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Steven Le

Mr. Bandy

CPUSH

19 May 2017

Freedom and Equality for Vietnamese Americans

April 30, 1975, the outskirts of Saigon was overrun by the North Vietnamese Army and

dismantled the State of Vietnam. The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the long and

treacherous Vietnam War that has resulted in over 1.3 million deaths. As fleeing South

Vietnamese civilians ventured across the Pacific Ocean, Communism soon consumes the whole

face of the Republic of Vietnam. Many Vietnamese civilians at the time had to leave everything

behind and risk all in order to escape from the Viet Cong. They migrated to many surrounding

countries by sea and air and were typically known as F.O.B.s or fresh of the boat. The

Vietnamese migrants would come in waves from 3,000 to 450,000 Vietnamese at the time. Such

influxes in migration called for the U.S. to act and so the Refugee Act of 1980 was implemented

to ease restrictions on entry of Vietnamese refugees. By the late and post 1980s, immigration of

Vietnamese civilians begins to slows down and most of the first generation Vietnamese

Americans are slowly assimilating to the U.S. culture. However, life for them was difficult.

Vietnamese Americans at the time were resented by the Americans since it reminded them of

their defeat and were discriminated and bullied due to their background of communism and

physical attributes. Vietnamese americans were not seen as Americans, rather communist people

who have special privileges that grants them citizenship. Discrimination was a largely
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prevalent issue during and after the Vietnam War. Americans were racist and discriminative

towards the Vietnamese immigrants who have just fled their country in pursuit for a new life and

to be liberated from the communist regime. However as time progressed, Vietnamese Americans

remains to be one of the most assimilated cultures in the United States that are currently

represented in government and in society. They have intertwined themselves into the American

society and have sparked their political activism through protests to achieve their form of

Freedom and Equality.

After the Vietnam War, Vietnamese immigrants in America were granted freedom to be

politically active in their community. The Fall of Saigon, or the Liberation of Saigon, depending

on context, was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of

Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam or the Vit Cng on April 30, 1975.

The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal

reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Republic. The turning point of the Vietnam War

catalyzed waves of immigration which gave Vietnamese civilians an opportunity to liberate

themselves from communism which sparked political activism. This event gave a newer meaning

to freedom towards Vietnamese Americans. They defined being free as having freedom of

speech and to be politically active. Many Vietnamese Americans were inspired to fight for their

human rights and to criticize the Vietnamese government to gain moral support. As a result, this

event provided an insight to be politically active and to have a voice which gave many

Vietnamese Americans freedom.

The Refugee Act of 1980 gave more Vietnamese people an opportunity to escape from

their cruel and corrupt homeland. The plight of the boat people compelled the U.S. to act, and the
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Refugee Act of 1980 eased restrictions on the entry of Vietnamese refugees. Many Vietnamese

Americans were on the verge of life and death for escaping Vietnam. This Refugee Act saved

countless numbers of Vietnamese people since most individuals were not ready to be exposed to

such drastic change cultures and it created a language barrier. Before this Act took place, most

Vietnamese people who did not pass the test committed suicide fearing that they would be sent

back to Vietnam. Any person caught would consequently be sent to death and they were willing

to risk everything to pursue a better life. Without this act taking place, many migrant Vietnamese

civilians would not have been granted citizenship; therefore Jimmy Carter called for action and

intended to provide a permanent and systematic procedure for the admission to the United

States of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the U.S., and to provide comprehensive and

uniform provisions for the effective resettlement and absorption of those refugees who are

admitted(Carter Public Law 96-212). This act enabled many Vietnamese Americans to become

intertwined into the freedom which saved millions of lives and liberated them from Communism.

Political activism amongst the Vietnamese Americans was a successful tactic that

exercised their freedom of speech and gave them more moral support for human rights.

According to, Ong, Nhu-Ngoc T.; Meyer, David S. (April 1, 2004). "Protest and Political

Incorporation: Vietnamese American Protests, 19752001". Center for the Study of Democracy.

04 (08), he mentions the tactics that the Vietnamese Americans used: Vietnamese Americans

stage protests against the Vietnamese government, its human rights policy and those whom they

perceive to be sympathetic to it. Many Vietnamese Americans used protesting against the

Vietnamese government as a means to promote larger movements. It provided a foundation that

gave many Vietnamese Americans a voice and representation in the American society and
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freedom. They felt that by spreading the word and inspiring future generations about the cause,

Vietnamese Americans will be able to achieve social and political change by public support. In

addition, movements like this can be seen anywhere in the vietnamese community. For example,

my grandpa is apart of these movements and was president of a anti-communist campaign. He is

a political activist and always talks about or criticize the vietnamese government. To give an

insight of his struggle to fight communism, my grandpa was a Vietnam Vet and was a Major in

his platoon. He fought in the Vietnam war for 9 years until he was captured by the VietCong and

was tortured and interrogated. He was a POW or Prisoner of War for over 11 years. In an

interview with my grandpa, Doan Le, I asked him How and why did he fought for communism

and what changes does he think he can bring? and I translated and condensed his comment,

We came to this country for two moral purposes. One, to strive for human rights and the other

was to liberate ourselves from the oppressive government. After struggling to hold back the Viet

Cong, we did not have any choice but to remain fighting. It was our only means to retain the

capital of Saigon from communist forces when General Duong Van Minh called to stop fighting

to prevent anymore conflict. But we still continue fighting. Reasoning that the communist were

cruel and sick people. They stole all of your money and you could not live a sustainable life

under those conditions. Your grandma used to smuggle and tie food to her body just to make a

living off of it. Communism was oppressive since it was only controlled by one person. We came

here for freedom. On the contrary, the U.S. has systems of checks and balances to prevent any

obstructive government and limited power. The U.S. offers the freedom of speech under the first

amendment without having any consequences. From my experience, the best approach to fight

communism is to use social media, to protest and form marches, and finally to spread the word
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and influence future generations to carry on the movement and legacy.(Le). From this interview

with my grandpa, he mentions that the only way to fight communism is by achieving moral

support with the present and future Vietnamese community through the means of social media,

protesting, and marches to demonstrate and influence everyone about the social and political

injustice. In doing so, the anti-communist movement provided many Vietnamese Americans like

my grandpa freedom.

Vietnamese Americans used the first amendment of the constitution as a means to

demonstrate political activism and to obtain public support to expand the movement. An article,

Resolution Recognizing: The Yellow Flag With Three Red Stripes as The Official Flag of the

Vietnamese American Archived October 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, identifies the

motives of the Vietnamese Americans: Some Vietnamese Americans have lobbied city and state

governments to make the flag of South Vietnam (rather than the flag of Vietnam) the symbol of

the Vietnamese in the United States, and objections were raised by the Vietnamese government

The California and Ohio state governments enacted laws adopting the South Vietnamese flag in

August 2006. In June 2002, 13 states, seven counties and 85 cities had adopted resolutions

recognizing the South Vietnamese flag as the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag. Just as

mentioned, many Vietnamese Americans despised communism. The government regarding

Vietnamese Americans as communists in some parts of America like Little Saigon is disgusting

towards many. It is highly disrespectful and is hypocritical in a country that is anticommunist. As

a result, the Vietnamese Americans took matters in their own hand and took action. By using

their civil rights granted under the United States Constitution, Vietnamese Americans were able
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to alter their flag. The South Vietnamese flag was as piece of their nationalism and by

representing it, Vietnamese Americans feel as if that flag gave them freedom.

As of today, many Vietnamese Americans are represented in state and local governments

in order to address injustices that limits freedom. One example of how Vietnamese Americans

are represented is shown by examining the local governing bodies of local cities in california as

well as Texas.Vietnamese Americans have exercised political power in Orange County, Silicon

Valley and other areas, and have attained public office at the local and statewide levels in

California and Texas. Janet Nguyen is a member of the California State Senate; Andrew Do is

part of the five-member Orange County Board of Supervisors; Bao Nguyen was mayor of

Garden Grove, California, and Vietnamese Americans have also been the mayors of Rosemead

and Westminster, California. Most Vietnamese American parents strive for civil rights and they

believe that their children can build off a legacy through education. Vietnamese Americans have

risen to high positions despite adversity. They have gained political power and have inspired

many generations of the Vietnamese community to be politically active and to fight for what is

right. Vietnamese Americans need to embrace their culture and remember where they come

from. In promoting pridefulness, more Vietnamese Americans and other future generations to

come will expand the movement. If the Vietnamese American society builds off of this basic

concept, overtime, people will all work for a common good and bring an end to social and

political injustice.

Vietnamese Americans remains to be one of the most assimilated cultures in the United

States that are currently represented in government and in society. They have intertwined

themselves into the American society and have sparked their political activism through protests
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to achieve their form of Freedom and Equality. Their meaning of Freedom and Equality is to

have the freedom of speech and to have equal opportunities to have a representation in

government. The Refugee Act of 1980 gave more Vietnamese people an opportunity to escape

from their cruel and corrupt homeland. After the Vietnam War, Vietnamese immigrants in

America were granted freedom to be politically active in their community. Political activism

amongst the Vietnamese Americans was a successful tactic that exercised their freedom of

speech and gave them more moral support for human rights. In addition, many Vietnamese

Americans like my Doan Le fought Communism through social media, protesting, and marches

to demonstrate and influence everyone about the social and political injustice. Finally, The first

amendment of the constitution inspired Vietnamese Americans to have a voice and fight for what

is right. Vietnamese Americans are still being resented and discriminated by Americans.

However, through political activism and demonstrations, Vietnamese Americans have brought

change to the Vietnamese American society and has brought a new wave of political activity.
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Works Cited

Ong, Nhu-Ngoc T.; Meyer, David S. (April 1, 2004). "Protest and Political Incorporation:

Vietnamese American Protests, 19752001". Center for the Study of Democracy. 04 (08)

Credible source as it is unbiased and was a study that had factual information and so I choosed it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_Americans- Not a reliable source as studies

suggest that it 10% of articles contain spelling or factual errors. I chose it since it was relevant to

my argument.

(Steven Le. personal interview, May 24, 2017) This interview allowed me a personal

insight of current issues in society and politics. Since he is anti-communist, he is biased as it is

not factual information. However, he presents it in a way that reflects my argument so I chose

this as my source. In addition, it provided me with an insight to my history and culture and I

allowed me to expand my broadscope

.http://www.ci.garden-grove.ca.us/BaoNguyen- It is biased information as it is for the

public appeal however it is a fact. I chose this since it represented my situation well and built on

my statement.

Resolution Recognizing: The Yellow Flag With Three Red Stripes as The Official Flag

of the Vietnamese American Archived October 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. According to

statistical research, LA Times are more liberal which may alter the way how the message is

presented and conveyed as it is talking about Vietnamese politics, which tends to be liberal in
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regarding for human rights. I chose it since it demonstrated and supported my claim and

argument.
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