Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund to join Chinatown coalition to fight against Sixers arena

Almost 50 Chinatown associations and organizations will come together Monday morning to formally announce the Chinatown Coalition to Oppose the Arena — and joining the coalition will be the national civil rights organization Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF).

“It’s important for people to stand up and voice out,” said Steven Zhu, head of the Philadelphia Chinese Restaurant Association. “There are people understanding how the issue is so serious, that this is something that will destroy Chinatown.”

Harry Leong, director of the Chinese Christian Church and Center and president of the Philadelphia Suns, said the coalition is about organizing and bringing together the community. Members of the coalition include the Greater Philadelphia Fujian Association, the Greater Philadelphia United Chinese American Chamber of Commerce and the Pennsylvania Chinese Business Association.

“We’re gathering businesses together and saying, ‘Hey, we’re together on this, let’s get your voice out,” he said. “We’re more unified compared to separate.”

Monday’s press conference also comes on the heels of claims from Sixers developers that there are Chinatown organizations, business owners and residents who are open to or supportive of the proposed arena. Many in the neighborhood, including members of the coalition, have since complained that the Sixers are trying to paint a false image of public sentiment in the neighborhood — and one Chinatown resident set out to find the facts himself.

“The news surrounding the Chinatown area and so many people talking about the arena right now, and I think we need to have a number to show to arena developers,” said YingZhang Lin, a Chinatown business owner. “That’s fundamental information to this project, whoever makes the final decision.”

“NO STADIUM” signs are plastered on many windows throughout the neighborhood, so Lin surveyed business owners in Chinatown about the arena plan leading up to Monday’s news conference, ranging from grocery stores to restaurants to travel agencies. Of over 100 business owners Lin estimates there are in Chinatown, 87 have signed a petition formally opposing the arena. Those who opposed the arena predominantly cited concerns about how their small businesses will survive with such a large arena just feet away, as well as concerns about safety and traffic.

“We don’t want to become the D.C. Chinatown,” Lin said business owners explained to him. “This is the center for the Chinese around the Greater Philadelphia Area. If this Chinatown disappears or gets destroyed, for minorities, traditional culture needs to have some place. And we want to see Chinese tradition not destroyed in this area.”

Those concerns about displacement and preserving cultural hubs are precisely why AALDEF said it decided to join the coalition opposing the arena Monday morning.

“What most people don’t know when they’re going for dim sum in Chinatown is that Chinatowns started as a direct result of the violence against the Asian American community. They were forced to create Chinatowns in order to survive,” said Bethany Li, legal director of AALDEF.

“They weren’t located in places that were considered desirable to live,” Li said. “That’s changed in recent decades, which is why we’re seeing this inundation of development without regard to not just the history, but really the necessity … especially in this current context of anti-Asian violence.”

Li said AALDEF would look into the possibilities of legal action, citing the organization’s history of fighting against gentrification and displacement, particularly of low-income residents.

The New York-based group has fought and won in Philadelphia once before.

In 2010, AALDEF helped achieve two major settlements that required the School District of Philadelphia to make broad changes in how it handled complaints of harassment and violence against students.

The legal group accused the district of “deliberate indifference” to the mistreatment of Asian immigrant students at South Philadelphia High School, culminating in violence on Dec. 3, 2009. About 30 Asian students were attacked by classmates in and around the school, sending 13 to the hospital with injuries.

The coalition was announced the morning of the first steering committee meeting designated for business owners and made up of 13 Chinatown businesses, organizations and residents. There have been concerns in the community about the process and legitimacy of the committee.

76DevCorp asked the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. (PCDC) to form the steering committee to find solutions to concerns about the arena. While the steering committee operates independently, the fact that developers prompted its creation has raised questions about the level of independence — especially as there have been allegations of the committee excluding community members opposed to the arena.. Leong and Zhu, for example, were both invited to join the steering committee, and both said they were boxed out after sharing their opposition to the arena.

“I have no idea how they’re choosing their committee members,” Zhu said.

This is a developing story.

Staff writer Jeff Gammage contributed to this report.