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By Jenny Dai
According to George Santayana, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Charles X failed to
learn this during the spread of liberalism in France and it cost him his throne. Today, we still do not learn from history.
If we glance at 18th century Europe with imperialism at its peak, we see the detrimental effects of British occupation in
India. Having gone through a period of rapid industrialization, Britain forced the same process on India. Because the British
made the Indians work in textile factories spinning cotton, the Indian art of hand woven cloth became extinct.
Real estate developers also appear to have not learned the lesson. Recently, areas in New York City such as Chinatown
have been suffering. Chinatown exemplifies culture, embracing what generations of immigrants brought from overseas. A mere
two square miles in lower Manhattan features streets lined with various kinds of restaurants, bakeries and gift shops. Some
of these restaurants have been family businesses for generations. Now, however, new businesses are buying out the venues.
This not only upsets the surrounding residents who have made these restaurants part of their life, but it negatively impacts
the community as a whole. Chinatown is a place of customs and tradition and these restaurants are a large part of that. When
newer, trendier businesses such as Pinkberry move in, kicking out family restaurants, the rich culture dissipates. It is important
that these traditions and customs are maintained because there is such a large immigrant population in New York City. For
a lot of these immigrants, Chinatown is their home away from home. Their traditions and customs are who they are.
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