Patrina Tern—Week 6

After reading through the material, there was such an abundant amount of information but I really wanted to focus on a few concepts that stuck with me such as host countries, refugees or victims of the war and art as a way to express stories of victims. Host countries for the Vietnamese people was mainly America but there were also others as well. Since Americans were the reason the Vietnamese people were stuck between a crossfire, they had to welcome them. This idea of host countries can be taken both positively and negatively, look at the Jewish, although they were victims of war, they themselves have become a perpetrator. The U.S. thought that by relocating them to Israel where they have roots would solve issues but instead the Israelis created a wall pushing out the natives. However, Valverde also mentioned those who dream about a country they will never be able to go back to. This relates to my family, because they were involved with the secret war and were running away from the Pathet Lao a communist group. My family never really had a place to call home as they were pushed out from country to country but where they went they made a home for themselves. This relates to the Vietnamese community because whoever was involved or had relatives on the American’s side had to leave because they feared for their lives. These issues relate to the current Trump Ban on Muslims, people who are victims or have family residing here can no longer see their family or have a safe place to go back to. If they want to visit their motherland or family, they can’t even come back to the U.S. which is supposed to be a melting pot, which is made up of immigrants from all over the world. Lastly, what resonated with me the most was the portion on creating art pieces as a representation of someone’s story, when the women designed a basin in honor of her mother-in law. Art is a form of expression and my parents as well as relatives embroider to tell their story, to keep their traditions alive. My mother embroidered wedding clothes for all of my siblings for the future. As a child, I remember her always sewing intensely and it has helped her relive stress and express her stories through every thread. In addition, they also sing their stories out and most times it’s about their hardships, death and grievance of the country. This relates to the now because there are so many exhibits up that show people’s art pieces, these art pieces have meaning and so many stories behind them. For instance, the art exhibition we want to visit in Sacramento, there are so many exhibits out there to commemorate people and for them to tell their stories or someone else’s. My question is, in Vietnam do they really not educate their children about the two sides during the war? Because the girl who grew up with a communist view was completely oblivious about anticommunism and the stories of the victims.