FAMILY BUSINESS
Vivian Pham , who runs Huong Lan Sandwiches with three generations of her family , says the business stayed open after the coronavirus pandemic hit , because “ we are not going to give up .” es inject variety and choice into the local economy .
Their gusto for running what they saw as a welcoming — and , they hoped , welcomed — business was zapped on a day in April when President Donald Trump appeared on TV and decried COVID-19 a “ Chinese virus .” That night , vandals smashed through the glass doors at Pegasus , as well as the windows of four other businesses near their shop on Stockton Boulevard .
“ I feel like I ’ m American , but people judge ( the ) color of my skin and are targeting us , even though we try to do good things for our community ,” he says . “ I can only control my own actions . So that ’ s how I teach my sons and my family .”
The U . S . has been slammed with a confluence of ordeals this year — medical , economic and racial — and the 2 square miles around Pegasus bear all the markings of the combined tumult . Many Little Saigon storefronts were boarded up out of fear of violence , which never came to pass , from protests after the killing May 25 of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis . These businesses were also among the first to feel the tremors of what eventually augured a recession . The JPMorgan Chase Institute released a sample of national data in June to gauge how the pandemic hurt small businesses . Those owned by Asian Americans registered the steepest dive in revenue among all races , a 60 percent drop annualized . The institute surmised discrimination to be a factor . Businesses suffered , some through physical havoc , as at Pegasus , and others that lost customers who wondered if they could catch the virus by eating Asian food ( there is no evidence it can be transmitted through handling or consuming food ). The impact was also social . After the coronavirus broke out in China , Asian Americans reported an uptick in hate crimes , including a family in Fresno whose van was tagged with COVID graffiti and a woman in San Francisco struck with a glass bottle and a racial epithet .
Guerra , whose district includes Little Saigon , says the enclave was overlooked in March , when the city government earmarked $ 1 million in the first tranche of pandemic aid to small businesses . He says recipients tended to be downtown owners who heard about the loans early enough to apply in the two days allotted . For the second round of $ 15 million in June , Guerra held webinars with nonprofits including the Community Partners Advocate of Little Saigon Sacramento , and companies were given a two-week application window .
Over the years , the vicissitudes of a flight to the suburbs have diminished south Sacramento , including the migration farther south into Elk Grove and the opening of the Westfield Galleria at Roseville that crowded out Florin Mall . Those families who chose to keep their businesses in Little Saigon have prevented what otherwise would have been a worse economy overall for the city , Guerra
34 comstocksmag . com | October 2020