Little Saigon

Alexander Broughton

ASA 2

Section A02

Reading “Nguyen takes stand against tyranny” and “The Sum of Our Parts” by Professor Valverde, I was interested in how Vietnamese Americans limit their social mobility by classifying themselves by how American they resemble or act. It worries me that this creates an homogeneity among the society and over-aggrandizes the American culture. I personally believe that there is a benefit to maintaining the diversity of a community to allow for an open discussion of cross-cultural ideas. Rather than being “Vietnamese” or “American,” I would like to see a cooperation of the cultures for a more cohesive society with greater social and economic mobility that still allows multiple cultures to flourish. So in the end, I don’t personally believe that it matters what we call the “Little Saigon” business district unless it can unbiasedly incorporate the unique elements of both cultures and the individualists that make them. I think this will meet a lot of resistance however because the American culture is too much weighted over the Vietnamese culture among both Asian Americans and the American social majority. The only way to completely blend the two together harmoniously is to encourage the representation of external cultures in popular media and in small businesses.

How can we annihilate class distinctions while maintaining a unique blending of two important cultures?