Quynh Dinh-week 5

This week through the documentaries and readings, we are more or less opened to the readers about how Vietnamese community is in the U.S. The fall of Sai Gon 1975 left a huge scar in Vietnamese refugees. Most of them have moved on and blended in American society but deep inside their hatred toward communism would never be disappeared regardless how many years have passed. They take everything offensively whenever they see, or even just hear about communism. The case of Hi-Tek store owner Truong Van Tran, who hung up Ho Chi Minh poster, woke up the anger and outrage of many Vietnamese refugees in Little Sai Gon, Orange County. The crowd gathered, threatened and beat Tran to the ground as they shouted “Down with communism”. Here they never allow anything related to Viet Nam communism. They will take it to the street, protesting and fighting aggressively until they win. They lost almost everything during the war and struggled to start up their life again from scratch. They fell from a very high place to rock bottom and that made them grow bitter and super sensitive. However, those protesting people only represent a small group of Vietnamese community in America. The majority of Vietnamese people have learned to leave their past behind to move forward. They might not forget or forgive what had happened but they decide not to let it dominate their future. The next generation gradually become more Americanized and more neutral since they don’t experience the same situation as their parents, their grandparents did. I wonder how the perception or attitude toward communism will be in the next 50 years among Vietnamese community. Will the hatred be faded or will there be another anti-communism aggressive protest when somebody hangs up communist poster like the store owner Tran did.