administrative Law Judge of the California Department of Social Services, State Hearings Division. She graduated from USC Gould School of Law in 1978. During her over thirty years in state service, she also served as an attorney at the Office of the State Public Defender, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and Office of the Attorney General of the California Department of Justice. She has held key roles in the Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Alliance, Japanese American Bar Association, Multicultural Bar Alliance, Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association. Diane continues to serve in a leadership or advisory capacity in most of these organizations. This is excerpted from an interview of 16 August 2024 in Los Angeles Chinatown.
Mom-and-Pop Laundry Business and Family in Los Angeles
I was born in West Hollywood. I am a daughter of immigrant parents. Our parents immigrated to the United States from Toisan (Taishan 台山). My name is Diane May Lew Tan. “Tan” is the last name we use, but it is our father’s given name in Lew Tan 劉 清. “Lew” is our dad’s family surname, which he decided to include as our middle name. He said that there were too many Lew’s in the U.S. “May” is my 2nd Chinese name, from “Mei Gum” 美金 (literally, beautiful gold). That part of my name reflects our dad’s happiness in having me and being in California – widely referred to by the early Chinese immigrants as the “Gold Mountain.”
In 1926, our father, when he was about 17 years old, immigrated by steamship in search of a better life and future. After seeing other persons, primarily men, being able to earn some money in the United States, he decided that he also wanted to come to the U.S., instead of continuing to live in poverty. Our father grew up with some education in a fairly large family in Toisan and did not want to become a farmer. He was very smart, talented, resilient, independent, and resourceful. His father operated a stationery store in China.
Our father came as a paper son and was detained at Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay. After he was allowed to stay in the U.S., he worked in a laundry owned and operated by a person who was referred to as a village relative and seemed very controlling. Our dad did arduous work at that laundry for extremely low wages and very long hours. He was treated almost like an indentured servant. He tried to acquire more education, but found it too difficult to go to school and work. He learned English mostly on his own. He resided in L.A. Chinatown in one of the single-resident-occupied rooms for bachelors. He became involved in the Four Families Association known as Lung Kong Tin Yee Association, since he belonged to the Lew family.[1]
In addition to having worked in the laundry business, our father also found employment as a cook or chef. During World War II, he worked at Douglas Aircraft Company as a machinist.
Our dad did not want to remain a lonely bachelor in the U.S. In 1933, he returned to Toisan and got married to our mother through an arranged marriage. About a year after their marriage, he returned to the U.S. in order to financially support his new family. Shortly afterwards, our older sister was born in China. Due to the restrictive immigration laws and other reasons, our mother was not able to immigrate to the U.S. until 1948. Our older sister stayed in China until our mother became a naturalized U.S. citizen and was able to help her and the eligible members of her family immigrate in the 1980s.
After our parents reunited in the U.S. in 1948, they started a family here. My older brother, me and my younger brother were born. Our parents also started a small mom-and-pop laundry business by renting a storefront on 54th Street and Van Ness Avenue in Southwest Los Angeles (now referred to as South Los Angeles). Our father named the business, “Wing Chung Chinese Hand Laundry.” He was not interested in opening a business in Chinatown, and they wanted to be their own bosses, instead of working for unfair or oppressive employers.
In the laundry, our mom would mark each customer’s items, which included clothes and other washable items, with a customer-specific identifiable code, bag such items, and prepare the large bags for the laundry service to pick up in the early evening. The laundry service also would bring back previously bagged items that were now clean and ready for the finishing touches. Our dad stood all day and sometimes until the evening to iron the shirts, and our mom used a mangle machine to iron sheets, pillowcases and some clothes. Our mom also sorted, bundled and wrapped each customer’s laundered items to be ready by the promised pick-up date. They both worked long hours and usually had Sundays off. They merely earned pennies for each piece of laundry, such as shirts for $.16 each. I helped folding clothes and, occasionally, with the cashiering. I also learned how to make a special starch for shirt collars. Most of the time, we went to school, did our homework, did some house chores, and played in our backyard.
Growing Up in Southwest Los Angeles (now referred to as South L.A.)
Initially, we lived in the back of our family’s laundry. The place was very small. Later, we rented a one-bedroom apartment nearby, but usually spent more time at the laundry. Around 1970, the building where our laundry was located was being sold, so we had to move. Dad bought a former dry cleaners storefront in the same neighborhood located at 54th Street near 4th Avenue. He had thought about re-opening the laundry or opening an electronic repair shop there. He enjoyed repairing and making things that he taught himself to do. But then, he decided just to convert the cleaners store into our home. He remodeled the entire place with the help of our mom.
Our low-income, working-class neighborhood was integrated, had a variety of residential homes and small businesses, and was not as densely populated as Chinatown. It was a predominantly African American neighborhood, but there were some Whites, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Latinos residing there. When we were very young, we saw an increase in White flight from the area. We did not experience much racial tension. I appreciate the experiences of growing up in a community with neighbors and friends of diverse ethnicities and cultures.
Our dad required us to speak in the Toisan dialect at home. He said, “You need to know how to talk to your mom.” Our mom’s ability to communicate in English was very limited, but she did subsequently learn enough English to pass the citizenship test and become a U.S. citizen. I eventually learned some Mandarin and Cantonese too.
The public schools that I attended included Angeles Mesa Elementary School, Horace Mann Junior High School, and Manual Arts High School. They were regarded as inner-city schools with mostly minority students from economically disadvantaged families. My classmates and friends there were diverse and not limited to Asian Americans.
For Chinese groceries, we visited L.A. Chinatown. Initially, our dad frequently shopped at L.A. Trading, a Chinese American market on Spring Street near Ord Street. There were various markets and restaurants in that area of Chinatown. Our favorite treat was at Chung Mei Café on Ord Street, which specialized in delicious, in-house, freshly baked Parker House rolls and custard pies. Dad would have a cup of coffee and talk to some people there. Another treat was a small dim sum place near the market. We would get a box of dim sum to take home. Many times, the entire box didn’t quite make it home. Some years later, our dad started shopping at a Chinese American market in the 9th Street produce area of L.A., which was closer to our home.
We lived near the flashpoint of the 1965 Watts Riots. The National Guard patrolled our neighborhood, and we were required to adhere to a curfew. I empathized with the people who felt the need to express their anger and frustrations in that way, even though more peaceful ways would have been preferred. It was because of their poverty conditions and the prevalence and perpetuation of racism and numerous economic and social problems that remained inadequately addressed or ignored. The riots were a means of calling for change. Too many people were impoverished in those days and needed social services, jobs, and other essential necessities of life. Something had to give since it was not fair. We were poor, but not as economically deprived as others in parts of South Los Angeles. Our parents did their best to provide us with what we needed when we were growing up.
Growing up in a predominantly African American neighborhood, the social and economic disparities and inequities were obvious. Even in the local markets, the quality of the meats was not that great. Our dad would occasionally go out of the neighborhood to the Westside to buy better quality meat or produce for the same or still affordable price. The contrast in food quality or choices was significant. African Americans had suffered so much historically and continued to suffer. That is why the Civil Rights Movement and other such movements were so important to fight against discrimination and to achieve fairness, equality and social justice.
What About Pursuing Law?
Our parents persistently emphasized to us the importance of education. They did not want us to go into the laundry business. From 1966 to 1969, I attended Manual Arts High School. Manual Arts was well-known for its football team. To get on the college preparation track, it was important to take Academically Enriched (AE) classes. Initially, I did not think that I could afford to go to college, considering our family’s financial situation. At that time, our dad thought that I could become a legal secretary since I could type very well and fast.
Hiram W. Kwan was our dad’s attorney in Chinatown.[2] During an appointment with Hiram, our dad mentioned that our older brother was interested in going into engineering. Hiram said, “Have him come in and talk with me.” Hiram suggested that our older brother should consider going into law. Hiram then gave our older brother, who was in high school, a job as a clerk at his law office.
When I was in high school, our dad said to Hiram, “I also have a daughter. And she’s a very good typist.” Hiram thought that I looked like a little kid, but our dad insisted. I then became a part-time legal secretary there, working on Saturdays, during summer vacations, and at other times. I worked at Hiram’s law office during high school and a number of years thereafter. Our dad also convinced Hiram to hire our younger brother when he was in high school, to work as a clerk there, too. Hiram gave many law students, who were primarily male, an opportunity to work. At that time, there were very few female law students.
I was able to attend college at the University of Southern California after being awarded a President’s Circle Scholarship in 1969. As an undergraduate, I majored in Asian Studies and International Relations and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Magna Cum Laude, in 1973.
While growing up in Southwest L.A., the opportunities to travel and see the world were sparse or none. I majored in Asian Studies because I wanted to learn more about my “roots” and about various countries in Asia. I considered applying for the Foreign Service to be able to work and travel outside of the U.S. However, after hearing from persons who had taken the Foreign Service exam regarding the need to know a lot about American history and culture, the difficulties of that exam and its process, and the uncertain and unstable status of U.S. relations with various countries, I decided not to pursue such a career.
When I was an undergraduate at USC, I knew about the Asian American Movement happening on different college campuses, as well as the anti-Vietnam war movement and the Civil Rights Movement. One of the effects of such movements on me was that I was able to take recently established Asian American studies classes, which were not many at USC at that time. If there was an Asian American Studies major or degree when I was an undergraduate, I probably would have considered it.
One of the Asian American studies classes that I took was the “Asian Americans and the Mass Media” course taught by Bruce Iwasaki, who is now a judge. In that class, we heard from various Asian American guest speakers, were introduced to the Gidra newspaper, and learned more about biased media representations of Asian Americans.
When I heard about the Asian American Tutorial Project (AATP), a community service program that was established at USC and other local campuses in the late 1960s period, I decided to volunteer as a tutor.[3] I became a tutor at Castelar Elementary School. I found the experience very rewarding and inspirational, especially after one of the Castelar teachers later told me that one of my tutees, who was very quiet and shy, had changed after my tutoring sessions with her, and that that student really opened up. That experience motivated me to subsequently do more volunteer community work in Chinatown.
Since I was not really certain about what I wanted to do after college, I then thought about teaching at the college level. That is why I went to graduate school in East Asian Languages and Cultures, also at USC.
Our dad was not thrilled with my decision to go to graduate school or become a teacher, but he also did not adamantly oppose it. After our dad’s meetings with Hiram Kwan, our dad actually wanted all three of us to go to law school and become lawyers. Both of my brothers became lawyers. I resisted because I was not certain that I wanted to go into law. However, my Chinese studies professor said to me, “I’m having such a difficult time getting tenure at SC. I have been teaching here a long time. Considering your background of having worked in a law office in Chinatown, your multilingual skills, and your gender, Chinatown really needs people like you. You should go into law.” Both he and our father were saying the same thing! That professor eventually went to work for the United Nations as an interpreter and seemed to truly enjoy his job there.
I was accepted to USC Gould School of Law through the minority admissions program in 1975. In our law school class of approximately less than 200 law students, only four Asian American Pacific Islanders were admitted through that program – two men and two women, and about six AAPIs were admitted through regular admissions. There was an Asian Law Students Association and other minority and women law student groups were helpful and supportive. Just after I started law school, the school’s administration decided to eliminate the minority admissions program. We, as minority law students who believed in the continued need for this program, had to voice our objections through rallies and discussions with the administration. We also got support from students from other law schools. Eventually, the administration decided to create an affirmative action program for admissions, which allowed for representation and input from the various minority law student associations.
Our dad was very happy when I decided to go to law school. He was even happier when I graduated and passed the bar. He did not have a preference as to where I should work or what area of law I should practice. Our mom was very happy too and supported us with whatever we decided to do.
After being admitted to the California State Bar in 1979, my first job as an attorney was with Fred Hong, a solo practitioner in L.A. Chinatown. I primarily handled immigration and general civil litigation matters. I initially met Fred when he was at USC Law School recruiting law students to help at a free legal clinic that the Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) was planning to open in Chinatown.[4] I subsequently volunteered to help at AAFE’s Legal Services, which provided legal assistance in immigration, workers’ rights, tenants’ rights, and consumer problems, and became involved in AAFE’s efforts to organize garment workers and address other important community issues and concerns.
In 1979, AAFE was instrumental in mobilizing the community to get traffic signs installed at the intersection of West College Street and Yale Street near Castelar School and Alpine Recreation Center in Chinatown. These efforts were due to a vehicular incident where a little boy, Jason Chow, got hit and killed while crossing that intersection on his way to school in the morning. That intersection was known to be a very dangerous one, especially for children and senior pedestrians, since multiple persons had previously been harmed or seriously injured at that intersection. It was a popular short cut for drivers rushing to downtown from the freeway. The community wanted traffic signals installed there. Dr. Bill Chun-Hoon, the principal at Castelar, was very supportive as we organized parents and others in the community and beyond to fight for this cause.
I was designated as the media contact person for a community rally at Castelar about the community’s demands for traffic signals. I felt that we needed to do more than contact the Chinatown area’s City Councilmember, who was Gilbert Lindsay at that time. Prior to the rally, I figured out how to write a press release and had it issued. I also called journalist Tritia Toyota, which resulted in Channel 4 KNBC News sending out a crew to cover the rally. That seemed to have made a significant difference. This task was an extremely useful learning experience for me.
After about an enjoyable year working at Fred Hong’s office, I felt the need to expand my skills, knowledge, and experience as a young attorney – as well as find a job with more benefits. Due to my interest in constitutional law, I became a Deputy State Public Defender, representing indigent criminal defendants on their appeals. In order to pursue my strong interest in civil rights, I next became a Fair Employment and Housing Counsel at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing litigating employment and housing discrimination cases, as well as cases involving violations of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. In order to pursue interests in consumer protection, I served as a Deputy Attorney General in the Health Quality Enforcement Section and the Licensing Section of the Attorney General’s Office of the California Department of Justice. I then became an Administrative Law Judge in the State Hearings Division of the California Department of Social Services in Los Angeles, initially hearing child support matters and, subsequently, hearing public benefit cases. After over thirty years of state service, I decided to retire and continue doing various types of community and law-related volunteer work.
I volunteer for Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Alliance, Japanese American Bar Association, and other like groups. In the early 1980s, I helped AAFE organize a workshop to explain to garment workers their search and seizure rights. More recently, we present workshops on elder abuse and scams, anti-Asian hate, and mental health crisis responses. For the last 25 years, the AAPI bar associations and others run the “APA Community Holiday Toy Drive and Reception”.
Chinatown’s Walmart, Slumlords and Lack of Affordable Housing
Top: Closing of Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chinatown, 19 January 2016. Photo by Diane Tan.
In 2012, community, labor, and students came together against Walmart’s plans to open a 33,000-square foot “Neighborhood Market” at the ground level of the Grand Plaza Senior Apartments at 601 North Grand Avenue. This mini-Walmart was an experiment for this corporation known for their superstores. This would be their first entry into the historic downtown area of L.A. with a potential for more of such stores.
Even though Walmart claimed that it was part of the solution with regard to “jobs, healthier foods, and sustainability,” Chinatown questioned Walmart’s low wages, lack of benefits, hiring practices, and history. There was a fear of Walmart’s negative gentrifying impact on Chinatown’s development, on small minority-owned businesses, and on the community’s historical and cultural identity.
In 2012, Chinatown Community for Equitable Development (CCED) was established. CCED became part of a coalition with Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance LA (APALA LA), Southeast Asian Community Alliance (SEACA), various unions, and other groups and individuals to oppose Walmart’s opening of its Neighborhood Market in Chinatown.
Walmart was able to obtain building permits just a day before the City Council unanimously voted against big-box stores in Chinatown. On 30 June 2012, people rallied – and then rallied again and again. Walmart still managed to open in September of 2013.
But in January of 2016, Walmart suddenly closed this “Neighborhood Market”. That store space remained empty for a long time. Now it is a 7-Eleven store. Chinatown needs full-service markets, especially after the 2019 closure of Ai Hoa Market.
In August of 2021, CCED and other community advocates became extremely concerned about senior residents at Cathay Manor, a 270-unit affordable senior apartment building located at 600 North Broadway. Tenants complained about the building’s broken elevators and other serious ongoing habitability problems.
Cathay Manor was owned and operated by Chinese Committee on Aging Housing Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, until that building was forced to be sold in 2023. For thirty years, Don Toy was President, Chairman and/or CEO of that nonprofit. He was a member of AAFE when we advocated the need for affordable senior citizen housing in Chinatown in the 1980s. Cathay Manor was considered a community success story. Now, Don Toy and C.C.O.A. Housing Corporation face criminal charges and a pending civil lawsuit.
It was an unexpected coincidence how CCED members found out about the conditions at Cathay Manor. CCED had a meeting on 29 August 2021 with Cathay residents to discuss food distribution for the unhoused near Olvera Street. But at this meeting, a number of seniors began to complain about the two broken elevators at this 16-storied building, the laundry room being closed for several months, and other ongoing habitability problems. Over fifty senior residents asked CCED for immediate help.
I’m also part of CCC–LA (Chinatown Community Coalition of Los Angeles), established in 2021. We are looking at establishing 100% affordable housing at Los Angeles County Lot 45, a 1.7-acre site at 725 North Spring Street.
Many of the community organizations that were created or active during the Asian American Movement in the 1960-70s no longer exist. AAFE in L.A. disbanded in the 1980s. However, despite the coming and going of such organizations, the need for people to organize and unite on important community issues and concerns or against racism, inequities and injustices continues. The experiences and lessons learned during the Asian American Movement period apparently did have a significant impact on me since I am still doing volunteer work as a civil rights and community advocate in order to improve our communities, the legal profession and society.
The Asian American Movement in the 1960-70s did effectuate positive changes and make a difference. However, more needs to be done to perpetuate or improve on those changes. What I have learned is that it is important to learn and understand the past to improve the present and the future. It also is important for multiethnic and multi-generations of persons to work together to make a difference. Discrimination, systemic racism, gentrification, inequities and disparities in health care, lack of affordable housing, and climate change are just a few of the problems that continue to exist and need to be addressed. Be selective and get involved to make a difference too.
[1] Lung Kong Tin Yee Family Association 龍岡親義公所 – or the Four Families Association 四兄弟 – is a mutual support group for last names: Liu 劉, Guan 關, Zhang 張, and Zhao 趙. In English, spelling variations of Liu include Lew, Liau, Leu, Lau, or Luu.
[2] Hiram Wai Kwan (1924-2021) was admitted to the California State Bar in 1953, after graduating from USC Gould School of Law. For his biography, see Gum Saan Journal’s Chinese Americans in the Legal Profession, Volume 38, 2016, pp. 8-16. Available at gumsaanjournal.com
[3] Asian Education Project (AEP) or Asian American Tutorial Project (AATP) was established in 1969 by intercollegiate efforts at UCLA, USC, Cal State LA, and Occidental College. It had predominantly volunteered at Castelar Elementary School in L.A. Chinatown.
[4] Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) in Los Angeles was a community-based organization established “to unite all workers, minorities, women, seniors and youth to promote and defend the welfare and rights of its membership and to fight for equality and democratic rights.” The areas of advocacy and support included housing, education, and employment. AAFE is a national organization that has had chapters in Los Angeles and other cities. AAFE’s L.A. chapter was started in the 1970s and discontinued in the 1980s.