https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/in-trumps-vision-of-a-white-america-immigrants-should-be-grateful-and-servile/2019/07/18/0afb70c6-a8e3-11e
While I don't agree with everything Viet Thanh Nguyen said, his article raises several issues that should be pondered upon by Vietnamese Americans, if not to say all Americans.
Naturally, one should not listen to Viet Nguyen simply because he is a Pulitzer winner or because he is of Vietnamese origin...That's a label in itself.
Yet, "labels" such as the "hyphenated Americans" are important in history and in law because the entire framework of civil rights legislation in this country (product of the 1960s) is based on the recognition that certain groups in America, due to history, are recognized by law as "protected groups." When certain Americans feel they should chant "send them back," this means that notions of "protected groups" in U.S. civil rights law based on tragic and bloody history are being shaken up, to the core!
I am very concerned about the chanting "Send Her Back" and how it came about in mainstream American politics as the signal from certain hateful pockets of the "America the Beautiful" that has welcomed me and my family: a country of immigrants! I am so sad and disturbed that there are Vietnamese Americans who join in such chanting, with equally hateful and even obscene language, because they think the mainstream establishment (i.e., what can be more American than American politics?) has encouraged and endorsed it. They consider it their own sentiment! These Vietnamese Americans may feel that by joining such chanting, they are being grateful to America as patriotic citizens who are anti-communist, without realizing that such chanting hurts Vietnamese Americans! i.e., these Vietnamese American chanters hurt themselves!
National origin is among the hardest form of discrimination to decipher, and to fight against, more so than race or gender, because national origin becomes intertwined with the rhetoric of nationalism and patriotism. National origin is played out in ways of speaking, ways of dressing, ways of life, food, drinks, beliefs, viewpoints, history, perspective, everything that makes up a human being. All such cultural traits are interpreted so hatefully and totally subjectively in the eyes of extremists as "unwanted," "unpatriotic," "un-American" and therefore "SEND HER BACK."
When national origin, race, and gender all become one, the issue of discrimination becomes extremely complex, especially when it is played out in the context of border/national security and asylum law -- the very essence of how Vietnamese Americans have become part of America, The voice of Viet Thanh Nguyen is important, because he, too, bears the "label" of the hyphenated and hence, he is witness of such human experience (so do I and so am I; so do we, and so are we the hyphenated!).
ON the other hand, there is the enduring, shocking aftermath of something as terrible as nine-eleven and terrorism, directed at America, feeding upon the worst kind of prejudice: something foreign -- privilege not earned, is something bad, destructive, competitive, hurtful to America.
The "Squad" on Capitol Hill and their "women of color" success story are exactly that -- the combination of national origin, race, and gender, and how such complexity in history (and in law) has become the backdrop of another critical issue, right at the forefront of national (and international) attention: the implementation and application of U.S. asylum law, which goes back to international human rights and the core values of America: the Statute of Liberty offers herself as "refuge" for the oppressed! Then, national origin, race, and gender become intertwined with "social groups" and "political belief." All has cross-fired with "America first," "America great" -- the rhetoric of patriotism.
Next to "women of color" is the "white male privilege" -- dichotomies recognized in U.S. cultural and social studies of several past decades. It has taken so much sacrifice, understanding, empathy, and scrutiny, years and years, studies and studies, for us Americans to even have discussions about "women of color" and "white male privileges." Yet, the discussion has been limited to academia and certain "pockets" of American known under the labels of "progressive," "leftist," "Democrats," etc.
And then there is political correctness that simply cloaks hypocrisy.
But what is the reality, today?
Let me review:
--In U.S. civil rights law, there are national origin, race, and gender -- the "protected groups."
--In U.S. asylum law, there are "social groups" "religious and political belief," grounds of persecution elsewhere, which become grounds of admittance here, because America stands with the Statute of Liberty.
--In the U.S. constitution, there is "freedom of speech," the backbone of democracy.
And then,
--In U.S. immigration law, there is also family reunification, plus the notion that America has always attracted and welcomed the best and the brightest, as well as "les miserables" who risk dying for freedom -- the persecuted who work so hard to survive and to rebuild themselves to become part of their new "great" country. Family and the American dream (i.e. to be the best one can) are part of this country's core values, reflected in its very "immigration visa" system.
Yet, what makes America "great" is now the debate that has become the soil of terrifying hatred and divisiveness, today, while it should NEVER be!
In sum, history should not be wiped out, or betrayed.
Those legal and historical frameworks I mentioned above, should stay intact, and that is the duty, and pride, of every American, hyphenated or not.
So, please think twice, thrice, again, again, and again, about chanting 'SEND HER BACK."
It is happening now...and what does that mean, to America?
WND C2019
While I don't agree with everything Viet Thanh Nguyen said, his article raises several issues that should be pondered upon by Vietnamese Americans, if not to say all Americans.
Naturally, one should not listen to Viet Nguyen simply because he is a Pulitzer winner or because he is of Vietnamese origin...That's a label in itself.
Yet, "labels" such as the "hyphenated Americans" are important in history and in law because the entire framework of civil rights legislation in this country (product of the 1960s) is based on the recognition that certain groups in America, due to history, are recognized by law as "protected groups." When certain Americans feel they should chant "send them back," this means that notions of "protected groups" in U.S. civil rights law based on tragic and bloody history are being shaken up, to the core!
I am very concerned about the chanting "Send Her Back" and how it came about in mainstream American politics as the signal from certain hateful pockets of the "America the Beautiful" that has welcomed me and my family: a country of immigrants! I am so sad and disturbed that there are Vietnamese Americans who join in such chanting, with equally hateful and even obscene language, because they think the mainstream establishment (i.e., what can be more American than American politics?) has encouraged and endorsed it. They consider it their own sentiment! These Vietnamese Americans may feel that by joining such chanting, they are being grateful to America as patriotic citizens who are anti-communist, without realizing that such chanting hurts Vietnamese Americans! i.e., these Vietnamese American chanters hurt themselves!
National origin is among the hardest form of discrimination to decipher, and to fight against, more so than race or gender, because national origin becomes intertwined with the rhetoric of nationalism and patriotism. National origin is played out in ways of speaking, ways of dressing, ways of life, food, drinks, beliefs, viewpoints, history, perspective, everything that makes up a human being. All such cultural traits are interpreted so hatefully and totally subjectively in the eyes of extremists as "unwanted," "unpatriotic," "un-American" and therefore "SEND HER BACK."
When national origin, race, and gender all become one, the issue of discrimination becomes extremely complex, especially when it is played out in the context of border/national security and asylum law -- the very essence of how Vietnamese Americans have become part of America, The voice of Viet Thanh Nguyen is important, because he, too, bears the "label" of the hyphenated and hence, he is witness of such human experience (so do I and so am I; so do we, and so are we the hyphenated!).
ON the other hand, there is the enduring, shocking aftermath of something as terrible as nine-eleven and terrorism, directed at America, feeding upon the worst kind of prejudice: something foreign -- privilege not earned, is something bad, destructive, competitive, hurtful to America.
The "Squad" on Capitol Hill and their "women of color" success story are exactly that -- the combination of national origin, race, and gender, and how such complexity in history (and in law) has become the backdrop of another critical issue, right at the forefront of national (and international) attention: the implementation and application of U.S. asylum law, which goes back to international human rights and the core values of America: the Statute of Liberty offers herself as "refuge" for the oppressed! Then, national origin, race, and gender become intertwined with "social groups" and "political belief." All has cross-fired with "America first," "America great" -- the rhetoric of patriotism.
Next to "women of color" is the "white male privilege" -- dichotomies recognized in U.S. cultural and social studies of several past decades. It has taken so much sacrifice, understanding, empathy, and scrutiny, years and years, studies and studies, for us Americans to even have discussions about "women of color" and "white male privileges." Yet, the discussion has been limited to academia and certain "pockets" of American known under the labels of "progressive," "leftist," "Democrats," etc.
And then there is political correctness that simply cloaks hypocrisy.
But what is the reality, today?
Let me review:
--In U.S. civil rights law, there are national origin, race, and gender -- the "protected groups."
--In U.S. asylum law, there are "social groups" "religious and political belief," grounds of persecution elsewhere, which become grounds of admittance here, because America stands with the Statute of Liberty.
--In the U.S. constitution, there is "freedom of speech," the backbone of democracy.
And then,
--In U.S. immigration law, there is also family reunification, plus the notion that America has always attracted and welcomed the best and the brightest, as well as "les miserables" who risk dying for freedom -- the persecuted who work so hard to survive and to rebuild themselves to become part of their new "great" country. Family and the American dream (i.e. to be the best one can) are part of this country's core values, reflected in its very "immigration visa" system.
Yet, what makes America "great" is now the debate that has become the soil of terrifying hatred and divisiveness, today, while it should NEVER be!
In sum, history should not be wiped out, or betrayed.
Those legal and historical frameworks I mentioned above, should stay intact, and that is the duty, and pride, of every American, hyphenated or not.
So, please think twice, thrice, again, again, and again, about chanting 'SEND HER BACK."
It is happening now...and what does that mean, to America?
WND C2019
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