Re: “Seattle’s Little Saigon, beset by crime, looks for a way forward” (March 20, Local News):
As a Vietnamese American resident of Seattle, I see firsthand how the Chinatown International District’s working-class Asian community is being punished for existing.
When fentanyl users took over downtown, the city pushed them into the CID. When residents and businesses complained, the city didn’t increase police presence or clear drug markets — it took away public services instead. The King County Metro bus stop? Removed. Hoa Mai Park? Closed.
If this happened in a Black neighborhood, it would rightly be called systemic racism. But because it’s happening to Asian immigrants, the city calls it “equity.” Progressives who claim to care about marginalized communities turn a blind eye when the victims don’t fit their preferred narrative.
Seattle takes taxes from CID businesses while offering nothing in return — no safety, no services, not even acknowledgment. If the city refuses to protect this community, why should the CID continue funding its own neglect? Until real action is taken — police restored, drug markets removed, public services returned — CID businesses should withhold B&O and sales tax remittances. No security, no services, no taxes.
Enough. Seattle must be held accountable. If city leaders won’t act, the CID must force them to.
Jeff Nguyen, Seattle