A weekend reading review…because Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading! And also for your stay at home, “shelter in place,” etc, with the virus.
Scott D. Seligman. Tong Wars: The Untold Story of Vice, Money, and Murder in New York’s Chinatown. New York, NY: Viking, July 12th 2016. 368 pp.
5 out of 5
Purchase: Amazon
What comes up in your mind when you hear “Chinatown?” For those in New York City from the 1890s through the 1930s many people associated Chinatown with organized crime. It was seen as a hotbed for betting parlors, opium dens, prostitution and violence. Sadly most people during that time associated Chinese people with vice and were seen by the elites in New York and the Newspaper as a bigger problem than other immigrant groups such as the Irish, Italians, etc. As the book agues this picture wasn’t accurate and Chinese and Chinatown was not statistically more criminal than the rest of the population in New York though their different lifestyles and ways did invite racism and prejudicial serotyping. In fact during this was Tammany-era New York City and corruption and depravity was all over the city and among politicians and the police. Situating things in this context the book focuses largely on Chinese organize crime. The author look at secret societies called “Tongs,” which are the Chinese equivalent to the Italian Mafia. It is well researched, heavily source documented and narrated well; I can’t put it down!
The Domain for Truth 