Notebook 4
Summarize
The main topic of Andrew’s zine is his father’s identification card in a refugee camp in Thaliand. This is a very personal object for Andrew. His father was a political refugee of Vietnam. His father tried to flee the communist regime that was taking over Vietnam, but ultimately ended spending two years in a refugee camp in Thailand. Andrew’s father was able to immigrate to the United States; however, he lost everything. He lost his family and friends. Andrew believes that his father’s experience as a refugee parallels with the refugee crisis that is going on in the Middle East.
Compelling Quotes
“I saw the extreme horror, and I wondered what kind of regime this was, that had no other method than to repress and annihilate its people. It took them to 'people’s courts' and shot them on the scene without a fair trial and even without any evidence. The land reform campaign was a crime of genocide like that of Pol Pot." - North Vietnamese dissident Tran Manh Hao
"If you don't do what they say, you die." - Former Tuol Sleng guard
I personally thought these two quotes aligned with a refugee’s mind. I think you should include different relevant quotes in your zine. Another idea could be to actually quote your father.
Compelling Images
I think these two photos are very powerful as they show the struggle Vietnam refugees had to go through. I think you can crop these pictures out to show an illustration for your zine.
Compelling anecdotes, stories, facts, and content
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/10/01/syria-refugees-vietnamese-boat-people-united-nations/73021410/
The story of Gian Thi Le seems to relate to Andrew’s father’s. The news article seems to compare the Vietnam refugees to current Syrian Refugees.
Reword Analysis
Colonialism plays a key part in Vietnam history. Vietnam once was a colony of China until the rebellion overthrew the Chinese regime in the mid 1400s. The concept of whiteness caused a struggle for Andrew’s father when he immigrated to the US. An example of exclusion of Asians is the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The act implicitly stated that not only Chinese but all Asians didn’t belong in the United States. This overall concept of whiteness causes poor assimilation and continuous division between the peoples. Even today, western culture portrays asian men to be feminine and weaker compared to the white male. This is a racial project to view asian’s as a weaker race. This is the same for asian women as they are negatively viewed to be the weaker sex. Everything connects to intersectionality, as minority individuals face continuous racial projects that prevent them from equality.
Asian Americans, although a minority, are viewed differently than African Americans and Latino Americans. They are stereotyped to be efficient, family-oriented, apolitical, and passive. Asian are somewhat perceived to be white as they seemed to have assimilated with “White” America. However, that is not the case. Asian American due to continuous division has its own racial project that prevents complete isolation. Asian Americans are isolated and assimilated at the same time.
I personally thought Andrew’s analysis was powerful because he understood what intersectionality was. He defined how intersectionality affects Asian American immigrants like his father. He also made a comparison that all immigrants aren’t the same. He showed how history of racial projects and gender division make up the social structure in place today. For suggestions, I think you could go more into detail on colonialism and its lasting effects. You could also add on more to your analysis on whiteness and intersectionality and how it affects Vietnamese people.
-James Hong A07, https://pecansglazedmix.tumblr.com