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Brian Nguyen

Hist 536

Dr. Yeh

15 December 2015

Creating a New Home: Vietnamese Refugees in America

As a result of the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, thousands of Southern Vietnamese

tried to flee their country in hopes of finding safe haven. Many were afraid of what they might

face by being captured by the North Vietnamese Army or Viet Cong; since they sided with

Western nations, death or brutal reeducation camps could very likely be a viable possibility.

With the United States’ massive involvement in the war, it presented itself as an obvious country

to try and flee to. Those who were lucky enough to escape and make their way to the United

States had many challenges on hand. For these Vietnamese refugees, there were the very big

issues of adjusting to the American culture and creating a community of their own as well.

One of the first transitional periods for Vietnamese Americans was during their stay in

the refugee camps. For Kimchi Nguyen, some difficulties faced had to deal with the food and

shelter provided. She remembers new types of food not really available in Vietnam. It was hard

because food like macaroni and cheese was hard to eat because cheese and dairy were not really

consumed in Vietnam; on the other hand, everyone getting their own apple, sandwich, and even a

whole egg were seen as abundances since they were usually shared or were luxury foods back in

Vietnam.1 In addition to these new changes, it was also a big change in environment. Kimchi

also mentions that the camps were just tents and cots; while they handed out blankets and

jackets, the night seemed extreme cold compared to Vietnam.2 Yet, the camps also helped

1 Kimchi Nguyen, interviewed by Brian Nguyen, Garden Grove, September 26, 2015. 2 Kimchi Nguyen.

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Vietnamese refugees learn more about the United States and English though classes offered.3

While not everything was favorable in the camps, it must have still been seen as a godsend after

all the uncertainty and chaos from the exodus. Refugees lost their homeland and possessions, but

were given a new country and what seemed like an abundance of recourses available to them.

At first, the United States tried to lessen the impact the incoming Vietnamese refugees on

any particular state. The government wanted to limit the number of refugees to no more than

3000 per state, but eventually, eleven states accounted for “58 percent of the Indochinese

population in the United States”.4 With the first wave of Vietnamese refugees totaling to about

130,000 people, giving each state an equal quota would seem like the best way to spread the

burden of caring for these refugees. From the four main refugee camps, Vietnamese refugees

were supposed to gradually disperse throughout surrounding states. Many Vietnamese refugees,

however, gravitated towards urban areas that attracted large number of Vietnamese and could

better support their community.5 In addition, the Sun Belt offered extra attraction because its

climate more likely resembled that of Vietnam.6 After having to leave everything in Vietnam,

living near or finding other families going through this must have offered some comfort. With

urban areas opening up possibilities to start and maintain ethnic neighborhoods, the Vietnamese

saw another big allure with the idea of being able to create their own communities.

From the camps, sponsor families were usually the next step for the Vietnamese refugees.

Kimchi faced a big issue when her family was trying to find someone to sponsor her family of

ten. Since her father, Trung Nguyen, insisted on them staying together, they were one of the last

families to leave Camp Pendleton.7 In a 1979 survey of 1570 families, about 51% of the families 3 Kimchi Nguyen.4 Marcia A. Eymann and Charles Wollenberg, What’s Going On?: California and the Vietnam Era, (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004), 173.5 Paul J. Rutledge, The Vietnamese Experience in America , (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992), 96.6 John K. Leba, The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the U.S.A., (Houston: Zieleks Company, 1985), 82.7 Kimchi Nguyen.

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consisted of 6-18 members.8 The United States already went through its post war suburban

expansion in the 1950s and the promotion of the nuclear family. The typical middle-class family

would most likely find it difficult to take in so many refugees. With the help of two other

families, Kimchi’s family was able to be taken in by a sponsor family in Cypress, California; yet

it was still chaotic with 13 people sharing a five bedroom house and ongoing cultural differences.

Whenever En, Trung’s wife, cooked fish for her family, the sponsor family would often not be

used to the smell; then when the sponsor family tried to cook for Kimchi and her family, they

had a similar reaction. 9 While the shelter and food provided by the sponsors were received with

much gratitude, it was still hard for Vietnamese families to feel autonomous under this

relationship. Trung Nguyen knew that only way to start living the American lifestyle and

comfortably upkeep his Vietnamese culture was to obtain a house for his own family.10

An issue many refugees faced when coming from Vietnam was trying to find jobs to take

care for their family. Many faced a “downward economic movement and loss of status” because

occupations held in Vietnam did not always mean they would obtain the same occupations in the

United States. 11 As a result, many Vietnamese had to accept low wage and entry level jobs.

Despite language barriers, the Vietnamese refugees could rely on friends and their sponsors to

help them find a job.12 An issue affected Vietnamese-refugees’ work performance was their fluid

concept of time. As one Vietnamese cultural informant stated, “the Vietnamese cultural clock

walks; the American cultural clock runs”. Rigid and strict adherence to time and appointments

was not something Vietnamese culture really adhered to. Even with this attitude, Vietnamese

refugees still worked very hard to try and support their families.

8 Rutledge, The Vietnamese Experience in America, 120.9 Trung Nguyen, interviewed by Brian Nguyen, Cypress, September 26, 2015.10 Trung Nguyen.11 Rutledge, The Vietnamese Experience in America, 77-79.12 Rutledge, The Vietnamese Experience in America, 80.

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A major characteristic that drove them to work so hard is called “tính cân cù” which

signifies thriftiness, industriousness, patience, determination, and endurance.13 This can be seen

in ex-servicemen “who had spent most of their lifetime combating communist aggressors… they

set invaluable examples of endurance to their fellow countrymen”. They did not complain about

their jobs, but set an example of “patience and stoicism”, often willing to learn new skills and

work low jobs.14 Leaders in the fight against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong were now seen

working humbling jobs in America. Quyen Nguyen, a lieutenant colonel for the Republic of

South Vietnam, took up an entry level job in auto mechanics and took a janitorial job during the

night.15 Trung was also an officer for the South Vietnamese Army, but his army and instructive

skills he obtained before the Fall of Saigon was not the technical skills employers were looking

for; luckily his knowledge of English allowed him to teach ESL in the Buena Park district in

California.16 Tính cân cù was already something instilled in Vietnamese culture before the war

and most likely amplified after the war. With the lost of their homeland, Vietnamese refugees

had a greater resolve to push forward and rebuild their new lives in the United States.

Another trait the Vietnamese expressed to have is “tính hiếu học” or love of learning:

to strive, to seek, and to never yield”. 17 This mentality helps the Vietnamese strive to learn about

American culture and how to live in this new country. Yet there needs to be the understanding

that many refugees still found a balance between their old culture and their new ones. They still

have a level of resistance to change and try to preserve their old ways, yet at the same time still

know that they need to adjust and adapt to an American way of life. The Vietnamese-American

13 U.S. Department of Health Education, and Welfare. U.S. Repatriate and Refugee Assistance Staff, A Manual for Indochinese Refugee Education 1976-1977, by Allene Guss Grognet, (Arlington: The National Indochinese Clearing House, Center for Applied Linguistics, 1976), 114-115.14 Leba, The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the U.S.A., 80-90.15 Quyen Nguyen, interviewed by Brian Nguyen, Garden Grove, September 26, 2015.16 Trung Nguyen.17 A Manual for Indochinese Refugee Education 1976-1977, 115.

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Association ran programs to teach new refugees basic, daily matters and experiment new

customs while still being able to return to their old customs.18 A prime example of this is how

many families kept their filial traditions, but still took advantage of all the new freedoms and

opportunities the United States had to offer.

Kimchi’s older brothers had to work part time jobs as they were going to school to help

their father with rent and other costs. 19 With Stephen, he and his brothers would often help their

dad in his janitorial job to get it done faster, but also took up the opportunity to go to college

with financial aid.20 In both of these cases, the sons are following tradition by helping out their

father and respecting this filial tradition; their work is also to help the family as a whole and not

just for personal spending money. While school and education is very important in Vietnamese

culture, the level of opportunity attributed to them in Vietnam is not as high that of the United

States. Back in Vietnam, if someone was not rich already or had the proper connections, they

were most likely not be able to get a good job after finishing school.21 Vietnamese refugees

trying to create a new life in the United States tried to hold onto their old traditions and culture to

keep their family intact. At the same time, they would also take advantage of and know what

kind of improvements America could bring. For many refugees, “understanding, employing, and

appreciating American ways is a must in the Vietnamese perspective; adopting them is another

consideration altogether”.22

As more Vietnamese refugees started being accepted by sponsor families or into their

own homes, another opportunity was arising. Vietnamese refugees found that opening

Vietnamese oriented businesses would receive a quite favorable reception, despite some cultural

18 Rutledge, The Vietnamese American Experience in America, 58-59.19 Kimchi Nguyen.20 Stephen Nguyen, interviewed by Brian Nguyen, Garden Grove, September 26, 2015.21 Kimchi Nguyen.22 Rutledge, The Vietnamese Experience in America, 61.

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setbacks. As a result of Confucian influences, business was never seen as a high position in

society; subsequently there was no higher level of education for business in Vietnam.

Furthermore, the hasty escape usually meant little to no possessions were taken, and Vietnamese

refugees had little capital to open a business.23 When trying to start up a business in the United

States, this lack of knowledge would no doubt be a handicap on Vietnamese entrepreneurs. Even

if enough money was raised, the lack of specialized training and proper knowledge could lead to

the closing of many businesses. Despite all that, there was still an allure of opening a business

catering to the influx of Vietnamese refugees. In Orange County California, Chinese

entrepreneurs started opening supermarkets in what would be known as Little Saigon. From

there, more Vietnamese oriented businesses and restaurants started popping up as well, creating

an area destined to become the largest Vietnamese community in California.24 While tradition

may deter some from entering the business world for a living, there was still a large market to

cater to by opening Vietnamese oriented businesses. Businesses were like a bridge between the

two cultures. While they were mediums to bring back traditional Vietnamese foods and products,

to run them, American business practices were needed to ensure their prosperity.

While there was always the risk of going out of business, Vietnamese refugees opening

businesses would ensure jobs for themselves and often their family. Since many Vietnamese

Americans were less likely to enter higher professions, starting a business seemed like a practical

alternative.25 A sense of safety was created because family would often be hired as a loyal and

cheaper workforce. 26 If they did not only hire family, co-ethnic workers were often seen as

viable choices. With co-ethnic workers, the employers would often set up a “paternalistic 23 Leba, The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the U.S.A., 22-23.24 Kimchi Nguyen.25Hung M. Chu, Lei Zhu, Anthony Chu, “ Immigrant Business Owners: A Case Study of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in America,” Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship 22.2 (2010): 25.26 Steven J. Gold, “The Employment Potential of Refugee Entrepreneurship: Soviet Jews and Vietnamese in California,” Public Studies Journal 11.2 (Spring 1992): 181.

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exploitation”, where less pay is compensated with extra benefits. The employers would often

hire incoming refugees knowing that they would need a job while co-ethnic workers would

usually get more flexible schedule and even get help if they wanted to open their own business.27

By opening up a family business, Vietnamese refugees created not only one job, but also job

opportunities for their immediate and extended family members. If an average citizen went to

work for them, a decreased payroll may not have seemed fair at all; with family, members may

accept the decreased wages because the store’s profit benefited the whole family. Then with

incoming co-ethnic workers, the pay cut may not be such a big deal when taking into account all

the extra perks the employers would offer. Vietnamese oriented businesses helped further the

creation of Vietnamese communities. If more Vietnamese ran stores are opening up, more people

would likely start gravitating towards those areas.

While Vietnamese oriented businesses get immediate clientele from the influx of

resettled refugees, it is also important not to alienate other potential customers and try to adopt

western business methods. While there was an obvious demand for these businesses, if

entrepreneurs could not market their business right, supply would always be too low, leading to

the failure. 28 When Can went to open an eggroll manufacturing business, he knew he had to sell

a product not only Vietnamese people would like but also other people. He altered the recipe to

make it cheaper, sold them at affordable prices, and made sure his business could adapt and

evolve to an ever-changing market.29 Moreover, the numerous businesses sprouting up,

entrepreneurs could not only rely on Vietnamese speaking customers to keep them in business.

Although there were still an admitted language barrier between English speakers and these

workers, it was still possible to be successful. With effective communication missing between

27 Gold, “The Employment Potential,” 181-182.28 Leba, The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the USA, 77.29 Leba, The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the U.S.A., 127-128.

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Vietnamese workers and all of their customers, the quality of their services and pricing was very

important.

There was still a downside that the Vietnamese could not foresee. Confucian influences

and humanism have influenced Vietnamese culture and mentality to believe all people are born

inherently good.30 While many people welcomed the Vietnamese refugees, there was still

opposition; some people felt that the Vietnamese were too close-knit and employed too much of

their own family and not other people looking for jobs. In addition, anti-Vietnamese sentiments

formed because they associated them with Japanese firms that took away jobs from Americans or

fear that they were really Viet Cong coming into the nation.31 Unfortunately, racial hostilities and

discrimination erupted against Vietnamese refugees because of their ethnicity and lower

education level.32 It was hard for the Vietnamese to deal with these issues because the language

barrier did not allow for effective communication between the two parties. In addition, the racist

mentality and prejudices most likely prevented these Americans from wanting to welcome the

refugees at all. With Vietnamese families coming together, their community exemplified the

refugees’ strengths of adaptation and adjustment.33 They had a mentality to combat this racism,

“if we keep on doing well, and we do not push ourselves, people will come see us and like us as

we are. We must do well to survive and make a future…”34

Despite some negative reception, Vietnamese refugees still had a “common desire…to

form their own ethnic community”. 35 At first it was very difficult to do so because places like

Little Saigon have not even been formed yet. Stephen Nguyen and his family were relocated to

Los Angeles from Fort Chaffee in Arkansas. Los Angeles attracted many refugee families who 30 Leba, The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the U.S.A., 24.31 Eymann, What’s Going on?, 174.32 Chu, “Immigrant Business Owners,” 69.33 Rutledge, The Vietnamese Experience in America, 58.34 Rutledge, The Vietnamese Experience in America, 95.35 Leba, The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the U.S.A., 3.

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did not have a lot to offer to each other, but they still came together to offer their company.36 In

Kimchi’s case, there was only one other Vietnamese family in living near her family, but the

distance meant the only contact was via telephone. So in her case, they were fairly isolated until

more Vietnamese families began to move into Orange County. 37 Barely any refugee families had

an abundance of extra resources to help each other out with. The main thing they could give to

each other was support and company. There was a form of community formed through these

bonds, but it was still on a smaller scale.

Church played a major part in the formation of larger communities. Especially for the

first wave refugees, Catholic churches played a large role in the further expansion of Vietnamese

communities. In the late 1970’s, St. Boniface was one of the first churches to get a Vietnamese

mass approved, while the city of Long Beach offered masses in hall rooms or through house

services. After the mass, people would usually stay behind and talk to each other. Kimchi recalls

that being how many Vietnamese helped each other out. They discussed where to go to find a

job, what agencies to go to for aid, and various other issues and how they could be solved.38

Quyen explains how “No Vietnamese knew more or had more than others…however, we gave

each other good company and encouragement”.39 It had only been a few years since the

Vietnamese refugees arrived to the United States. Furthermore, with the time spent in refugee

camps, time living with sponsor families, and low paying occupations, it would be unlikely for a

family to have enough to give out to others. That still did not prevent families from gathering

together and trying to offer whatever help they could. With the lost of their homeland, the

creation of these communities was essential to gather and rebuild what they lost in Vietnam.

36 Steven Nguyen.37 Kimchi Nguyen.38 Kimchi Nguyen.39 Quyen Nguyen.

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The creation of Vietnamese communities would help give the refugees a sense of

familiarity and safety. With Vietnamese oriented businesses and an early resonance of

community forming, Vietnamese refugees were at ease; in addition, more agencies started being

created to help the refugees and even give them citizenship.40 Since people were catering to them

and putting all this effort forward, it was clear that they were there to stay. If that was not

enough, they now saw the government initiating measures to give the Vietnamese refugees

permanence in the United States.

The lost of Vietnam is a massive tragedy to so many of those who had to flee their

country and start again in a foreign land. When the Vietnamese refugees finally arrived to the

United States, they had to face a multitude of different issues to try and get acclimated to this

new culture and create their own home. The loss of Vietnam can be bittersweet for many. On one

side, they had to abandon their home and everything they knew; yet, living in the United States

brought forth opportunities that they would never have been able to obtain if they were living in

Vietnam.

Works Cited

Chu, Hung M., Lei Zhu, and Anthony Chu. "Immigrant Business Owners: A Case Study of Vietnamese

Entrepreneurs in America." Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship 22.2 (2010): 60-

74. Http://asbe.us/jbe/. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Eymann, Marcia, and Charles Wollenberg. What's Going On?: California and the Vietnam Era.

Oakland: Oakland Museum of California, 2004. Print.

40 Kimchi Nguyen.

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Gold, Steven J. "The Employment Potential of Refugee Entrepreneurship: Soviet Jews and Vietnamese

in California."Policy Studies Journal 11.2 (1992): 176-

186. Https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Le, Ba Kong., John H. Leba, and Anthony T. Leba. The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the U.S.A.: The

First Decade. Houston, TX: Zieleks, 1985. Print.

Nguyen, Kimchi. "Interview with Kimchi Nguyen." Personal interview. Cypress, 26 Sept. 2015.

Nguyen, Quyen. "Interview with Quyen Nguyen." Personal interview. Garden Grove, 26 Sept. 2015.

Nguyen, Stephen. "Interview with Stephen Nguyen." Personal interview. Cypress, 6 Dec. 2015.

Nguyen, Trung. "Interview with Trung Nguyen." Personal interview.Cypress, 26 Sept. 2015.

Rutledge, Paul James. The Vietnamese Experience in America. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1992. Print.

U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. U.S. Repatriate and Refugee Assistance Staff. A

Manual for Indochinese Refugee Education 1976-1977. By Allene Guss Grognet. Arlington: The

National Indochinese Clearinghouse, Center for Applied Linguistics, 1976. Print.