Fears Manifested as Political Oppression

Jennifer Le
Section A01
Reflection #8: "Creating Identity, Defining Culture, and Making History from an Art Exhibit: 'Unfinished Story: A Tribute to My Mothers'"

    Professor's Valverde wrote an article that described the staunch anti-Communist sentiment from the Vietnamese American community by connecting it through the artwork of Chau Huynh. As a Vietnamese-born women that was educated under the restrictive communist government, Chau was intellectually and culturally shocked when she finally learned about the South Vietnamese history and community after moving to the US. She was inspired by this history and her family to create artwork, the most controversial of which was the "Connections" installation, also known as "Pedicure Basin" Many within the Vietnamese American community protests against her artwork and the newspaper that printed it as communist propaganda. This mass protest by the Vietnamese American community embodies the sense of censorship, fervent anti-communist sentiment, and oppression for political conformity.
   Reading Professor Valverde's paper was a weird experience as the objective words echoed my own experiences growing up. Living in a large Vietnamese American community, I remember going to parades with people waving the small yellow and red striped flag. This yellow and striped flag was a common image growing up, but I never knew that it was the South Vietnamese flag. I didn't understand its political importance as a symbol of protest and defiance by the Vietnamese American community against the current community government. Nor did I understand the conservative, anti-Communist views of my community until I grew up.
   At the same time, I also agree with the paper's argument of the oppressive, anti-communist sentiment within the Vietnamese community. This is because the vast majority of the community stems from the South Vietnamese refugees that fled the country after the Fall of Saigon and communist takeover. However, their political rigidness has has changed how they viewed history and created an "imagined community". History has become a black and white memory that sees the communist as the bad guys as Americans as the heroes, instead of understanding the complex factors that show a grey area. Professor Valverde rationalizes that these staunch political views is a manifestation of their fears that their tragedies, history, and experiences will be erased and forgotten with time. Even though the majority of the Vietnamese American community is like this, how will our demographics change as an increasing number of the next generation of Vietnamese-Americans becomes more political diverse and arguably more liberal?