(dramatic music)
- In mid-January when the news came out
about this coronavirus in Wuhan, China,
it changed the way that I think Americans
viewed their fellow Chinese or Asian American
because people were thinking,
"Oh, we have to stay away from the Chinese food
and Chinese restaurants and the people.
The economic effects on the restaurant and small businesses
in the area really stem from mainly racism.
(men chatting)
My family started out in the restaurant business
and eventually we've started to build
a food distribution business.
Growing up in Chinatown as a kid was a lot of fun.
I remember getting out of school at three o'clock,
walking down the street and then, grabbing stir-fry
with chicken wings and then a drink.
That was are daily routine.
For Chinese Americans, Chinatown
is really our stomping grounds.
(bus announcement)
We come here for food, we come here for groceries.
A lot of the families depend on the services.
There's a lot of community.
We need Chinatown.
In normal times, it's a very happening place
and it's kind of sad that now,
you walking down the street without bumping into anyone.
When you have leaders that are openly using terms
like Chinese virus, it almost gives people permission
to target Chinese communities in the country.
The local Chinese Americans now are being blamed.
We've heard stories of friends walking down the street
and people trying to take a swing at them
or yelling at them.
My father, he's like, "Eric, I think we need
to go back to China", half-jokingly but half-real.
We shouldn't be here if we're not welcome.
It's very hurtful to be placed in this category
and say this coronavirus came from China,
you're people kind of did this.
I was born here.
I'm proud to be an American and I've found
that I have a very deep connection to this community.
So, in our business, we've really tried
to be a support system for our community.
If there is a restaurant or if there's someone
that needs us, we will stay open.
We're really kind of the last line
of defense for the restaurateurs.
If the suppliers shut down,
then, they don't have any food to prepare for anyone.
We made all efforts to have our sales people call
every single restaurant, whether they were ordering or not,
just to ask them whether they wanted to stay open
and what they needed from us in order to do that.
We said, "Hey, we can get you all of these supplies."
- Nice.
- Gloves, masks and hand sanitizer.
- Appreciate it.
- As a Chinese or Asian American, we want the public to know
that we're doing everything that we can in order to help.
We're donating, we're giving back to our local communities.
We're here.
We're just as invested.
We're not going anywhere.
We need to come out of this stronger than we went into it.
(calm music)