This sign means a lot to me for many reasons. Seeing Tai Tung thrive reminds me of the importance of a community-oriented businesses and supporting small, immigrant-owned businesses in the CID and elsewhere. The sign reminds me that immigrant communities have faced many waves of xenophobic legislation designed to keep us away, confined, or out of the U.S. altogether. Despite these racist laws, immigrants and refugees have been able to start businesses, begin new lives, build communities, and create spaces for ourselves like the Chinatown International District.
This sign reminds me that context and ownership matters. One usage of "chop suey" can be very different from the next, depending on who is using it and for what reason. The fact that the sign says "chop suey" today is an act of taking back a term that was turned on its head by racists and xenophobes to fuel anti-Chinese sentiment and legislation. Tai Tung has been serving chop suey - a Chinese American dish born in San Francisco during the California gold rush - since the day it opened. And although chop suey began as a dish in the United States, it grew to name an entire Chinese American cuisine that was known for using what was found and using everything you have. The term in question was not denigrated at the beginning, and this was an opportunity for Tai Tung to begin to reclaim the term.