Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association

The tongs or associations ended up joining together to form an extremely prominent organization in Chinatown today, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, or for short, CCBA (1). The CCBA was founded in 1883, and it has “performed a quasi-governmental role” (2). One example of a political action that the CCBA has taken is its involvement in forming the Chinese Voters Federation in May 2004. This organization encourages Chinese-American citizens to register and vote.

On a more negative note, the CCBA has the complete ability to control Chinese-language newspapers, because the newspapers depend on advertising. The CCBA can tell companies, restaurants, and stores to pull their ads from a specific newspaper if there is a report in the newspaper that is not to the CCBA’s liking. There has also been speculation of corruption in the CCBA on issues such as disappearing funds, its inability to resolve conflicts between major associations, and its failure in dealing with the Tong Wars of the late 19th and early 20th century (3).

Overall, the organization does an incredible amount of good for the Chinatown community at large by providing jobs, supporting small businesses, and issuing loans.