Week 7_Natalie Lortz_ASA 150E

Nayan Chanda's reading is an in depth historical account of the political relationships between Viet Nam, Cambodia, and China, with influences from the Russia post Viet Nam War.
Due to the broad American censorship, the American public has lack of certain knowledge surrounding Southeast Asian history. The Vietnam War is covered in public education, even if it is taught with a certain context that benefits the United States. But, events like the Khmer Rouge that have less U.S. intervention get left out of textbooks. The result only adds to feelings of displacement for the Southeast Asian diaspora in America. By intentionally leaving out parts of world history that is not relevant to U.S. involvement, it sends a message that Americans only derive from American soil. Therefore, a complete history of other countries do not need to be mentioned because there is no need for them. Further, it inaccurately assumes that no U.S. inhabitants are from Southeast Asian, not do they need to know about Southeast Asian history. It is ironic that America, the Melting Pot, is known for its diverse immigrant population, yet chooses to leave out parts of world history, creating a fragmented storyline that citizens must take as truth. It is only after years' past or through other outlets are students able to learn about political history that is relevant to their heritage.

Personally, I have never heard anything about Cambodia-Vietnam political relations after the Vietnam War. In fact, I had barely learned about the Khmer Rouge in public classrooms, even in University. It wasn't until college that I learned that the Khmer Rouge was something more than "a thing that happened in Cambodia where a lot of people died". Though this reading does not center on the Khmer Rouge, it is central to understanding the different loyalties and political ideologies at the time. My point is simply that if the Khmer Rouge is barely even mentioned in educative spaces, then how are students supposed to be able to understand the atmosphere surrounding political beliefs for certain groups, much less the historic events of a dynamic, long-standing country?

Currently, the best way to learn about firsthand experiences in America, is listening to immigrant experiences. However, when immigrant stories and Asian representation is not often available, how do we find contemporary ways to bring the stories, representation, and histories to the general public, or at least the Asian American diasporic community?