Little Saigon is an example of a contemporary, flourishing Asian American community built form the ground up. Through the structural opportunities in Orange County, we can see that it allowed the Vietnamese to construct their community without any interference. As shown by the fact that they did not have to compete with other groups for commercial interests, like the White Americans who had abandon it. Also because the original site for Little Saigon developed in an area that was already in a state of decline, the Vietnamese took advantage of the opportunity and shaped their own ethnic suburbs the way they had want it to be, thus the reason why the Vietnamese community of Little Saigon was so successful. They had revitalized the area, unfettered …show more content…
The presence of the Vietnamese, which were once viewed as a melancholy reminder of a war that Americans would rather forget, eventually served to show portray America in a positive light. With the rapid growth of the Vietnamese community and the influence of Little Saigon and its diverse businesses, America is once again shown as a nation of opportunity. These structural and social opportunities was the reason why it was possible for the Vietnamese to establish their strong and vibrant community in Orange County. It had allowed for them to create their own style of a white suburban haven, in the form of a Vietnamese suburb they called Little Saigon. These opportunities also lead to the growth of Little Saigon and gave the Vietnamese the ability to influence the policies of Orange County as a whole. The growth of Little Saigon came in the form of the two waves that gave the community the manpower they needed to expand and hold. It was the socioeconomic diversity of the Vietnamese population that allowed for the creation of such an interconnected occupational structure and enabling them to build such a strong community compared to other ethnic groups. Though in many ways, Vietnamese shared …show more content…
As the L.A. Times reports, “Until recently, the county’s most visible Asian cluster was Little Saigon, once-sleepy central distract transformed by Vietnam War refugees into a bustling shopping and dining destination.” By working together as a community, the Vietnamese managed to overcome their social barriers and achieve great successes in Orange County, which was an amazing feat for a refugee group that started out with nothing. Little Saigon is a reminder to the Vietnamese Americans, of a history and story of a people who lost their homes, families, and dignity and came in 1975 to get it all back. It was a place where successful people willingly scrubbed toilets, pumped gas, and washed dishes came to reclaim their lives. As Quach Nhut, now a prosperous pharmacist in Westminster, listened to the Fall of Saigon on the radio while he was in the refugee camp, said, “I thought Saigon was lost forever.” From little to nothing, the Vietnamese had achieve the impossible, they built a new homeland in America. Though as Tony Lam, the first Vietnamese American elected to U.S. public office, explains it, “We never had any grand plan, we were just trying to survive, run our business and support our
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a tragic true story written by Anne Fadiman, who spent over five years in the middle of a fight between Hmong culture and American medicine. The book is about a young Hmong child named Lia Lee. At 3 months old she started showing signs of severe epilepsy. Her American doctors had a strict and rigorous treatment plan, but were baffled when the family refused to follow it because of their culture and beliefs. Anne Fadiman originally went to the Lee’s hometown of Merced California as a columnist writing an article on Hmong culture for Life Magazine, but soon gained a personal connection to the Lee family.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman introduces the reader to the Hmong culture and to the Lee’s family experience with western medicine. Throughout the book it talks of the past interactions of the Hmong and Americans, showing reasoning why the Hmong already mistrust Americans and western medicine. Following World War II, the Hmong culture was rejected and ridiculed by the Chinese for not assimilating with their culture, causing many to move to the U.S. Upon arrival, they were still ridiculed, harassed, and violated. In the Hmong’s eyes, they deserved respect and welfare for their sacrifices in the war.
This community was not completely supported by the government or support groups as they were disregarded by them. An example was that there were not enough Vietnamese interpreters as Spanish translators in the disasters camps, the prominent Vietnamese community was unacknowledged by support groups. In particular older Vietnamese who don’t know or struggled with English, they could have had more support or at least have been acknowledged as a group. There was also trauma because of their Vietnamese refugee status, the past history of displacement first from Vietnam, and then New Orleans really scarred the Vietnamese
The Fall of Saigon refers to when the Northern Vietnamese forces invaded Saigon (modern-day Ho Chi Minh City), the capital of South Vietnam and the home of the presidential palace. On that day, South Vietnam surrendered to the communist North, signalling the end of the Vietnam War in April 30, 1975. The Fall of Saigon was a significant event that affected the South Vietnamese people socially as it forced them to flee to another country and to adapt to that country’s culture. This meant there was an increase in refugees and many fled to Australia because it was closer than USA. The Fall of Saigon not only affected Vietnam but Australia as well.
In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant.
Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Thing’s They Carried, reveals the author elaborating on his experiences of the Vietnam War through various war stories. While elaborating on his own personal experience from the war, he is also able to delve a little into how the war affects the country. “War has a catastrophic effect on the health and well being of nations. Studies have shown that conflict situations cause more mortality and disability than any major disease” (Lakshiminarayana and Murthy).
Therefore this boycott led community is left in tatters. Bruce Dawe’s Homecoming concentrates on the trudges of the Vietnam war commenting on the
In this part of the project, I chose to take actual field trip to Little Saigon, which is the heart of Vietnamese community in the United States of America. However, before I took I actual trip, I had chosen to look up some official information regarding Vietnamese community and why they moved to the United States so that I have an overview about my topic. After the Vietnam War ended in April 30, 1975, hundred thousands of Southern Vietnamese people fled to America with the hope to find a new, safe place for their settlement. Taking responsibility for being involved in the Vietnam War, American Congress passed different Acts such as the Indochina Refugee Act in 1975, the Refugee Act in 1980, and the Amerasian Homecoming Act in order to aid
“What is beneath my skin. Inside my bones?” (Tan 40). This is a familiarly asked question by many Asian immigrants, and many find it difficult to answer. The rich historical culture of Asian assimilation is a complex and intriguing subject.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be vietnamese during the vietnam war. Well I will tell you about the perseverance that one of them faces, her name is Ha. Ha is a ten year old vietnamese girl during the vietnam war. She has to go through a lot, has to preserver through a lot, and has to change a lot to be able to live. One part I find disgusting is when one of her brothers keeps a dead baby chick in his pocket because it is one of the only things he has left from home.
Vietnam has certainly remained as one of the most concerning and controversial wars of all time. One of the most disputed aspects of the war was the draft. As a result of the draft, many young men would never return home. From draft card burnings, to anti-war protests, it is evident that the draft and it’s process was seen as unfavorable in the eyes of many people in America.
The infamous Vietnam War haunts, just as much as fascinates, the American conscious. As the generation which experienced the war first hand dies out it is all the more important to look back on that turbulent time in American history, and collect as much information possible, before it is too late. With these thoughts in mind, historians have been researching the war, its causes, and effects, from the time of the war itself. Naturally, as with all things in life, different opinions and interpretations have arisen from different sources, often stemming on whether the war was justified or not. When analyzing these different interpretations, it is important to keep in mind what perspective it is written from, for instance, was it written by an
As I listened to the Riverbend scenario I thought of my own cultural competence and how at one time I knew very little of the Hmong culture. Working in a city where Asians make up only 3% of the population, this is a population I knew little about. I have learned that most Hmong are from the mountainous region of Laos, and are granted preferred refugee status by the U.S. (Cobb, 2010). From 2000 to 2010 the number of Hmong grew 40%, there are currently 260,073 Hmong people living primarily in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Even though the Hmong people seem to be prospering after thirty years in the U.S., there are still challenges with communication, understanding of cultural beliefs, and use of traditional medical practices (United States Census Bureau, 2013)
The city of New York has been a place of immigration since the beginning and is the most diverse area in the country. Looking closer we find that Queens is the most diverse borough of the city (Starr, 2015), with Astoria as the most diverse neighborhood. There are multiple immigrants from multiple origins and many of those immigrants in Queens originate from Asia, more specifically China. The highest concentration of Chinese immigrants is in Main Street, Flushing, often called the other Chinatown of New York.
Print. Leitenberg, Milton, and Richard Dean Burns. The Vietnam Conflict; Its Geographical Dimensions, Political Traumas, & Military Developments. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1973. Print.