The two sides in a dispute over the display of the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the University of Southern California will hold a public discussion forum on April 21.

See background story by the OC Register’s Deepa Bharath here.

Here’s the announcement. The Bolsavik‘s rather lengthy thoughts follow after.

Identity, Diversity, and Fair Representation?
A closer look at Student Exclusion and the politics of the VKC Flags
Monday, April 21st, 5:30 – 7:00 PM
Room TBA VKC 156
Food: TG Express

This forum will be a respectful, constructive and open space for a closer discussion about the recent VKC Flag controversy, with its implications for identity, student exclusion, and University space. The Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and the Vietnamese International Student Association (VISA) will begin the dialogue and clarify current misunderstandings about the politics of the flag and student representation. Other student organizations like the Armenian Student Association and the general student body will have opportunities to voice their concerns about possible university exclusions and recognize both differences and commonalities. Faculty members Dr. Viet Nguyen and Dr. Janet Hoskins (tentative) will contribute to this discussion and school administrators will also be invited. This event is an important foundation for further advocacy. Students can engage the University’s current response and explore how student organizations can collaborate among themselves and with the University to inclusively represent a rich, diverse student body.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=35834995703
Contact: apasa0708@gmail.com

–
Daniel Wu
University of Southern California, 2010
B.A.: International Relations
Minor: Public Health
714-220-7989

“VKC” is short for the von KleinSmid Center for International & Public Affairs at USC, the building where the flag is hung. The VSA is the organization of mostly Vietnamese-Americans. The VISA consists mostly of students from Vietnam studying at USC on a student visa. Hence the acronym. Cute.

There is a deep feeling held by many Vietnamese-American, not just the right-wing extremists, that the current official red-and-star flag of Vietnam stands for the oppression that they and their parents and their parents before them suffered in Vietnam. (That is the mainstream Vietnamese opinion. The extremism comes in prohibiting anyone from raising a peep about the red flag, calling them a commie.)

To an overwhelming majority of Vietnamese-Americans, the red-and-star flag is an insult to their past and their identity as victims of the communist regime. The flag that represents the Vietnamese part of their Vietnamese-American heritage, to them, is the yellow-and-stripes flag of the former Republic of Vietnam (right, with the Governator). Although it doesn’t represent any country any more, it does represent a sentiment, and that is what they want to use to represent the Vietnamese community.

On the other hand, there is also a probably equally deep feeling among many younger people in Vietnam, who may very well be anti-communist for all we know, but who have never ever seen the yellow-and-stripes flag, and who may be too young to remember, not just the war pre-1975, but also a lot of the harsh represssion that followed in the decade or so afterwards. All they have ever seen was the red-and-star flag which they use to display their patriotism. To them, the red flag is sacred while the yellow flag is alien and meaningless.

The Bolsavik has expressed the thoughts above publicly on Radio Free Asia‘s Vietnamese service. Click here to listen (in Vietnamese); the Bolsavik comes on at around before 50%.

That RFA interview played a major role in the Bolsavik becoming a main target of the protesters. Not just outside extremists are unhappy, but quite a few older people working at Nguoi Viet were not pleased either. The Senior Editor who had approved the survey in question backtracked. At one point, the protesters laid out a row of VC helmets labeled with names of the accused communists. Right beside the Bolsavik’s name was the name of Thien Giao, the RFA reporter who had interviewed him.

BTW, if the above photo looks familiar, that’s because the Bolsavik took it at the same event that later gave rise to Trung Nguyen‘s notorious Photoshop scandal.

The OC Register’s Martin Wisckol is working on a piece about OC Viet politicians’ position on the anti-communists. He’s been posting bits and pieces of his interviews on Total Buzz.