Sons of Chinatown: A Memoir Rooted in China and America

by William Wong

William Gee Wong was born in Oakland, California’s Chinatown in 1941, the only son of his father, known as Pop. Pop was born in Guangdong Province, China and emigrated to Oakland as a teenager during the Chinese Exclusion era in 1912. He entered the U.S. legally as the “son of a native,” despite having partially false papers. Sons of Chinatown is Wong’s evocative dual memoir of his and his father’s parallel experiences in America.

As Pop grappled with the systemic racism towards Asians during the exclusion era, Wong wistfully depicts Pop’s efforts to establish a family business and build a life for his family in segregated Oakland. As the exclusion law ended in 1943, young William was assimilating into American life and developing his path as a journalist. Writing for the Wall Street Journal , Oakland Tribune , and Asian American periodicals, Wong chronicled Asian American experiences while honoring Chinese American history and identity, but he too faced discrimination.

Sons of Chinatown poignantly weaves these father and son stories together with admiration and righteous anger. Through the mirrored lens of his father, Wong reflects on the hardships Asian Americans endured—and continue to face—with American exceptionalism. Wong’s inspiring memoir provides a personal history that also raises the question of whether America welcomes or repels immigrants.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Memoir

280 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2024

Reviews

[Russell Jeung]

William Wong's Sons of Chinatown is a powerfully evocative memoir of life in Chinatown and the vicissitudes of the Chinese Exclusion years for our community (1882-1943). As a sociologist, I appreciated Wong's smart framing of the political and economic factors that shaped the material realities of Chinese in the US (and subsequently, other Asians). As our Chinatowns now see major demographic shifts, this exceptional story of a typical Chinatown upbringing needed to be written, and Wong is the perfect person to write that narrative. His stories move swiftly through the centuries. In his own quest for his father's and his own identity, we find how they are both truly Chinese and truly American.

[Linda]

Sons of Chinatown is a fascinating memoir. From a father's humble beginnings to a son's career as an American journalist, the journeys of the father and son intertwine with hardship, success, family, and history.

Having lived in Oakland for a short time, the East Bay (and Oakland-specific) history was especially interesting. The author also shared rural Chinese culture and the process of transitioning to America and all that accompanied it - including insight into the Chinese Exclusion Act and how his father and others navigated it.

The author ended Sons of Chinatown with a powerful epilogue that will be something I think about for a long while.

I recommend this book to any reader interested in immigration, the history of Oakland, Chinatowns, rural China, career journalism, and more. It's a must-read for all Oaklanders.

[Betsy]

The author is a journalist and the only male in an immigrant Chinese family with 7 children. His father was a paper son - and his mother also came to the U.S. as a "paper daughter," posing as her husband's sister. Wong tells the story of his parents and himself in a memoir that illuminated the migration practices in the early and mid 20th century. Since I have a daughter-in-law who is Chinese, I found Wong's story to illuminate and clarify some aspects of Chinese migration - and of China itself at that time - that I had not understood. In addition, Wong's story helped fill in for me details of the East Bay community where Wong's family settled. Well worth reading. Wong is sensitive to the injustices dished out to the Asian - and, to a certain extent, Latino and Black - communities. This memoir is a good contribution to the multicultural literature of this era.

[Joanne Miller]

Really interesting and informative book! Too much work life detail for me in the second half, but I see why the author wanted to be comprehensive about his history. The epilogue was especially illuminating in describing different types of Chinese immigrants and their descendants in a way that I had never thought about before. I saw the author give a talk in downtown Oakland before reading the book, which helped make it even more personal.

[Ruby Li]

does an excellent job encapsulating the asian american experience. what it means to be asian and american and the conundrum you end up finding yourself in as you realize you don't necessarily fit in either place.

excellent usage of words to not dilute the story but make it more intelligible and relatable.

[Jeffrey]

Really enjoyed this book! Great insight into political and cultural environment in early 1920s during prohibition / Chinese exclusion era. Wish the story dove deeper into authors childhood and relationship with siblings.

[Annette Lim]

Resonates With Me

This book resonates with me because there are many instances where my own background as a Chinese American are very similar.

[Derek]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Calvin Lum]

Written with intellectual and emotional honesty through the eyes of an investigative journalist. 5 stars

[Kayla]

3.5 // I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this book as it felt like a window into my own heritage. The author’s father’s journey to America greatly mirrored my own grandfather’s… down to the involvement of the tongs. However, the second half dragged for me. It was detail dense and could have been half as long.