PORTLAND, Ore. — As the world watches the Winter Olympics in Beijing this month, a Portland woman is reflecting on China for another reason. It's where her family is from and where they fled communism in search of peace and freedom. The Sang family story joins thousands of other stories that make up the Chinese-American experience in the Pacific Northwest.
Hollywood could make a movie about Jean Sang-Eames and her 73 years on this planet. When she was a little girl, her family left China and the violence of Chairman Mao Zedong. They also escaped civil war in the Dominican Republic (D.R.). It was a 16-year journey that brought them to the United States and eventually to Portland.
"The Chinese name for the United States is Gam Saan. It means 'golden mountain' and that means opportunities," said Sang-Eames.
The California Gold Rush inspired the phrase 'Golden Mountain.' Economic opportunity brought thousands of Chinese to the Western territories to work in the gold mines. They also did manual and menial labor on farms, in factories, in shipyards, and most famously, on the railroads. Through the 1800s and the eras that followed, Chinese laborers came to the U.S. by the tens of thousands.
That dream of a better life eventually brought the Sang family to America but first, they settled in the D.R..
"We had a lot in the Dominican Republic because my parents had worked so hard to build a life for us," Sang-Eames said.
Her father, Robert, was college educated in China. He stressed education above all else for his seven children. Sang-Eames, with a fierce independent streak, took that to heart.
But the good life didn't last. It was interrupted by civil war on the island nation. She recalled the government "bombing the rebel headquarters, which unfortunately were across the street from our home." A coup toppled the Dominican government and sent the Sangs running for their lives yet again.
"The Taiwanese ambassador called the American ambassador and say you need to get this family out of here," she said. "They're really good people and you need to get them out of here and that's how we got out."
The Sangs escaped with their lives, but little else, and the road ahead weighed heavy on her father. Sang-Eames said she remembers him talking to himself saying, "'What am I going to do? I have seven children. What am I gonna do? I have lost everything.'"
"But you know what? We put our heads together and my mom was very instrumental in supporting him and he got his mental health back," she said.
Sang-Eames family photos
Sang-Eames said she calls her parents resilient. She described her mother's drive to settle in America.
"She actually was displaced by three different wars in her lifetime and she was, like, 50 then. She ran away from the Japanese and then the communists and now the D.R. She wasn't going back and she said, 'My children are going to be educated. They're gonna live in the land of the free.'"
The Sangs did reach the U.S., but that didn't end their struggle. They lived in poverty in New York City and Sang-Eames, a teenager at the time, worked in a sweat shop sewing clothes to help support her family. A church group suggested Portland would be a better place to live. In the mid-60s, the Sangs moved west. Sang-Eames said for the first time, her mom finally felt at home.
"And that's what she always wanted in this world was to live in a peaceful place, in a secure place. She felt very secure in Portland," she said.
Over the years, the Sangs became entrepreneurs owning Chinese restaurants in Portland. Sang-Eames enrolled in Grant High School. After graduating, she went on to Portland State University to become a teacher. She taught science at Benson High School in Northeast Portland and mentored thousands of students before retiring after 25 years.
"I know I have influenced many students because they still keep in touch," Sang-Eames said. "And to see those young people move along and become amazing scientists, amazing human beings, yeah, it was worth it."
The Sangs all became U.S. citizens, bringing their dream full circle. Sang-Eames said it was their proudest moment. She shared a message for the generations that follow her.
"I want them to understand that you can overcome adversity if you put your mind to it. I want them to understand that the family suffered and gave up a lot for the privilege of living in the United States and it was just by sheer perseverance that we made a life here. We're very lucky to be here. We're very grateful."
Brenda Braxton
KGW-TV
News Anchor