Comments | earlhamites: Richmond's claim to fame ... racists stereotypes at the U Washee?

currentlymusing in earlhamites

Richmond's claim to fame ... racists stereotypes at the U Washee?

Mar 08, 2009 12:22

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this lengthy (and fairly balanced and thoughtful, I thought) analysis on Sociological Images. Was anyone here even aware of this place? I grew up in Richmond and I had no idea it existed, apart from the name sounding vaguely familiar.

Keeping whites and colors separate: The "U-Washee"

"Racism is ( Read more... )

Comments 2

time_will_pass March 8 2009, 20:17:03 UTC

An Earlham Student was actually who prompted Bil to write the piece. The U-Washee use to be a chain in this county and others, only two remain (there use to be three in Richmond and 14 in other areas). The owner is a kindly older gentleman but this place really is a blast from the past. He bought it in 1961 and the signs were already there.

Additionally Bil was contacted by University of Michigan to get the owners number so that they could try to purchase the signs for their archives.

Just an update.

I disagree nicmart September 20 2009, 15:02:41 UTC

I dissent from this characterization. I don’t think the laundromat’s Chinese association is racist. Immigrants from the same country often start businesses of the same type, and this was the case, from the 1850s, with Chinese immigrants who opened laundries. To quote from an article about Chinese laundries in San Diego ( ... )