As a Vietnamese International student, I get to learn many different culture from around the world by interacting with all my classmates and co-workers. But I am actually interested in my own cultural and history, I think it's very interesting to talk about. I have been in the US for about 5 years and I have been visiting a lot of Vietnamese community around in the US. Example: Little Saigon in California, Little Saigon in Texas, Viet-Community in Minnesota, etc. Even though we are Vietnamese who was born in Vietnam, but some of us immigrated to the U.S when they were very young, or they even was born here, but we still share some of the same culture or lifestyle that they can called it traditional-Vietnamese, but there is also some that already Americanize, or Westernize. I will also give some more introductions about my own country and my hometown. To understand the real traditional, you have to learn it from their own history.
Although many Westerners still imagine Vietnam through the lens of war, it is in reality a country filled with captivating natural beauty and tranquil village life. Its highlands and rainforest regions, far from being devastated, continue to yield new species and team with exotic wildlife. Its islands and beaches are among the finest in all of Southeast Asia, and its cuisine is very possibly the most delicious you will ever find. Over two decades have passed since Vietnam was officially united, and in that time it has done a remarkable job of healing its wounds. Today, this gracious and graceful country is an outstanding travel destination. Vietnam's culture combines tradition and innovation. As ancient as 4,000 years, Vietnamese culture has been subject to many changes. Due to its agitated past, it has become a blend of its indigenous cultures as well as Chinese, Polynesian and Western influences.
Vietnam shaped like an elongated S, China lies to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the South China Sea to the East. Up to July 2010, the population of Vietnam is 89.571 million. The capital Hanoi which has the population of 6.472 million, and others cities like Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), with the population of 7.163 million, etc. Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups; ethnic Vietnamese or Kinh constitute approximately 85% of Vietnam’s population. With the population of more than 900,000 the Vietnam’s Chinese community has historically played an important role in the Vietnamese economy. Other significant ethnic minority groups include central highland peoples who are concentrated near the Cambodian border and at the mouth of the Mekong River. Vietnamese is the official language of the country. It is a tonal language with influences from Thai, Hmong, and Chinese. Since the early of 20th century, the Vietnamese have used a Romanized script introduced by the French, but before that, Chinese characters and an indigenous phonetic script were both used.
Vietnam’s identity has been shaped by long- running conflicts, both internally and with foreign forces. Legend has it that Vietnam’s origin lay in the harmonious union of Lac Long Quan, King of the Sea, and Au Co, Princess of the Mountains. But in real life was not so paradisiacal, as Vietnam’s early history is characterized by a nearly continuous struggle for autonomy. First, the Chinese dynasties ruled Vietnam for 1,000 years, inculcating it with Confucian ideas and political culture, but also leaving a tradition of resistance to foreign occupation. During the 15th century, Vietnam conquered the Champa Kingdom (which is now Central Vietnam- Hue), the Vietnamese moved gradually southward, until they reach the agriculturally rich Mekong Delta, where they encountered previously settled communities of Cham and Cambodians. At that time, Vietnam Dynasties helped the country to be more powerful and richer. But in 1858, the French begin their conquest of Vietnam starting in the South. French rule lasted until World War II, when the country was invaded by Japan. At the war's end the predominantly Communist Viet Minh, which had led the resistance movement against the Japanese, declared the country's independence. The French Indochina War ensued, until France admitted defeat in 1954, and the Geneva Accords left Vietnam divided into a Communist north and an anti-Communist south. By this time the U.S. had replaced the French as the primary sponsor of the anti-Communist government. Tension between north and south mounted over the next few years, until in 1964 full scale war erupted. The conflict lasted for the next eight years, and involved hundreds of thousands of troops from the U.S. and other countries. In 1973 a cease-fire agreement allowed the U.S. the opportunity to withdraw its troops, and in 1975 the southern capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. An extended period of political repression followed, prompting massive emigration from the country. In 1991, with the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War, many western powers re-established diplomatic and trade relations with Vietnam. The last country to do so, in 1995, was the U.S.
So this is how the whole story of Vietnamese Communities in the U.S. becomes. Before 1975, there were almost no Vietnamese people in the United States, but the destinies of Vietnam and the United States became increasingly intertwined during the 1950s and 1960s. Since the war, the Vietnamese have become one of the largest Asian American groups. Right after the fall of Saigon, there were six camps opened in the U.S. to receive refugees and prepare them for resettlement. Despite the fact that many first wave arrivals were from privileged backgrounds, few were well-prepared to take up a new life in America. The majority did not speak English and all found themselves in the midst of a strange culture. The American refugee agencies attempted to scatter them around the country, so that this new Asian population would not be too visible in any one place, and so that no one city or state would be burdened with caring for a large number of new arrivals. Nevertheless, although at least one percent of the Southeast Asian population in 1976 resided in each of 29 states, California had already become home to the largest number of refugees, with 21.6 percent of all the Southeast Asians in the United States.
The beginning of the first wave in 1975 was followed by smaller numbers, with only 3,200 Vietnamese arriving in 1976 and 1,900 in 1977. These numbers increased dramatically in 1978 as a result of an enlarged resettlement program developed in response to the lobbying of concerned American citizens and organizations; 11,100 Vietnamese entered the country that year. Political and economic conditions in Vietnam at this time drove large numbers of Vietnamese from their country, often in small unsea-worthy boats. News of their hostile reception in neighboring countries and their sufferings at the hands of pirates created pressure in the United States to expand further the refugee program. Then in January 1979 Vietnam invaded neighboring Cambodia and the following month war broke out between Vietnam and China. As a result the number of Vietnamese admitted to the United States in 1979 rose to 44,500. Many of this second waves were Chinese citizens of Vietnam. As the war continued, the number of fleeing Indochinese rose steadily. Some were Cambodians or Laotians but Vietnam, with its larger population, was the homeland of the majority of refugees. In 1980, 167,000 southeast Asians, 95,200 of whom were Vietnamese, arrived in the United States. They were followed in 1981 by 132,000 Southeast Asians, 86,100 of whom were Vietnamese.
Unlike the first refugees, the second wave came overwhelmingly from rural backgrounds and usually had limited education. Indeed, they appear to have been the least educated and the least skilled of any legal immigrants to the United States in recent history. Their hardships were increased by their time of arrival: 1980 was a year of high inflation rates, and 1981 to 1983 saw the most severe economic recession of the previous 50 years.
While first wave refugees came directly to the United States, those in the second wave tended to come through refugee camps in Southeast Asia. Agencies under contract to the United States Department of State organized classes to teach English and familiarize refugees with American culture. VOLAGs were still charged with finding sponsors prior to resettlement.
By the early 1980s, secondary migration (moving a second time after arriving in the United States) had somewhat concentrated the Vietnamese American population in states with warmer weather. By 1984, over 40 percent of these refugees were located in California, mostly in the large urban centers. Texas, the state with the next largest number of Southeast Asians, held 7.2 percent. This trend toward concentration continued throughout the 1980s, so that the 1990 census showed 50 percent of Vietnamese Americans living in California, and a little over 11 percent living in Texas. Other states with large numbers of Vietnamese were Virginia, Washington, Florida, New York, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
According to the 2000 Census, there are 1,122,528 people who identify themselves as Vietnamese alone or 1,223,736 in combination with other ethnicities, ranking fourth among the Asian American groups. Of those, 447,032 (39.8%) live in California and 134,961 (12.0%) in Texas. The largest number of Vietnamese found outside of Vietnam is found in Orange County, California—totaling 135,548. Vietnamese American businesses are ubiquitous in Little Saigon, located in Westminster and Garden Grove, where they constitute 30.7 and 21.4 percent of the population, respectively. States such as New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, Florida, Virginia and to some extent, Rhode Island have fast growing Vietnamese populations. The San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle metropolitan area, Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, Northern Virginia, Los Angeles metropolitan area and the Houston metropolitan area have sizable Vietnamese communities. Recently, the Vietnamese immigration pattern has shifted to other states like Oklahoma (Oklahoma City in particular) and Oregon (Portland in particular)
Vietnamese Americans are much more likely to be Christians than Vietnamese that are residing in Vietnam. While Christians (mainly Roman Catholics) make up about 6% of Vietnam's total population, they compose as much as 23% of the total Vietnamese American population.
According to the 2006 American Community Survey, the Vietnamese American population had grown to 1,599,394 and remains the second largest Southeast Asian American subgroup following the Filipino American community.
References
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