Post Racism In Vietnam

Vietnam was an entirely new type of war for the United States. It still remains morally and historically problematic in today’s society. The Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on American society and culture, primarily because it was the first war to be televised. The American press played a significant

Throughout America’s history, few things have left the nation in such controversial turmoil as the Vietnam War. With an American death toll of almost 60,000 troops, the Vietnam War has gone down in infamy as one of the most tremendous struggles Americans have faced both overseas and on the home front. Because of the tumultuous controversies caused by the war, Americans split into two social factions – those against the war and those who supported it. During the years of 1961-1975 - the era in which the war had its greatest effect on Americans - the population of citizens from 18-35 years old and the Presidency were both affected irreversibly.

Historically after the Fall of Saigon in 1975, waves of Vietnamese natives fled Vietnam to escape from the economic sanctions and political turmoil due to the Communist regime. Many surviving refugees ended up and later established Vietnamese communities in the United States.The most well-established and largest Vietnamese communities is Little Saigon, located in the center of Orange County, California, where nearly 200,000 Vietnamese Americans reside. Once an ethnic enclave for the Vietnamese refugees who fled their war-torn nation, Little Saigon is now contained a diverse Vietnamese demographic, including the first generation, 1.5 generation, and second generation of Vietnamese Americans. However, little is known about how the younger generations of Vietnamese, growing up in the United States, view Little Saigon.

Problem that the Vietnamese war veterans faced was the psychological effects which was very common for Vietnam veterans to have. The main cause of this is because it was different compared to other wars in the past like the condition that the soldiers were in. Studies has shown that a World War II soldiers experienced up to a total of 60 days under combat like conditions. A Vietnam infantryman endured on a comparable basis 300+ days therefore Vietnam veterans have more likely to develop psychological problems than a World War II veteran. (POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD), 2001)

“It was the last time I would see them for 14 years.” Uong, who is a Vietnamese refugee, fled his home at the age of 10—being separated from his family for 14 years (Uong). Being a refugee is rough as it requires one to leave his home country and to start a new life in a completely different world. According to Yen Le Espiritu, a "refugee" is described as a person who harbors "a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion" (Espiritu 209). There are many variations of refugee groups as countless minority groups have left their homeland due to reasons such as persecution. Cambodian Refugees and Vietnamese Refugees are both minority groups in the United States today whom have fled their homeland to escape communism and persecution. These groups have suffered many conflicts and overcome many obstacles in order to rid themselves of persecution and in order to gain the freedom that all humans should possess. Although Cambodian Refugees and Vietnamese Refugees are two different groups, they possess both similarities and differences. Cambodian Refugees and Vietnamese Refugees share differences when it pertains to the topic of war, when it pertains to the topic of hardships faced while fleeing one’s homeland and to the topic of adjusting to life in America—while also sharing similarities when it pertains to adjusting to life in America.

America is the land of freedom and opportunity. It is a place where anyone can take refuge from harm and pursue their own dreams. However, the novel, The Refugees, by Viet Thanh Nguyen, portrays another perspective of being a refugee in the United States. The retelling of him becoming accustomed to America practices indicated that he faced an identity crisis. Specifically, he faces a contentious dilemma concerning how he would strike a balance between seeing himself as a person of Vietnamese heredity or of his American lifestyle. He amplifies the significance of this issue through the inquiry of certain practices of the community, his mixed views about fighting Communism, and his interactions with his family.

Racial gang fights were all too common in the military during the Vietnam War Era. Initially, African Americans thought the military was a safe haven from the Ku Klux Klan, but soon discovered the KKK was a major source of racial violence within the military. “Groups of whites, wearing real or impromptu Klan robes, were reported on numerous military bases in the United States and overseas.” (Westheider 85) The Ku Klux Klan also has similar traditional practices such as burning the cross on military bases. “In May 1969, two white sailors at Cam Ranh Bay burned a twelve-foot-high cross in front of a predominantly black barrack.” (Westheider 85) These Klan practices escalated racial violence even more. Blacks were not accepting to the racial slang and practices of the Ku Klux Klan, which lead to many racial gang fights within barracks, bars, and food service lines at military camps. Much of the racial violence were fistfights between black and whites, which actually caused a lot of damage to the soldiers and any location where a fight took place. “Often these Klan-like activities seemed to occur with the tacit approval of those in command.” (Westheider 85) The Ku Klux Klan was obviously supported by the military, and is one major cause of racial friction and violence in the military.

Dear citizens of the Us, there is some important information you have to hear. Evidence from Thahhau Lai’s novel, Inside Out and Back Again, and Min Zhou’s article, Straddling Different Worlds, Americans must be nice to refugees and treat them how they want to be treated. They are being bullied by US citizens. When they come into our country they can't choose where to live. They were affected mentally and might have emotional trauma. I think citizens of the US should be nice to refugees. One reason there mistreated is there being bullied. There being bullied just because they're not from the US. On paragraph 3 it states, “At first american citizens were not very accepting of vietnamese… countless others endured bullying and harassment as they

In 1975, the ‘Fall of the Saigon’ marked the end of the Vietnam War, which prompted the first of two main waves of Vietnamese emigration towards the US. The first wave included Vietnamese who had helped the US in the war and “feared reprisals by the Communist party.” (Povell)

During King’s time, technology was not as easy to access because of social issues like racism (History). In the 1950’s and 1960s, which were the times when King gave his speech, white Americans and America treated black Americans poorly. Moreover, during this time integration of white and black student in schools was also occurring, and numerous black students were mistreated, which caused them to experience hardships that affected their learning environment and ability to learn in class during these times. Thus, access to information was hard to access depending on one's educational level (History).

Unfortunately, Vietnamese Americans make up only a small percent of the total American Population today. There are many stereotypes associated with the Vietnamese, but the truth is, we really know very little about their culture. After the Viet Nam War, many Vietnamese citizens immigrated to the United States to escape political Prosecution and poverty. Faced with a variety of obstacles and

Post-racial is an adjective that denotes or relates to a period of society in which racial prejudice and discrimination no longer exist. Many believe this is a term applicable to the current state of America. The popularity of this term in correlation to American society blew up when the 44th president of America, Barak Obama, was elected in 2008 making him the first African American president in this country. This was a revolutionary election in history which gave hope and a newfound perspective for many young African Americans who have been searching to see a role model resembling their own skin color and for old African Americans who survived the unjust prejudices inflicted by governmental law only decades ago. Martin Luther King’s great dream for his children to be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the character of their person was finally granted, and America has finally overcome all racial issues. Everyone could finally rejoice and walk the country truly free knowing race could no longer hold any obstacle or boundary for the people of America, right? Unfortunately, that idea is far from the truth. This idea that America is now a post racial society has even been denounced by Obama himself in a commencement ceremony at Howard University. The president states that his election did not create a post racial society, though he does note it is important to note and respect progress ("Remarks by the President at Howard University

‘The Happiest Refugee’ discusses various concepts including the effects of war, the trauma that refugees experience, their desire to contribute to society and our negative attitudes towards them. After the war, South Vietnamese soldiers and their families were captured by the North Vietnamese Communists and held in labour camps. Some of these prisoners were eventually released (after 1976), however, they had no right to education, employment or government supplied food rations. If Ahn had not left this oppressive environment, he would have grown up in extreme poverty and would be a very different person due to the trauma that

It was very tough for the Hmong’s that were still in Vietnam and Laos after the war. The American armed forces was these people’s only protection and after they just picked up and left for their home shores the Hmong people that were still alive faced severe hardships. They had no food and water and most of their homes were all destroyed. Most of the men and young adult boys were killed in the war and the Vietnamese and Laos soldiers were still pursing the Hmong people because they wanted to terminate the Hmong people. It was also tough for the Hmong people that were left because the American’s had stopped bringing food drops along with medical supplies.

The subject of my interview is a 68 year elderly Vietnamese man named Minh “Bi” Ngo. Mr. Ngo has white long hair, a medium long white beard and a distinctive mole on the bottom of his left eye and a thick Vietnamese accent. He was born and raised in Vietnam on April 3rd, 1947. He is also a widow who is currently living with his daughter in Westminster, Orange County. Originally, Mr. Ngo was from the city of Buon Ma Thuot in the province of Dak Lak, Vietnam. He then immigrated to Falls Church, Virginia where he began his new life in the United States. At the time of the interview, Mr. Ngo looked very exhausted yet grateful at the same time. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Ngo through his daughter, who is a friend of my cousin. I conducted the interview on the afternoon of September 24th, which lasted for two hours. During the interview Mr. Ngo shared with me his experiences during the Vietnam war, his times in the Vietnamese Reeducation camps, his immigration to the United States, and his involvement in the Vietnamese community today. As the interview continues on, I began to comprehend a little bit more on the way it was back then and how the common folks