In our community, there are organizations that claim to represent us when they don't. If you scrutinize them, they only have a handful of people that basically figured it would be a good way for them to boost their reputation.
When a community organization actually starts developing some credibility, there will automatically be demands for it to do something politically. That is the nature of our community. While we can differentiate between political and community issues, for whatever reason, we believe that how one stands politically defines how one performs for the community. This is flawed thinking because how one views US-Vietnam trade relations has no practical bearing on what one can do for our community here. This point of view helps to create the problems that we have today in the Vietnamese community because we don't have seats at the table for those who disagree.
I was at a forum today in Berkeley discussing the situation happening in the Paracel and Spratley Islands. There was a woman there who wanted us to mobilize against Chinese aggression in that region. She advocated for "no-flag" organizing, so that we could stand with international students who are loyal to the communist regime in Vietnam. I asked her this question bluntly:
"Do you really believe that we can be successful without making this an anti-communist issue?"
When a 95-pound young woman was shot in the chest by a 300-pound cop, about two dozen people showed up to protest the police department. In this issue of a street naming, 2500 people swarmed on city hall. Has any issue at all brought out our community in protest? The biggest incidents that get our community galvanized have always been the same:
-2500 people protest San Jose City Hall's rejection of "Little Saigon" (2008)
-15,000 people protest Hi-Tek Video store because the owner hung up the Communist flag of Vietnam and a photo of Ho Chi Minh (1999)
-Protests are organized around the United States to oppose Vietnam's President, Nguyen Minh Triet
-1000 people protest the Viet Weekly for what is perceived as pro-communist articles
There have been over 200 instances of protests in the Vietnamese community in the past 10 years. The main function of protesting is to draw attention to a cause. However, protesting is always confrontational because it draws attention away from everything else. It should only be used in matters that can have major impacts on the lives of those who are protesting OR in matters of huge national and international concern. In essence, you protest because you will suffer grievous harm because of the issue.
-Workers strike in San Francisco, where employees of the biggest hotels went on strike because the companies wanted to significantly cut healthcare coverage
-Anti-war protestors bring together throngs of people around the world in opposition to the War in Iraq
-tens of thousands come together to march from Montgomery, Alabama to DC to fight for their civil rights IN THIS COUNTRY
I don't like the Mercury News - they're conservatives in liberal clothing - but they're right on target in saying that the only memory out of this is going to be negative, that we acted as petulant children who threw a tantrum because we didn't get our way.
(It may seem odd that in talking about the Paracel and Spratley Islands, we somehow end up back to the Little Saigon debate. This will be significant in the next blog.)
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