The Linear Struggle of the Southeast Asian American Refugee Cambodia also known as Kampucheea to the Cambodians (and my family) is a country located in Southeast Asia. The country itself borders Vietnam and Thailand, and similar to all of the countries within Southeast Asia has a rich culture and language unique from its neighbors. From April of 1975 to January of 1979 the communist party of the Khmer Rogue led by the dictator Pol Pot had killed ¼ of the Cambodian population through starvation, labor concentration camps, and even execution (Tang). After the regime of Pol Pot had ended however, what happens to the survivors? What happens to the people in the country that now have to figure out what next? Many Cambodians decided to escape Cambodia …show more content…
In the 1980’s after the passing of the Refugee Resettlement Act, many Southeast Asian refugees were moved to poor areas with many poor Black residents such as the Houston’s Allen Parkway Village and in the rough areas of Philadelphia (Tang Housed in the Hyperghetto). Many of the residents in these areas felt that this was a “deliberate attempt to undermine tenant organizing” and resettlement areas like in Philadelphia led to “violent encounters as black residents attacked Vietnamese and Cambodian newcomers” (Tang Housed in the Hyperghetto). This issue was further exemplified when journalists called the black residents of these Hyperghettos “underclass” and a “culture of poverty” which was said to be the root of their “chronic Black unemployment and criminal behavior” shifting the blame from their environment to their own personal responsibility (Tang Housed in the Hyperghetto). This tactic was used in response to the influx of Southeast Asians that had arrived to the Hyperghetto because since they were in the same conditions as their black resident counterparts they were seen as those “who would eventually make it out of the Hyperghetto” (Tang Housed in the Hyperghetto). These issues help show how Refugee Exceptionalism was used to shame black and Latino people in the Hyperghetto. Southeast Asians were grouped …show more content…
For example when Ra and her family first arrived to New York she was told to try and find an apartment or get help from the resettlement agency. Because she lacked “English proficiency” and “was confused by the rental market” she knew that there would be almost no way for her to find a place on her own (Tang Housed in the Hyperghetto). Landlords worked against Ra and other Southeast Asian immigrants because they knew that these “third world subjects… paid rent and rarely complained about the poor housing conditions that they endured” (Tang Housed in the Hyperghetto). For this reason the landlords didn’t view them as the Asian Model Minority but viewed them as “continuous captives” (Tang Housed in the Hyperghetto). These examples help show that Ra has had to constantly fight for her rights, with many different obstacles both physical and mental that affect her. The landlords help personify that there are people literally keeping her from trying to get a better life for herself, because of these bad landlords that don’t care about the people and just want to do the bare minimum so they can get rent from their tenants. That as well the fact that Ra was not given much education to help get her out of the Hyperghetto and that she was a refugee that needed to take care
In order to support his opinion, the author uses historical references to the enormous impact of racial inequality on African American lives. Additionally, Desmond names a set of historical data and rates of the poor African Americans in cities to enhance the reader’s understanding of this complex situation. African Americans were also more likely to get the apartment with broken furniture, windows, and other facilities that confirmed the existence of racial inequality (Desmond, 2016, p.249). To reassert his position, Desmond provides offensive statistics that millions of people are evicted from American homes, and most of them are African American (Desmond, 2016, p.293). As a matter of fact, the author proves that housing discrimination based on race is the primary cause of
Ever since the actions in Cambodia occurred, it has been debated whether it was an actual genocide. The general definition of genocide is the purposeful and methodical execution of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia demonstrated that a government can be guilty of genocide against its own nation. The radical communist party led by Pol Pot took over Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. After 1979, the Khmer Rouge left a traumatized Cambodian culture that continues to undergo the repercussions of the genocide. People over the age of forty in Cambodia have stories to tell of fear, cruelty, hunger and the loss of family members. However, the Cambodian government is not making an effort to recognize the negative occurrences that have posed itself in the history of their culture.
Vietnam eventually overthrew the Khmer Rouge and effectively installed a socialist regime consisting of Khmer Rouge defectors. Most members of the Khmer Rouge escaped and fled to Thailand to receive assistance from the western countries. The Soviet Union would end up fighting the Khmer Rouge with help from China and Vietnam for over a decade. Due to economic sanctions that the U.S. placed on Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge had to withdraw their troops and leave. Afterward, a peace agreement was signed and a coalition government was formed and former monarch, Prince Sihanouk, was elected to run. Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge until 1997, when he was placed under house arrest until he died of natural causes without any charges being pressed against him (“The Cambodian Genocide”). The Khmer Rouge lasted until 1999, when most of it’s members died off or been arrested (“The Cambodian Genocide). After the genocide, the world was silent and refused to talk about it. Craig Etcheson, a Cambodia expert from George Mason University, felt that “For many years, their was a virtual taboo on even speaking of the Khmer Rouge, as if their words were … a malevolent spirit lurking in the corner of every room (Hume and Coren). Most of the Cambodian citizens were too afraid to speak up because they did not want to relive the horrors of what occurred. In essence, the Cambodian genocide was one of many genocides throughout history that share similarities with other
Later that same year, Pot and the Khmer Rouge took control over Cambodia. Pot wasted no time in starting his mission to reconstruct Cambodia. He thought that all the educated people needed to be killed (Melicharova). Also he thought that all noncommunist aspects of Cambodia needed to be wiped out. All rights you had were now gone. Religion was banned and if you were any kind of leader among the Buddhist monks, you were killed instantly (Melicharova). All kids were taken away and sent to work in the fields (Melicharova). If anyone was currently working and had a job, they were immediately killed along with their family members. It got so bad that you could be killed for just laughing, crying, and knowing another language. The Khmer Rouge motto was “To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss” (Melicharova). If you were lucky enough to escape death, you were put into the fields working usually from 4am to 10pm unpaid (“Pol”). From lack of food and sleep, people often became very ill which sadly led to death.
“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.
Pol Pot, a man who valued Mao’s Chinese communist way of living, saw the cities as the heart of capitalism and therefore it had to be eliminated (“The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot Regime”). With the help of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla Army, the survivors of the Cambodian Genocide are left to deal with their traumatic past and seek hope for a better future.
The Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979) was a result of Pol Pot’s desire to form a communist peasant farming society. At the time of his youth, Cambodia was under French control. In 1949, Pot went to Paris on a scholarship to study radio electronics but became interested into Marxism. He dropped his schooling and came back to Cambodia to join the underground Communist movement. The following year, France had lost control in Cambodia and a royal monarchy was put into place. Pot became the leader of the Cambodian Communist Party but was forced into fleeing at the hands of the monarch, Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Pot formed a resistance group named the Khmer Rouge and began to revolt against Sihanouk. Sihanouk was defeated, but not by Pot. The United
The people of Cambodia want an improvement in the government. Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge is the best thing that will accompany the government, at least in the people’s eyes. Everyone is supporting him, envisioning the development of the government. In 1975, the United States retreated their troops from Vietnam, losing its support from America. With the favor on Pol Pot’s side, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge army invaded the capital, Phnom Penh, and took total control of Cambodia.
The article that I selected is called Education of young Burmese refugees. The topics that are addressed in the article are the growing population of Burmese refugees in America, the education of Burmese refugees and the hardships of being a refugee. The article begins with the high population of Burmese refugees in American. I agree with this topic because at my field placement there are hundreds of refugees from Burmese and the number continues to grow monthly. As a refugee education can be very hard to obtain because nothing is ever certain. The article describes the hardship of receiving an education as a refugee. Some hardships include financial hardships, language barriers and lack of resources. When refugees
When I was young I remember moving cities and I thought it was going to be the end of the world for me. One of the thoughts that always went through my mind was what if I do not fit in? or will I be able to make any friends? Luckily for me I was able to speak English and I knew I could communicate with people if I had to. This was not the case for Cambodian refugees when they moved to the United States because the Khmer Rouge was attacking Cambodia. Thousands of people moved to the United States and many of these people were kids who did not have a saying whether they wanted to stay or come with their parents because they could not take care of themselves. Many of these kids are now suffering because they fell into the wrong crowds and committed a crime when they were young and due to the antiterrorism and death penalty act they are now being deported back to Cambodia, which they know nothing about, and some of them do not even know how to speak the language. I will be talking about the Cambodian kids that were affected by their parents moving to the United States and how the antiterrorism and death penalty act has affected some of them.
In the late 70’s, nearly 2 million Cambodians died of overwork, starvation, torture, and execution in what became known as the Cambodian genocide. A group known as the Khmer Rouge took control of the country in April 1975. Over the course of
After all of this terror occurred during the regime, the population of Cambodia shrunk and dropped in age for a long period of time, the country struggled to function, and many leaders of the Khmer Rouge were brought to justice while Pol Pot and others were never put to justice. When the regime’s reign concluded, Cambodia found themselves in a state of disarray. For one, the government struggled greatly due to a lack of a forceful ruler and party in place.. Also, the entire country was left hungry after shipping a significant amount of food away to China under the Khmer Rouge. As a result of this rough time period, people attempted to flee and become refugees elsewhere since Cambodia clearly wasn’t moving in the right direction (The Cambodian Genocide). Without the Khmer Rouge in power, the country was probably divided with various opinions surrounding who should rule next. Due to a lack of food and other resources, a large amount of people couldn’t bear to continue living in Cambodia, thus resulting in the flux of Cambodian refugees. Certainly, it was a difficult time to be living in Cambodia as the country
Prior to the history of the Pol Pot Regime that occurred in Cambodia, there were many conflicts that sparked within the government. In April 1975, Cambodia’s government had gone through significant drastic changes, and many of the citizens were forced to leave their own lifestyles.1 The importance of a changing government could be seen as crucial because during this time period, government reformations created a negative impact towards the citizens. “The Khmer Rouge were Maoist forces led by Pol Pot in Cambodia during the reign of terror that lasted from 1975 to 1979.” 2 It was a terrifying sight of exhausted victims, eyes widened with fear, arms and necks chained with bruises marking their features.3 Many of the children and parents had to endure endless harsh labor daily, while suffering exhaustion and limited sources of food.4
A consecutive three years (1975-1978) history remarked how Kingdom of Cambodia doing today. As international world put concerns just after genocide stopped rather than taking any factual actions toward Pol Pot’s regime which exhausted people of Kingdom of Cambodia for that consecutive three years, every international dissents are not an absolute true voices to determine what was exactly happen during that three years. With a blink of an eye, alliances formed during those dramatic years – Vietnam which driven by aid from Soviet rejected People’s Republic of China offers to aid them and Cambodia which has a closer knot to People’s Republic of China had alike vision on transforming Cambodia community into agrarian society in Pol Pot’s regime.