Immigration from Vietnam to the United States - Research Paper Example

The Success of the Viet se People in the United s since 19756 Before 1975, immigrants from Vietnam to the United States were mainly boat people fleeing poverty and persecution from Vietnam. In 1975, there was massive immigration by Vietnamese into the United States, after the fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the war in Vietnam. On arrival to the United States, the immigrants settled in the poor neighborhoods in urban areas from where they have established a stronger community with time. Majority of the Vietnamese came to the United States as refugees with little money and other possessions. Compared to their counterparts who immigrated to the United States from East Asia mainly for economic interests, the Vietnamese are less accomplished both financially and academically. Even though the community of Vietnamese immigrants in the United States faces many challenges, their economic status has been reported to have improved dramatically, especially between the late 1980s and the early 2000. In 1989 for instance, the Vietnamese Americans who lived below the poverty line formed 34 percent of the entire Vietnamese American population while in 1999 the number had reduced by more than half to 16 percent (Bankston 213). On the social front, Vietnamese Americans have made notable steps ever since they came to the United States. According to Collette (57), a study carried out in 2008 showed that the Vietnamese community in the United States is one among the most assimilated immigrant communities in the country. Despite the lower rate of economic and cultural assimilation as compared to other immigrant groups, the rate of civic assimilation in the community was the highest among the relatively large groups of immigrants (Collette 59). The study attributed the slower rates of economic and cultural assimilation to the language difference with the American communities. The high rates of civic assimilation were attributed to the fact that, since most of them are political refugees, they expect to stay permanently in the United States and, therefore, have become more involved in politics than most of the other immigrant groups. Most of the Vietnamese Americans are anti-communism. This made most of them support the Republican Party, although the support has reportedly been eroded in the recent past. They preferred the Republican Party since they view the Democratic Party as not as anti-communist as the Republican Party is. However, the second generation of the immigrant group as well as the newer and poorer refugees has been reported to show support for the Democratic Party. Even then, the Republic Party is still more popular among the Vietnamese Americans. In the recent developments, Vietnamese Americans have evidently exercised notable political power in the Silicon Valley, Orange County and in other areas. In Texas and California, many of the immigrants have won public offices, at both the local and state levels. For instance, a Vietnamese American served as a member of the Board of Supervisors in Orange County while another served as the mayor of Rosemead in California. Several others have served in city councils in both states (Collette 67). During the 2004 general elections, a democrat candidate and a republican candidate, both Vietnamese Americans, were elected in Texas and California respectively to serve in the respective state legislatures. Between 2001 and 2003, a Vietnamese American served in the federal government as the assistant attorney general and was to a significant extent, responsible for the USA Patriot Act of 2003. At least five Vietnamese American candidates have run for a federal elective office as the official candidates of their parties, particularly for the House of Representatives (Zhou 84). In 2008, a Vietnamese American called Joseph Cao, who was a Katrina activist, became the first one to be elected to Congress. According to Bankston (221), the social classes and the level of income among the Vietnamese Americans have been improving over time but are quite diverse. Many of the original immigrants were professionals from the middle social class who fled Vietnam out of fear of the Communist Party which was wielding increasing power after the war. However, others are primarily workers in blue-collar jobs. For instance, this diversity in the level of income is well seen in San Jose California in the different neighborhoods occupied by Vietnamese Americans, who are scattered across the county of Santa Clara. The Berryessa and Evergreen sections of the San Jose city are occupied by neighborhoods of middle to upper-middle class Vietnamese American populations. Most of the occupants work in the aerospace, computer and networking industries in the Silicon Valley. In down town San Jose, there are many Vietnamese Americans working in blue-collar jobs as repairmen, cooks and movers. Throughout the North American region, Vietnamese Americans have established businesses, mostly in china towns. As a matter of fact, they have been reported to contribute significantly in developing and redeveloping the once declining china towns as they have the tendency to be attracted to the towns. Just like the majority of the other groups of immigrants, Vietnamese Americans are mostly small business owners. They open bakeries, supermarkets, restaurants, barbershops, beauty salons and businesses in auto repair (Bankston 219). Many Vietnamese American parents have a feeling of insecurity that mostly stems from past history and have developed a good attitude towards education which they view as the only way to a better life. The parents have consequently pressured their children work hard at school and pursue careers in professional courses such as medicine, science, or engineering. A significant number of the Vietnamese Americans have over time worked to improve their livelihoods, with some whom having started working in menial jobs, have children from their second generation attending prestigious universities and becoming successful. The younger generations are well educated and are mainly provide professional services (Zhou 93). In Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and other gulf coast states, some of the Vietnamese Americans own shrimp and fish industries. Recent immigrants, who still have problems speaking in English, have the tendency to work in hair and nail salons, shops, restaurants, assembly and other menial jobs. In California, Vietnamese Americans constitute up to 80 percent of the nail technicians and about 43 percent of nail technicians in the United States are immigrants of Vietnamese dissent (Bankston 227). Moreover, Vietnamese Americans have contributed to the scene of writing and publishing. Some of the books they have written have received acclaim from major newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and the Chicago tribune. Initial novels were mainly on the war experience but recently, the writers have started articulating their identity both as Vietnamese and Americans. Initially, they were constrained by language. However, a generation of young Vietnamese Americans called the 1.5 generation has developed the literary scene significantly in the recent past (Zhou 99). Works Cited Bankston, Carl. Vietnamese American Community: Transplanted and Flourishing. Austin: University of Texas, 2000 Collette, Christian. The Determinants of Vietnamese American Political Participation. Journal of Sociology and Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 27, 2002 Zhou, Min. Delinquency and Acculturation in the Twenty-First Century: A Decade’s Change in a Vietnamese American Community, (In Immigration and Crime: Race, Ethnicity and Violence). New York: NYU Press, 2006 Read More