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Asian
American Studies 197A
Winter Quarter 2002
Notes
about Political Tours by Aimee Pham
Tourist
Tours: These tours of ethnic enclaves tend to perpetuate
stereotypes (e.g., former Grayline tours of Chinatown)
Community
Tours: These tours, usually conducted by community
groups, usually deal with history, landmarks, community leaders,
and some community issues. However, these tours usually do
not mention community problems such as labor exploitation
(e.g., sweatshops) and community controversies.
Political
Tours: These tours were once a regular part of
Asian American Studies classes, and students were trained
in conducting these types of tours by linking readings and
research to actual community conditions. These tours focus
on history and contemporary community issues, including economic
conditions such as labor, education and social conditions,
healthcare, family lives, race relations, community culture,
gender relations, etc. Specifically, some topics of political
tours are:
- sweatshops
and working conditions
- housing
problems: is housing adequate?
- environmental
factors including plants, electrical lines, contaminated
water, etc.
- immigrant
lives including their daily lives, small businesses, services
available to them, and language barriers etc.
- community
residents’ relationship to government authority
- education
including public schools in neighborhood and after-school
programs
- healthcare.
- community
organizations and services
- grassroots
issues.
- safety/Crime
Issues.
- religions
including churches and temples
- geography,
including it’s impact on jobs
- corporate
presence like big banks or supermarkets.
- history
from a political standpoint.
- Race/Gender
Relations.
Resource
People for Political Tours
Leslie
Ito – Chinatown/Little Tokyo
Glenn
Omatsu – Little Tokyo
Nikkei
for Civil Rights and Redress – Little Tokyo
Peoples
CORE – Pilipino Town
Erin
O’Brien – Environmental Justice Resource and political
tours of UCLA campus
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