Rheanna Ostrea

Blog 8

ASA 02 A03

November 8, 2015

In the article, “Love, Money, Prison, Sin, Revenge” by Andrew Lam the main focus is about the struggles Vietnamese Americans have from growing up in America with Vietnamese traditions. I found that the reading was pretty similar to the video, Sentenced Home, in that Vietnamese parents don’t really know American customs so they teach their children their own customs. I feel that coming in as a child refugee from the boat migration is difficult in that they do not really remember everything that happened so their understanding comes from movies or television shows which can be distorted. I agree that refugee children have trouble growing up in America in that they have to be the spokespeople for their parents and they struggle in trying to keep true to their Vietnamese culture to respect their elders but are also trying to be assimilated into the American culture. I believe that many Vietnamese refugees need to find a balance between living their lives in America and keeping their own traditions because if they don’t have that balance they end up looking towards revenge and violence for what has happened in Vietnam.

Question: What are ways that we can help Vietnamese refugees and their children better assimilate into the American culture so they do not feel lost?