Whenever I hear or read about some celebrates talking about their forefathers entering this country illegally a hundred years or more ago, I cannot but cringe a little. An image of comparing apples to oranges will inevitably pop into my mind.
Such a reaction reappeared yesterday when I was innocently reading one of Ross Eric Gibson's weekly articles in the section of Local History. In his article entitled War in China Felt in Santa Cruz, Gibson writes in details about the family history of two prominent Chinese families in Santa Cruz, George Ow, a local real estate mogul, and Dan Yee, the proprietor of the twice-closed Tea Cup Restaurant located at the upstairs of today's Jamba Juice Building on Pacific Avenue.
Since I was too poor a student 35 years ago to frequent Yee's Tea Cup, that local institution has eluded me entirely. My belated efforts were decisively thawed by the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake that damaged both the building and business in question.
However, the renowned Ow family is too prominent not to be aware of by anyone in Santa Cruz. On a personal level, George Ow, Sr.'s brother-in-law, the late George Lee, happened to be Paul's mentor, friend, and our wedding photographer.
Gibson's article is interesting also on another level. According to Mr. Ow Jr. in a 2006 article under the title of Ow family invests in the future of South County, "... When I see the young men hoping for jobs, I see my father, who came into this country illegally and then served in the U.S. Amy during World War II and was able to become a citizen under an amnesty program in the 1950s." Contrary to the Jr's claim, Gibson states that the Sr., born in 1919 in Canton, China, was adopted in 1924 by the wealthy Lam Pon who made his fortune at the turn of the 20th century, and settled in Santa Cruz with his California-born wife and daughter in 1925. In 1930, the family returned to Canton and put their adopted son in private school. When the Second Sino-Japan War broke out in 1937, the Pons sent George Ow Sr. to safety on the SS President Hoover. The journey was quite pleasant, with a stop in Honolulu, and finally in San Francisco. A $2.00 train ticket brought the Sr. from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, to join uncle Lam Sing, the cousin of Lam Pon.
From Gibson's narration of the Sr.'s sea journey, I do not detect any harrowing experiences by migrants as are often encountered with today. Nor do I find any suspicion of illegals at the port of San Francisco. Instead, the 17-year-old Ow Sr. arrived in California safe and sound, with an $8.00 ukulele purchased in Honolulu. Armed with his adoption paperwork, he was in fact a full American citizen, ready to start the next chapter in his life.
Unintentionally, Gibson succeeds in demystifying the claim that Ow forefather was an illegal immigrant. Where is this "illegally" coming from? Is it out of future generations' fertile imagination, or empathy for their customers/clients?
