Matt Fong Withdraws from Army Nomination (in National News) Broken Trust: Rally of solidarity for Japantown YWCA (in Bay Area News) The Picky Eater: Cold Soba Noodles (in A&E) Paying Attention: Fighting for homosexual rights in India (in Opinion)

D.C.’s Florida Market Survey Highlights Merchant Concerns

Living within the 68.2 square miles of Washington, D.C., are 572,059 of the nation’s 281 million inhabitants. Looking at Washington from the rest of the nation, it is easy to forget that there are 15,000 Asian Americans living and working here (17,500 if multi-race people are included, 20,000 if we adjust for the undercount of people of color). This is understandable, but not forgivable, given that even African Americans, who make up the vast majority of District residents, are almost never seen among the mostly-white talking heads on news and analysis programs.

Unlike the elected and appointed officials we often see mentioned here in the pages of AsianWeek, most Asian Americans in D.C. are merchants or restaurant workers. They staff the convenience stores, and sell the Washington Monument souvenirs that are made in China.

A rash of crimes against Asian American merchants last spring resulted in a survey, the results of which were released this week. It paints a picture of a community under siege by crime, and a community dealing with law enforcement officials who have not been entirely responsive. While the situation has improved of late, more needs to be done.

The Chinatown Service Center is one of the few direct service providers in D.C. and has served the Chinese American communiy for over 25 years. The CSC, with the help of consultant Francey Lim Youngberg and volunteers from the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Washington, D.C., interviewed merchants at 37 stores in the Florida Market section of town on June 16. This is the market where greengrocers and convenience store owners alike come to get fruits, vegetables, meats and other items to be sold throughout the District.

Forty-one percent of the stores have been in operation over 10 years, and 83 percent have been around more than three years. There is stability and continuity to the operations found here.

This Chinatown Service Center Crime Victim Assistance Project found that Korean and Chinese Americans owned 73 percent of the stores, and 76 percent of the stores were in the wholesale trade.

Increased police presence in the last three months has led to a reduction of crime compared to three months previously, although the merchants expressed skepticism about whether a more visible police presence would continue after the initial publicity about the rash of robberies is forgotten.

While 88 percent of merchants knew the officers who patrolled their areas, 50 percent said that police took 30 minutes or longer to respond to serious crimes. Ten percent said the police did not respond at all. The top four types of reported crimes were burglary, robbery, theft and shoplifting, with almost half of the merchants claiming more than one type of crime committed against them. Fourteen percent reported four types of crimes committed against them or their stores.

Because police followed up in only half of the cases reported, only 70 percent of merchants bothered to report even serious crimes to the police. Of those who did not report, 6 percent feared retaliation by irate customers, and 6 percent cited language barriers. Moreover, 35 percent of suspects in crimes against Asian American stores were known by the merchants.

Even though the District has a Victim Compensation Program, and 70 percent of responding shop owners said they knew of the program, only 25 percent applied for compensation. Be it language, time issues or some other reason, the cause for this trend is unclear.

While 50 percent of shop owners read an English language paper, over 40 percent read only Asian-language papers and 43 percent listen to Asian-language radio stations. In light of this, the report suggested outreach using interpreters or city workers fluent in Asian languages.

Other suggestions included the formation of a Florida Market merchant association, regular meetings with police and other city officials, and translation of key materials. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs has set up a meeting for the merchants and has been supportive of the project. Another survey is planned for December 2001.

If the immigrant and ethnic minority communities that are bringing vitality and entrepreneurial energy to our inner cities are to survive and prosper, survey results such as these cannot be ignored. The project inevitably will lead to better communication and better policies between the merchants, police and City Hall.

For more information, or to see how to do a comparable survey in your town, contact Francey Youngberg, Chinatown Service Center consultant, at 703-660-9166 or Francey.youngberg@verizon.net.