Thread by @TracyJan

Minority entrepreneurs were reclaiming their communities — then the pandemic came.

Grateful to @philip_cheung & @clareramirez_ for elevating this story about a new gentrification crisis hitting ethnic enclaves with their gorgeous photos & elegant design.
washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…

Joe Ward-Wallace, a newly retired Los Angeles firefighter, opened @SouthLACafe in Nov, part of a renaissance of Black-owned cafes. “It was a tactic for cultural preservation. We were on an upward swing right before covid to reclaim our community.”

washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…

Then coronavirus ground the nation’s economy to a halt. Overnight, business dropped 70%. Ward-Wallace furloughed 9 of his 10 employees. "I think the majority of Black & Brown businesses are going to really struggle to reopen because they are falling deeper & deeper into a hole.”

The recession threatens to devastate ethnic enclaves that fuel the vibrancy, economies & identities of American cities. These neighborhoods were the products of generations of discrimination, incl racial segregation & redlining. Now, entrepreneurs of color are being pushed out.

Nico Avina opened @espacio1839 in 2012, after an earlier incarnation of the community creative space failed bc of the Great Recession. “I can just imagine what’s going to happen this time around," he said, fearing further gentrification of his Latino neighborhood.

Avina on gentrification spilling from downtown L.A. into Boyle Heights: "It’s going to completely change the character of a community. It will be artificial — like replacing the natural flavors of cane sugar with corn syrup. It might be sweet, but in the end, it will kill you.”

Chinatown in L.A. (& across the nation) was the first community to be devastated by the coronavirus recession due to fear, racist associations with the virus & a flare in anti-Asian sentiment. More than four months into the pandemic-induced shutdown, many stores remain closed.

Nicole Young, who is moving her jewelry biz online: “I see Starbucks and American franchise stores close to Chinatown’s entrance. The coronavirus may force Chinatown to disappear faster. All the businesses will look no different from the shopping malls in the rest of America.”

At least 5 Chinatown restaurants in the 1-square-mile neighborhood have closed for good. More will follow.
Lupe Liang, Hop Woo chef & owner: “People have already lost so much. In Chinatown, a lot of restaurants and stores will be closed forever. They don’t have a choice.”

The coronavirus has disproportionately infected, killed Black & Latino Americans, who, overrepresented in the restaurant, retail & personal services industries, are also hit hardest economically. Black & Latino families also struggled the most to recover from the Great Recession.

Black-owned biz have seen a surge in support during #BlackLivesMatter protests. Greg Dulan of the famed Dulan's on Crenshaw: "I’m determined for there to be soul food in the Crenshaw district for as long as I’m able to do it. This is Black Los Angeles." washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…