“Chinatown, My Chinatown” (PDF) from the Kermit Ruffins album, We Partyin’ Traditional Style!

As an Asian-American of Chinese descent, I admit that I enjoy this early jazz standard despite its racist legacy; I own that. I take pride in my connection to the dream-like place where spirits are lifted among segregated communities of Asian immigrants who have been casually mis-represented as being uniquely from China and forced to establish a new home in a foreign land that they expanded westwardly; I own that. And I welcome the sentiments of endearment pertaining to my physical features of which I had no choice in selecting but have learned to embrace as my own.

However, the racist language used throughout this showtune’s introduction and refrain, written in 1906 by William Jerome, is not my own. The degrading words belong to a language that is a product of a society based upon white supremacy. Furthermore, the possessive song title, “Chinatown, My Chinatown,” fails to acknowledge the suffering and oppression of people of color for the sake of cultural appropriation.

If there is still a need to perform this tune today, I don’t mind, but there are plenty of better tunes that could be played instead. If there is still a need to put lyrics to the music, I don’t mind, but there are plenty of better words to use as a replacement for William Jerome’s antiquated language. For what it’s worth, my own preference is for it to remain an instrumental piece; let the music speak for itself.

Here’s a YouTube video of Lucien Barbarin performing with “The Satchmo of Japan,” Yoshio Toyama, that is ripe with conversation starters:

Recommended reading: Angry Asian Man: a blog about Asian America.