ASIA AM 10W Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Well-Founded Relation, Thesis Statement, Racialization
14 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
All credits are given to Professor Fong, K.N.. Direct quotations are directly from the
professor’s slides. Others is either paraphrased or summarized.
Logistics
●Check Syllabus for updated reading for Wednesday
●Oral history research proposal
○Rubric posted on CCLE
○Thesis statement is required
○Use scholarly sources to relate to your interview
■Can’t use course readings
■Proper citation
■Schedule an interview as soon as possible
■Turn in a draft later
Overview
●Connect Southeast Asian (SEA) experience, especially refugees, to broader -ism
(capitalism, imperialism, and militarism) and the socioeconomic, political, and military
ties with US
●US acceptance of SEA refugees is primarily an ideological action rather than an ultraristic
action
●Think about similarities and differences in the immigrant experiences between SEA
refugees and AAPI
○Similarity: foreigner racialization
Refugees
●Definition of refugees from UN: “‘any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of
being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular
social group or political opinion’ and seeks refugees in another country” (Chan
1991:161)
●Often felt “involuntarily in dangerous contexts and under duress”
○Different from immigrant experience (usually voluntarily)
○Flee in jungles, separation from family (different refugee camps, sent to different
countries, or caught and executed), and the feeling of uncertainty
●Suffer from psychological pain
●Geographical background: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos with various ethnic identities
○Chinese in Vietnam fleeing communism in China and later in Vietnam
○Hmong, Mien in Laos
●Reasons for fleeing: the aftermath of Vietnam War
Growth of communism in SEA
●French colonial rule in SEA called French “Indochina” since mid 19th century
○Communism grows as a response against colonialism and intertwines with
nationalist/independence movement
○French colonial rule is weakened during WWII when Japanese empire got
stronger in Asia
○After WWII, France tried to re-establish itself, but Democratic Republic of
Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh was established in 1945
●First Indochina War (1945-1954)
○France tried to regain colonial possession but failed and surrendered
○Vietnam was divided into the north (led by Ho Chi Minh) and the south
(controlled by US) at 17th parallel
●US tried to exert imperial influence in politics and gov’t in SEA
○Supported South Vietnam through military assistance e.g sending bombs and
troops
○Tried to get the Royal Lao win (vs. Communist Lao) in the election, but US failed
○“Bombed Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia and Laos”
■Foreign military (US military) was not allowed
■In 1961, CIA recruited and trained Hmong (a small ethnic group living in
mountain region) to fight for Royal Lao Army—Secret Army only revealed
to the US public after 1970
●In 1975, communist gov’t won and began in charge
○Civilians/commoners were impacted by bombings and wars
○People fled political unrest
■Hmong fled due to the fear of persecution because they were recruited
by CIA and were related to US army
■Fled Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia (1975-1979): violent
●People were executed
●Abolished anything related to capitalism and Western ideas
●Targeted educated people and people benefiting from capitalism
●People were forced to move back and forth of the country due to
city evacuation and reeducation through farming
●Families were torn apart and Cambodian culture was destroyed
●About 1.7 million people (roughly 21% of population) died
Refugees
●“People fled by boat/foot to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong”
○They lived in refugee camps temporarily or permanently until they found asylum
country e.g. US and Canada
Document Summary
All credits are given to professor fong, k. n Direct quotations are directly from the professor"s slides. Check syllabus for updated reading for wednesday. Use scholarly sources to relate to your interview. Schedule an interview as soon as possible. Connect southeast asian (sea) experience, especially refugees, to broader -ism (capitalism, imperialism, and militarism) and the socioeconomic, political, and military ties with us. Us acceptance of sea refugees is primarily an ideological action rather than an ultraristic action. Think about similarities and differences in the immigrant experiences between sea refugees and aapi. Definition of refugees from un: any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion" and seeks refugees in another country (chan. Often felt involuntarily in dangerous contexts and under duress . Flee in jungles, separation from family (different refugee camps, sent to different countries, or caught and executed), and the feeling of uncertainty.
