In this story, Natasha Wong — an international lawyer, educator, and the President of Balboa Park’s House of China — shares about her family’s history of deep involvement in San Diego’s Chinese American community and her diverse interests in political science, community work, activism, and education. Read on for inspiration on topics such as embracing one’s multifaceted identity, spreading awareness about Asian American history/culture, combating anti-Asian racism and mental health stigma, and more!
My ancestry in San Diego goes a long way back. It’s part military and part historical, but both sides of my family were always heavily involved in the Chinese American community. My mother immigrated here as a student, sponsored by my great-aunt. She attended San Diego High School and later graduated from UCSD. My great-aunt came here much earlier through an arranged marriage to a son of Ah Quin, a very well-known Chinese American in San Diego. Ah Quin arrived during the Gold Rush, looking for Gold Mountain. Being very resourceful and smart, he learned English quickly. Because he was able to communicate in both Chinese and English so fluently, he became one of the Chinese American leaders in San Diego, eventually becoming the unofficial mayor of the Chinatown area in downtown.
A Portrait of Ah Quin and his Family in San Diego, California, circa 1899.
On my father’s side, my grandfather came here through Angel Island in San Francisco, then joined the Army. He was stationed in San Diego during the 30s and 40s. Eventually, once the U.S. eliminated certain laws, he was able to bring my grandmother here in 1947, so my father was born and raised in San Diego.
I had a very good childhood growing up in San Diego. However, I was quite shy and quiet because I wasn’t really sure where I fit in. San Diego’s Asian and Chinese community wasn't very big. I attended a private school from kindergarten to 8th grade, and for most of my 9 years there, I was the only Asian in the entire school. I didn’t have a lot of Asian friends outside of Chinese school and church. I felt disconnected because I didn’t see my ethnicity reflected back at me. I didn’t have Chinese teachers in regular school. In mainstream media, there were few to no Asian figures. It didn’t help that every time we visited Asia and attended family gatherings, everyone would call me the “American girl.” I didn’t feel like an American girl because I didn't fit the stereotypical image of an American. Then, when I went to school, everyone called me the “Chinese girl.” I felt sort of in-between — am I really Chinese or am I American? My family always taught me to be very proud of our culture and heritage, though. Slowly, I came to realize how wise they were.
In many Chinese and immigrant families, there is a push on children to go into medicine or law. It was funny that, even though my mom and stepfather were both lawyers, my mom tried to dissuade me from going into law. She just said, “You are not going to make a good lawyer if you are that quiet and shy.” Instead, my family encouraged me to go into medicine, and for much of my childhood, that was my goal.
When I entered UC Berkeley as a biology major, I found it difficult to get through my science courses. After a year, I undeclared and started taking a variety of courses like anthropology, history, and political science. I really enjoyed learning about the development of countries, their political systems, and their rules of law. I felt quite sheltered growing up in San Diego, so stepping out of my comfort zone to study the global community really interested me. I ended up majoring in political science with an emphasis in international relations.
After earning bachelor’s and Juris Doctor degrees, I decided to specialize by pursuing a master’s in international law. My goal was to work in diplomacy because I really enjoyed learning about different legal systems and their comparative aspects. I studied European Union law, Islamic law, Chinese law, etc. I thought it was amazing that we’re all on one planet, but different ethnicities and cultures have very different views on their rule of law. It broadened my mind and perspective, and through my work, I've met so many remarkable people and learned a lot from them.
Becoming an adult, I’ve grown really comfortable and happy with who I am. I think it takes time and reflection for any young person to develop their own identity and sense of self, but our generation has the opportunity to pick the best of both worlds, being born and raised in America but celebrating our heritage and history.
We also asked Ms. Wong various other questions. Here are her answers (edited for length/clarity):
1. You’ve had an incredible impact serving those in need, from aiding low-income Chinese in getting jobs to providing crucial financial literacy resources. What initially drew you to this cause, and how did your background in political science influence your work (if at all)?
One factor was my family's involvement with San Diego’s Chinese American community. My mother was the executive director of the Chinese Social Service Center in downtown. She would make social service calls and appointments, meet with families who couldn't speak English, and try to help them. I was a witness to all of that, which really influenced me.
I started to study about everything happening in the world, outside of San Diego. We’ve been to shanty towns in Africa. It made a huge impression on me to see a family living in a makeshift shack on the dirt, without running water. My mother also relayed stories to me. When she visited Myanmar on a social service project, she told me about how a family had a small hut, but didn’t live in it. Instead, they put their cow there. I thought, “Why would they shelter the cow but not the family?” They said it was because the cow is the source of milk and food, so they have to protect their livelihood.
My empathy to connect with other people and understand their situation comes from stories like that; from what I learn, see, and observe from those that are less fortunate; and from my background in political science, international law, and the different projects we work on around the world. Having that empathy and connection with other people gives me a very strong sense that I can help. If I can, I want to make their journeys a little bit less of a struggle.
2. You co-founded San Diego’s first fully licensed Chinese bilingual preschool and formerly served as the principal of the Chinese School of San Diego. Can you tell us about how you first got involved in education and what those experiences were like, especially coming from a law background?
My mother is a big inspiration to me and a pioneering community leader herself. For about 25 years, Monday through Friday, she taught English as a second language to Chinese senior citizens in downtown. It happened to be after school, so every day, she would take me to Lions Community Manor, which is low-income housing. I would sit there, do my homework, and practice speaking Chinese. Of course, because I was so little, all the seniors always wanted to talk to me. They were very sweet, like grandparents giving me cookies and tea, or things like that. It was a very warm, welcoming, and happy environment.
During my summers in high school, I became a TA for my mom. She would give me about 10-15 seniors in a separate classroom, and I would prepare lesson plans and learn about how to guide classes. That was a great experience for me. I really enjoyed interacting with and learning from the Chinese seniors. But I never really thought of it as a career.
It wasn't until I spent some time teaching law in a private high school in Orange County that the teaching/education bug bit me. When you teach students, you’re imparting some knowledge you have, opening up their minds, and seeing that lightbulb go on as they think, “Oh, wow, I've never thought of it that way.” I think a lot of teachers connect with this magical moment.
The more I was involved in education at the Chinese school and preschool, the more I saw that happen. It doesn't matter whether you're in law school as a graduate student, or whether you’re working with 2-5-year-olds who start to understand how to hold chopsticks or a pencil — just to see that look in their eyes is such a big sense of accomplishment. Being a part of someone's path and journey in that way is magical.
Since my background is in law, I have a pretty unorthodox way of working into education. I’ve always grown up with the notion that you are a student for life. Your education never ends, you're always learning, and you always have to be curious. But at the same time, I feel like even though my background isn’t in education, I'm a teacher for life, too.
3. What do you believe is the importance of cultivating and spreading awareness about Chinese history/culture through organizations like the House of China? What are your future goals for the House of China?
House of China is one of the founding cottages at Balboa Park, which was created in the early 1900s for the World Fair and World Expo. Balboa Park now has about 34 cottages, representing different countries from around the world. The House of China has always existed to educate, preserve, and share Chinese culture and history. It's a nonpolitical organization with many different programs, like the Moon Festival event and the Chinese New Year celebration, which was very popular — 7000 people attended last year. We also run an essay contest that encourages students to retain the Chinese language.
I'm just finishing up my first official year as President. I hope to implement more educational programs and introduce them to school districts, as well. I don't remember studying much about Chinese history — let alone San Diego’s Chinese American history — growing up. I remember reading one small paragraph about the California Gold Rush in 7th grade. It said that men from China also came and helped work on the railroad, so I only imagined about 8 Chinese men. The pictures showed lots of Caucasians, but no Chinese people.
In reality, the Chinese men were told to step aside and not be in the photo. If you look on the Internet now, the new archives will show photos of hundreds of Chinese men working on the railroad. Chinese people played a huge role in building the transcontinental railroad that connected our country’s coasts. I thought, why is this not acknowledged in our history?
My future goal is to incorporate more history like this into schools. The House of China already has programs in place to educate others about Chinese American history and culture, so it’s not too much of a stretch for us to help students understand the impact Chinese Americans and Asian Americans have had in San Diego.
4. Finally, are there any other issues, projects, personal experiences, etc., that you’d like to highlight?
Anti-Asian racism is one important current issue. I helped launch the Safe Place Decals for businesses around San Diego to take a stand and show that racism and intolerance have no place in our society. It began in Mira Mesa and around the Convoy area, then expanded into District 1, which is the La Jolla and Pacific Beach area. To bring awareness to what's happened in San Diego, I’ve also given speeches on anti-Asian racism. I'm always a little intimidated because I'm often the only petite Chinese woman standing in front, telling all these Caucasians and Westerners about a very ugly part of our history here in San Diego. At the same time, I’m driven to help educate people about what happened so that we don't repeat it.
I also want to give young people knowledge about where we came from and how much progress we've made, as well as how much more work is still left to be done. I don’t want to dispute that dichotomy I felt as a young woman, of figuring out whether I'm American or Chinese, then embracing that I'm both. I feel very honored and privileged to have the best of both Chinese and American cultures. I want people — especially young people — to know that you belong here. There's nothing to be ashamed of, and, as the future leaders of our community, you should really strengthen that connection with both sides of your identity.
The other project that I'm working on is mental health. With the impact of COVID, the struggles I saw young people have with isolation, and anti-Asian racism, this issue became really important to me. I saw the rise in violence and fear, I saw people avoiding Convoy because they thought they would catch COVID, parents telling their children not to play with Chinese kids because they would catch COVID. I wanted to help eliminate that racism and extreme fear.
At the same time, children are prone to anxiety and depression. A lot of teachers told me that the last two years of online school have been a huge detriment to many children’s mental growth. They’re unable to cope with the stress in their life. They can't even identify it. I'm trying to bring a light to mental health because there’s so much stigma around it, especially in Asian cultures. Even my family and elders have a hard time talking about it, but I think we need to. We need to release that, as the first step to healing.
I'm working with some elected officials to bring more mental health awareness to younger generations, and especially to Chinese Americans (at least in my areas). I want people to know that if they have depression or anxiety, they should seek help from a health professional, just as they would for physical health conditions. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and there should be no taboo or shame in any of us talking about it.
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