“No 76ers arena in Chinatown!”
www.workers.org
Over 3,000 protesters from Chinatown and supporting communities marched through downtown Philadelphia on June 10 with a loud and clear message to the billionaire owners of the 76ers basketball team — “No arena in Chinatown!” The diverse coalition of 20 sponsoring groups included several China

The march started at 10th and Vine Streets, on an overpass above the Vine Street Expressway, built in the 1990s despite community opposition. Chinatown was partially destroyed by the expressway’s construction, an “urban renewal project” which eliminated housing and physically divided in half the neighborhood of 3,000 residents.

The energy from the marchers was palpable, especially when demonstrators went under tunnels on both sides of the Fashion District Mall that amplified the sound of their chants and drums. The plans for the proposed arena call for tearing down half of the mall.