| Vietnamese American Culture |
| History of Vietnamese American Culture |
Voices of Vietnamese Boat People: Nineteen Narratives of Escape and Survival
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History of Vietnamese American Culture
by Jim Winn
| Vietnamese American Culture |
| History of Vietnamese American Culture |
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The end of the Vietnam war was actually the beginning for many Vietnamese
immigrants. Many Vietnamese people luckily escaped the ravages of the
communistic government, and resided in refugee camps. They could only hope for
only the best. These Vietnamese people had no idea what their life would be like.
Imagine being forced away from one's homeland. Imagine being forced away
from a simple homeland with simple ideas and people. It would be incredibly
difficult for Vietnamese immigrants to integrate into society.
In contrast, life in the United States would be totally different. A whole new language to learn, a radical culture to adapt to, and the acceptance of the American people were some of the difficult challenges that the Vietnamese immigrants had to face. But the Vietnamese people, as a whole, persevered and dealt with the many challenges. They realized that education was important and that it was the key factor for success. The Vietnamese people began to take education seriously, for it was the only way to move up the ladder in the American society. The first generation of the Vietnamese people living in the United States faced severe cultural differences, indeed. But how would the second generation fare living in the United States? The second generation Vietnamese children encountered communication problems with their parents who spoke little English. The children, by the age of twelve, could probably speak better English than their parents. Children sometimes became the "translator" for many parents. Parents worked hard in jobs such as assembly lines and meat packing plants in order raise their children. Some parents wanted the best education for their children, and the best affordable education were public schools. Soon, some Vietnamese leaders realized that Vietnamese children had to preserve their culture--the kids had to learn to speak and write Vietnamese. They had to learn about who they were. Some children went to Vietnamese summer schools. Many of these children became very intelligent. They were usually the smartest in the class, and they could recite numbers by ten or do quick arithmetic. But as these Vietnamese children grew up, many of them realized that they were different from other people. Community leaders began to from Vietnamese group movements to bring back the culture from Vietnam to America and to unite the Vietnamese race. Organizations such as ACO (Asian Cultural Organization), VSA (Vietnamese Student Association), and TNTTVN (Thieu Nhi Thanh The Viet Nam) began to spring up everywhere within the United States. These organizations produced positive groups that created solidarity and union to the Asian people. However, some Vietnamese teenagers did not feel fit in to any culture and form their own groups--gangs. Perhaps the formation of Asian gangs was inevitable. Parents simply did not understand what their children were facing, and did not know what to do. The Asian culture in the United States is in a period of transition and refinement. Clothing style, status, and cultural evolution are being redefined. Will Asians be a dominate factor in the future or will the next generation produce an Americanized people lacking culture? Only time will tell . . . |
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My life is similar to the lives of many other Vietnamese people, lives of Vietnamese people who have immigrated to the United States of America. I am sure that there are people who have more horrid stories than I do. Yet, my perspective can still be added to the history and foundation of the Vietnamese-American culture.
I was born in South Vietnam (but I am not sure what city I was born in). My life in Vietnam was very difficult for me because of two main reasons. Reason number one, my father died of an illness when I was about eight years old, and so I do not know very much about him. And reason number two, I lived during a time period when my homeland was in a civil war (the Vietnam War). I was forced to join the South Vietnamese Army to fight the communists, the Viet Cong. I do not wish to talk about my father, so instead, I will talk about the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War life was very difficult for me because I could never figure out what path my life would take. Would I die in battle? Would I be taken prisoner and tortured under the hands of the Viet Cong? Or would our country be victorious with the aid of the American government? I can remember the intense training I had to go through. It required me to run through the jungle and swim through the rivers. The training was exhausting because we barely had enough food to replenish our energy. I can remember surviving on rice and sauce with very little meat to eat. If I wanted to eat meat then I had to use my gun to shoot down the birds in the jungle. I did not have very many bullets so I had to use them very wisely. I was in training camp for a very long time, but luckily, I was never sent to battle. When the South Vietnamese army announced our surrender I became very scared. I wondered what would happen to my country and my life. My comrades and I had to escape from Vietnam for we feared some sort of persecution against the South Vietnamese soldiers. We found a boat and went down the river hoping to find the ocean, any ocean. This was the scariest trip of my life, for the Viet Cong soon surrounded us on both sides of the river. The Viet Cong had their guns pointed at our boat but did not shoot. The war was already declared over and both sides knew that there was no point in shooting. Yet, my army and the Viet Cong still had their guns pointed at each other. I was ordered to shoot if and only if the Viet Cong began shooting at us. The boat went slowly along the river and it seemed like an eternity. I could see that the barrel of one Viet Cong's gun was pointed directly at my head, and so I aimed my gun directly at his head. It was an enduring standoff and I knew I could die at any time. But it seemed that God was on my side, and He let the boat move along the river into the ocean. I always have flashbacks about that boat incident. But the real challenge came when I immigrated to America in 1975. I had to face a tough transition that required learning a new language and culture. But that is a different story. |
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