As a first-generation American I’ve had to face certain challenges that people from non-immigrant families wouldn’t have to face. The most obvious challenge is subtle racism. I’ve had people, speaking directly to me, imitate the way other Indian people speak, make racist jokes (some people think racist jokes are validated if they’re speaking to someone from the race in question), justifying themselves by telling me things like “but you’re not like that.” I come from people who are “like that.” I may be an American but that doesn’t mean anyone can make comments about my family and where they come from. Another such challenge is that my parents often can’t help me navigate American life. But their experiences, the difficulties I’ve seen them face in their lives, and the values they’ve picked up and passed down to me have shaped how I approach life’s problems. Seeing their struggles to create a good life for our family in the US has taught me the importance of education, hard work, risk-taking, and optimism.
The following paper will discuss Vietnamese Americans and their journey to America. I will talk about how these incredible and resilient people fought to succeed it a world that seemed to hold the odds against them. The culture, beliefs, and challenges of Vietnamese people are a precise paradigm of their strength and perseverance.
“Mom, will I ever be treated as a regular person? When will I be like the others without people look at me in a strange way and make fun of me, when mom? When?” Those were the questions I did to my mom almost every day after getting home from school. Fourteen years ago that my parents brought me to this country offering a better life with better opportunities than where I was born. I was seven years old when came to the United States, but I still remember the happiness I felt when I first step in this country. Throughout the years, I have realize that not everything is easy and simple as I imagined. My parents worked in the fields because of the lack of a social security and not knowing how to speak English. Many Americans do not know how hard it is the life of an immigrant, they should have a consideration for us and not just blame us for the deviance of the United States.
The first day in the United States is one of the best day and most thrilling days in my life. My father and my older sister move to Malaysia to get a job and support our family due to financial difficulty and lack of job opportunity in Burma. After a few years, my father and my sister were able to enter as immigrant and they were sent to the United States as immigrants through United Nation. After being apart with my father and my sister for more than a decade, my parents decide to move completely to America where more opportunities are available for a brighter future. My family faces many obstacles during the process of migrating to America. Despite all the struggle that are on our way, my family finally arrives in the United States and face major changes in life.
My parents immigrated here to the United States from Vietnam in the hopes of seeking a better future for themselves and for future generations. As a young child, my parents put in many grueling hours of work to support our family. My mother worked as a waitress and a cashier at a Chinese restaurant while my father would work at a steel factory where he assembled parts for furniture. They both worked for minimum wages which made it more difficult to have extra money laying around to enjoy and relax. As our family lived here in the United States, my parents received some harsh judgements and critiques from American citizens. My mother got some feedback for her limited English conversation skills, and she got taunted for that. My father openly practiced his cultural beliefs which differed from American traditional values and customs. He prayed and meditated to his God with his special incense. This behavior has received some backlash from others in his workplace. As we continued to live here in the United States, immigrants widespread such like my parents have received negative judgements and misconceptions from Americans. The topic of immigration has been more controversial due to border patrol issues and illegal immigration in the recent election. Were any of these actions done by naturalized American citizens justified, and what were the motives and reasonings behind the strong dissenting opinions regarding the negative perception of immigrants?
Prisoners of War (POWs): In international law, term used to designate incarcerated members of the armed forces of an enemy, or noncombatants who render them direct service and who have been captured during wartime.1
An unknown author once said, "Families are like fudge—mostly sweet with a few nuts. My family is the most important aspect to my life. No matter how much they sometimes pester or annoy me I still love them. I do not think people can live through life without the support of family. My family mostly supports me throughout all my actions, and they make me laugh. I do not really think I resemble either my mom or dad. They both had very difficult lives growing up, and I do not think I will ever experience that. Before there was me, there were my parents whose struggle against communism led them to the United States to find the life they deserved.
Vietnamerica A Family's Journey is a graphic memoir written and illustrated by GB Tran. GB Tran is a Vietnamese American that grew up distant and indifferent to his family’s history. This story talks about many tragic history of this family and homeland they left behind. One important topic emphasised through the illustrations and words was the Vietnam War and its effect on their family.
The Vietnam War's Effects on American Society Abstract The Vietnam War had a profound effect on American society. It changed the way we viewed our government, the media, and our Constitutional rights. Because of this shift in perspective, the country was torn apart and yet still came together in new and different ways. The Vietnam War's contraversiality spurred a great many sources of protest, against our government's use of power, how far we could stretch the rights of free expression, and primarily against the violence of the war itself.
The Vietnam War was marked by brutality, death, protests, and psychological tolls. No war caused such great division among the American people like the Vietnam War. The war was extremely costly, and it left long-term effects on people all over the world. As a whole, the American people agree that the Vietnam War was a waste of time, money, and life.
With such a personal connection to this issue, I find myself defending these immigrants to a broad audience. A couple weeks ago, I attended my school’s Model UN meeting concerning illegal immigration. While feeling grateful to find peers with similar opinions, I was still shocked to hear those who would, without hesitation, deport immigrants like my parents. Perhaps their point of view lacked a real-world context, so I decided to give them the benefit of doubt. At the time, however, I resisted from sharing my
What exactly does illegal immigration mean? Illegal immigration can be defined as the migration of people across national borders while violating the laws of the destined country (“What is Illegal Immigration?”). Whether the unauthorized immigrants come by land, water, or air, they are considered to be illegal aliens. Those who do not leave after the expiration of their visas are also illegal immigrants. The presence of illegal immigrants not only affects the lives of many native Americans but goes against the laws of America, which highly threatens the democracy of the United States. Every year the amount of illegal immigrants residing in the United States increases by about half a million (Johnson). Most undocumented immigrants are entering America from borders such as Canada and Mexico. In doing so, the illegal immigrants are violating the law of America which is only worsening democracy of the U.S..
Immigrants travel all over to find a better home, not only for themselves but for their family as well. Refuges trying to get to Europe are leaving while their home country is at war, which is making it dangerous to just live there.
In 1965, the United States of America officially enter the war against North Vietnam. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident where North Vietnamese attacked two U.S. ships on August 2nd and 4th, 1964, this event was a chance for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson to give authority for U.S. to enter war in Vietnam. United State involvement in Vietnam War was an approach to seize the communist aggression. A campaign authorized by President Johnson called “Operation Rolling Thunder” which started on February 24th, 1965 is a series of extensive bombing directed towards the North Vietnamese predicted to be eight weeks long until the North Vietnamese surrender to U.S. power. However, this campaign lasted two years longer than expected.
The controversial issue I am covering is illegal immigration, the two sources I used in this report are Daily Mail and CNN.