The Racial Triangulation of Space

The Case of Urban Renewal in San Francisco's Fillmore District

Bibliographic Data

ID8375202
AuthorsClement Lai (American Planning Association, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume102
Issue1
Pages151-170
Publication date2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnals of the Association of American Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-5608 • E-ISSN: 1467-8306
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00045608.2011.583572
OpenAlexW2058792735
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited61

Geographers, planners, and urbanists have rarely focused on racialization as a relational process involving multiple groups, and most work to date adopts a black–white model of race relations. The case study of post-World War II urban renewal in San Francisco's Fillmore District permits geographers and other urbanists the opportunity to examine racial formation as a relational process that differentially positioned African Americans and Asian Americans with respect to each other in the redevelopment process. This positioning resulted in differential outcomes for these two communities, even though both had been segregated into this multiracial and multiethnic neighborhood up until the mid-twentieth century and, as a result, shared a common history and mutual geography. This article utilizes archival research, personal interviews, and theories of racialization from ethnic studies and critical race theory literature to examine, as political scientist Claire Kim put it, the "racial triangulation" or "positioning" of Japanese Americans and African Americans in the Fillmore's redevelopment. I argue that this positioning was a spatial process that located Japanese Americans and African Americans differently with respect to the imagineering behind the district's urban renewal and with respect to the political process behind redevelopment. This spatialized racial triangulation, in turn, intersected with discourses of blight and Cold War Orientalism with the latter discourse eliding differences between Japanese-American spaces and Japan and resulting in the construction of a Japanese Cultural and Trade Center. Geógrafos, planificadores y urbanistas raramente concentran su interés en la racialización como proceso relacional que involucra múltiples grupos, y la mayor parte del trabajo realizado hasta la fecha adopta un modelo de relaciones raciales negro-blanco. El estudio de caso correspondiente a la renovación urbana posterior a la II Guerra Mundial del Distrito Fillmore de San Francisco da a los geógrafos y otros urbanistas la oportunidad de examinar la formación racial como un proceso relacional que posicionó diferencialmente a los afro-americanos y a los asiático-americanos en relación de los unos con los otros dentro del proceso de re-desarrollo. Este posicionamiento desembocó en resultados diferenciales para estas dos comunidades, así ambos hubieren estado segregados en aquel vecindario multirracial y multiétnico hasta la mitad del siglo XX y hayan compartido en consecuencia una historia común y una mutua geografía. Este artículo utilizada investigación de archivos, entrevistas personales y teorías de racialización de la literatura de estudios étnicos y teoría racial crítica, para examinar, tal cual lo propusiera la politóloga Claire Kim, la "triangulación racial" o "posicionamiento" de los japoneses americanos y afro-americanos en el re-desarrollo de Fillmore. Arguyo que este posicionamiento fue el proceso espacial que localizó de manera diferente a los japoneses americanos y afro-americanos respecto de la imaginería que se esconde tras la renovación urbana del Distrito y respecto del proceso político que está detrás del re-desarrollo. Esta triangulación racial espacializada, a su turno, interceptó con los discursos sobre deterioro urbano y el orientalismo de la Guerra Fría, el segundo de los cuales anulaba las diferencias entre los espacios japonés-americanos y el Japón, llevando a la postre a la construcción de un Centro Cultural y Comercial Japonés. Key Words: African AmericansAsian Americansracializationracial positioningurban renewal关键词: 非裔美国人亚裔美国人种族化种族定位市区重建Palabras clave: afro-americanosasiático-americanosracializaciónposicionamiento racialrenovación urbana Acknowledgments I would like to thank the UCLA Institute of American Cultures and the Asian American Studies Center for providing a supportive intellectual environment and funding to complete this article, and I want to extend thanks to Bill Goldsmith, John Forester, Ann Forsyth, Laurie Wilkie, Michael Omi, Ruth Gilmore, and Don Nakanishi for their encouragement and guidance over the last few years. I would also like to thank Laura Pulido and one anonymous reviewer for providing comments on an earlier draft of this article. Special thanks go to Audrey Kobayashi for her comments and guidance throughout the publication process. Sheryl-Ann Simpson provided much appreciated cartographic assistance. Finally, my deepest thanks go to Kelly Fong, who makes all things brighter

Cartography · Economic geography · Geography · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Triangulation · Urban space · Computer Science · Environmental Justice and Health Disparities · Urban Planning and Governance · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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