the chilling ghost of april's past
by montague hungThe Vietnamese American Community's Reaction to Controversial Art
For those unfamiliar with the history of Vietnamese Americans, imagine how the Jewish community would react to the promotion of a photo portraying a young Jewish woman standing next to a statue of Hitler and wearing a shirt with a swastika symbol.
On January 8, 2009, an art exhibit called "F.O.B. II: Art Speaks" was put on by the Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (VAALA) and evoked a critical reaction from the Vietnamese American community. The specific piece of art that sparked the controversy was a photo by Brian Doan depicting a young Vietnamese woman standing next to a bust of Ho Chi Minh. Further symbolism of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) was clear through the woman's attire: a red tank top with a yellow star in the middle, which is practically the Communist Party's flag with shoulder straps. After the Vietnamese American community's display of protest via picket signs and bullhorns, the Santa Ana city officials decided to close the exhibit for being displayed in improper areas. However, before the exhibit was closed, a local protestor named Ly Tong smeared red paint over the photo.
The photographer and curators of the exhibit defended the photograph, saying that it was never meant to offend anyone. Doan and the exhibit curators instead claimed that their intention was only to promote discussion and debate in a uniformly anti-communist community. Tram Le, one of the curators of the exhibit, said in an LA Times article, "I felt the community was on this slippery slope, that we were not progressing toward having open dialogue and being more tolerant of different political viewpoints." In the same article, Lan Duong, a co-curator, offers: "This piece uses the communist flag but isn't celebratory of communism. The communist flag isn't used just as a political symbol, but of what is going on in Vietnam and the kinds of modes of consumption that marks youth culture."
The photographer has also repeatedly denied accusations of being a communist. In an article by the OC Register, Doan interpreted his photo with the following description: "She lives in the communist country, but look at her. She's looking away, dreaming. She wants to escape Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh is next to her, but communism is not longer in her. She wants to dream of other things." In the article, Doan also defends himself by citing his patriotic freedom of speech. He points out that he is entitled to his right of expression, and that the Vietnamese community's efforts to silence him were not only Un-American, but almost of an oppressive Communist nature.
The large majority of the Vietnamese American community interprets Doan’s artwork not as a commentary of youth culture, but instead as communist propaganda. Knowing that most youths in Vietnam are actually not wearing such shirts and that such busts of Ho Chi Minh are rare, the artwork is interpreted as a promotion of communist symbolism. Many Vietnamese Americans find it hard to see how the girl in the photo wants to escape Vietnam when she is wearing a shirt promoting the party. What the artwork does instead is it integrates communist symbols into the American community. Charles Nguyen, who fled communist Vietnam three decades ago, has been quoted in the Orange County Register to say, “They want to (provide) propaganda for the cruel regime, so we want to stop them."
What many Americans outside of the Vietnamese community must try to understand is that the Vietnamese American’s intense opposition to the photo is justified. The artwork, whether intentionally or not, is insensitive to the traumatic historical experiences of the community. Most Vietnamese Americans fled Vietnam to escape the iron fist of the VCP. The Party was violently oppressive and ruthlessly eliminated individual freedoms such as the right to free expression. During the war, in addition to the deaths of more than 400,000 South Vietnamese military personnel, the VCP executed as many as 3 million civilians on their way to Saigon, according the to the Center For Vietnam Studies. After the fall of Saigon, many first generation Vietnamese Americans became prisoners of war who were tortured and witnesses to the deaths of fellow comrades in the VCP's reeducation camps. Although there are no official records published by the party, several U.S. and European agencies estimate that there were about 1 million South Vietnamese imprisoned without trial or charge, and at least 165,000 died in the reeducation camps. In South Vietnam, the two out of three families that did not have a relative in the reeducation camps were still subjected to the Communist's authoritarian rule. Freedom of expression was eliminated and to this very day, Amnesty International still reports on the widespread human rights abuses. Politically dissident writers, lawyers, monks, and bloggers, were and are still being jailed or placed under house arrest for protesting against the human rights violations. Many prisoners are also victims of physical abuse while interrogated by the state. There were also many Vietnamese who chose to commit suicide rather than suffer the VCP's rule, including this author's uncle. In addition, the government's failed economic policies resulted in the starvation and deaths of any. It must also be kept in mind that the reported human rights violations by the VCP only scratch the surface; there are an endless number of crimes that go unreported, with people just mysteriously disappearing.
To refugees, the photo depicting the VCP's flag and Ho Chi Minh is agonizing because it portrays the symbolic images of a regime that has committed so many countless atrocities. April 30, the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, is often referred to by Vietnamese Americans as Black April or Ngày m?t nu?c, which translates to “the day the nation was lost.” The scars run deep and Vietnamese Americans are clearly still haunted by the painful memories of their old homeland. A picture of the red flag and Ho Chi Minh brings back remembrance of lost loved ones and past torment. To many, the war still hasn't ended. Kim Vo, a protester, said, “That girl in the photo was wearing a T-shirt with what we here call the "bloody flag.' We fled Vietnam because of that flag, because of that murderer Ho Chi Minh” (OC Register). When Vietnamese Americans protest against VCP symbols, the rest of the community has to understand that there is a lot of suffering behind those protests.
While I am a full advocate of protesting such pieces of art that promote a murderous regime, the one reservation I do have is for the defacement of the photograph. It is our full American right to express ourselves freely, and we do this with marches and speeches. However, Vietnamese Americans must also respect Brian Doan's right to free expression. Indeed, his form of speech does hurt the community. But that doesn't mean that the community can't rise above it and respond in a dignified manner.
When Vietnamese Americans are making threats and damaging his property, it sheds the community in a really negative light. Jim Nichols, a co-owner of the building at 1600 N. Broadway that displayed the exhibit, said, "They have factions in their community that go after anyone who in any way seems to put a positive light on communism" (LA Times). Kieu Linh Valverde, a professor of Asian American studies at UC Davis, also said, "Right now, we live in fear because these people threaten our families and destroy our work and take away our freedoms” (LA Times). By physically ruining the art, some now view Vietnamese Americans as thuggish and radically intolerant.
When confronted with such controversial artwork, the Vietnamese American community can become stronger by unifying within legal boundaries. When San Jose Councilmember Madison Nguyen spat in the faces of Vietnamese Americans by falsely accusing them of forging signatures on their petition for the community's naming of Little Saigon, the community unified behind the cause and is now holding a recall election. By recalling Madison, the Vietnamese American community is showing their influence in politics through the democratic process and is becoming stronger while respecting American values.
In the end, the photograph is an unfortunate part of the Vietnamese American story. As offensive as the art was, it doesn't justify desecrating the photo with red paint. If the creators of the exhibit really did intend to spark a dialogue, why not humor them by banding together and talk about it? By joining hands to explain the hurt of the past, the Vietnamese American community can transcend differences and help everyone else understand their background. If we can successfully and peacefully communicate our history, Vietnamese Americans will begin to build bridges with others and unite to become even stronger than before.