{"id":175,"date":"2022-11-14T06:40:20","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T06:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/universalflyonthewall.com\/?p=175"},"modified":"2022-11-14T06:40:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T06:40:23","slug":"immigration-asian-experience-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/universalflyonthewall.com\/?p=175","title":{"rendered":"Immigration – Asian Experience in California"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Andrew Lam arrived in San Francisco in 1975, there were only five Vietnamese families other than his aunt\u2019s family. After Lam\u2019s move from Vietnam to San Francisco, many kids who had seen glimpses of the Vietnam War on television started asking him questions such as \u201chave you seen dead bodies?\u201d and \u201chave you seen helicopters being blown up?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As South Vietnam started to fall, many Vietnamese citizens were afraid for their safety, causing a number of them to migrate to the U.S. The president of the United States at the time, Gerald Ford, established the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, which aimed to spread Vietnamese refugees across the country. But Vietnamese migrants started to move into California and Texas due to the amount of convenient job opportunities and affordable housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrew Lam describes the first wave of refugees as \u201cthe cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me.\u201d These were \u201cdoctors, lawyers, government officers, and professors [who] experienced far less trauma than what Vietnamese boat people experienced later on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this second wave that Lam references, more Vietnamese refugees (\u201cboat people\u201d) started to migrate into California. They were called \u201cboat people\u201d because they traveled in boats that clearly weren\u2019t fit for the sea, and as a result, they were vulnerable to dehydration, starvation, drowning, and even piracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrew also discusses the cultural struggle that Vietnamese refugees faced during this wave of immigration. Unfortunately for immigrants, they were expected to just \u201cforget\u201d Vietnam, and assimilation would mean completely dropping everything from their past. As a result, many second generation Vietnamese children experienced culture shock, as they were uprooted from their homes and wanted to connect with their family history.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrew Lam explains that \u201cVietnamese culture puts a strong emphasis on being part of the We,\u201d while in America, there is more of an emphasis on the individual. Andrew witnessed the hardships that other immigrants experienced when it came to balancing family needs and personal goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From mildly humorous to serious incidents, there were instances of cultural disconnect that ended up causing tension between Vietnamese refugees and American citizens. The \u201cGreat Santa Ana Squid Stink,\u201d where the Vietnamese caught multiple squids and left them on the neighborhood fences outside, was a more harmless incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, there were instances that were more serious. Andrew Lam describes an abuse allegation he witnessed where a child came to school with marks on his back, and only after his father was arrested did it come to light that he was using a massage technique to help him recover from a cold. Because of the language barrier, authorities never bothered to seek the truth until the father killed himself in prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In order for immigrants to feel more accepted, people can\u2019t immediately expect them to drop everything and adapt to American culture. When immigrants move here in mass numbers, there must be more of an understanding between cultures in order for everyone to feel more comfortable and understood. We must be careful in what we say to provide support and compassion, especially for those seeking refuge from traumatizing circumstances, and Andrew Lam\u2019s stories are a prime example of this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Andrew Lam arrived in San Francisco in 1975, there were only five Vietnamese families other than his aunt\u2019s family. After Lam\u2019s move from Vietnam to San Francisco, many kids who had seen glimpses of the Vietnam War on television started asking him questions such as \u201chave you seen dead bodies?\u201d and \u201chave you seen… More Immigration – Asian Experience in California<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nImmigration - Asian Experience in California - Universal Fly on the Wall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/universalflyonthewall.com\/?p=175\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Immigration - Asian Experience in California - Universal Fly on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Andrew Lam arrived in San Francisco in 1975, there were only five Vietnamese families other than his aunt\u2019s family. 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