Photo by Mark Boster, L.A. Times
Black April is the name Vietnamese overseas give to April 30, the anniversary of the day in 1975 when Saigon fell to the communist forces.
This year’s Black April story in the L.A. Times is this piece by My-Thuan Tran, entitled “Lives remembered, lives rebuilt, attitudes changing — 33 years after South Vietnam fell.”
Tran did a really good job capturing the diverse lines of thoughts in the Vietnamese-American community on what to do with the communist government back in Southeast Asia. At the risk of being branded a commie (again!), the Bolsavik highly commends this piece for being very different from the normal (and effortlessly routine after 33 repeats) memorial stories that usually occupy the “Black April specials.”
Quote:
Thirty-three years after the Vietnam War ended, the fallen country of South Vietnam lives on — in the streets of Orange County’s Little Saigon and in the minds of thousands of refugees who fled communist forces and rebuilt their lives here.
The memories of hardship are still so bitter for some that they continue to mount street protests, fly the South Vietnamese flag from businesses and lampposts, and rail against communism on radio talk shows.
Now there are signs of shifting attitudes in the historically anticommunist community, the largest Vietnamese enclave in the U.S.
Vietnamese Americans are beginning to see opportunity in their home country, and increasingly, people are moving back, expanding their business ties or starting humanitarian organizations to improve the lives of those in Vietnam — actions barely imaginable a decade ago.
Though the change is subtle and those who associate with Vietnam often keep a low profile, the movement is remarkable in a community where a statue of a South Vietnamese soldier stands near the civic center and noisy street protests against perceived communist sympathizers are still routine.
Be sure to click on the Audio Slide Show.
Very nicely done, featuring the voices of (pictured right, top to bottom; photos by Mark Boster, LA Times): Tammy Tran, political activist and founder of VietACT, an anti-human trafficking advocacy group; Quynh Kieu, a pediatrician who led medical missions to Vietnam; Linda T. Vo, Chair of UCI’s Asian-American Studies Department; and Bill Pham, an enterpreneur who opened a clean-energy technology company in Hanoi, Vietnam.
That’s a good piece. However, I object to that “bitter memory” sentence, which is a very common theme used by the media. Not all those who oppose Communism do so because of “bitterness” or “hatred”. Many, like myself, oppose Communism because of what it has done to Vietnam in the past and the present, but more importantly, what it will do to Vietnam IN THE FUTURE. Opposing Communism and helping the people of Vietnam are NOT mutually exclusive. I FAVOR the actions of people like Quynh Kieu and Bill Pham. Building an educated middle class, implementing civil society, and expanding private enterprise in Vietnam are all good and necessary–but not sufficient–components in the long struggle to make Vietnam a more free, democratic, and pluralistic country; there needs to be also political pressure for Vietnam to liberalize.
Well said, Vietpundit!
Ditto.
Even though, if you think about it, the author was talking about the bitterness of the memory of the hardship. She’s not saying that all anti-communism arose out of bitterness. But yes, it does lend itself to the other (and I agree with you, incorrect) interpretation.
nice thoughts , both Viet P and Bolsalv
The article appears to be a rehash of archived articles. Is the Bolsavik paid for promoting promotion?