From: Nhan Tran <tran@peora.sdc.ccur.com>
Subject: SOC: suy nghi~ lung tung
Originator: daemon@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Reply-To: tran@peora.sdc.ccur.com
Organization: N/A
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 20:49:40 GMT


* On racial discrimination
--------------------------

I want to touch on this in regard to the recent beating to death of a 
Vietnamese student in South Florida.

Some people said Vietnamese is very racist. Vietnameses use degrading terms,
have degrading view of Black American, Hispanic American, etc....  How much
validity in that opinion, I don't know. But pondering on this matter, 
I regconize something: Vietnamese COULD BE racist VERBALLY but RARELY
manifest that into harmful physical actions.

Think about it, Vietnamese & Chinese people are thought to have some kind of
animosity, but Chinese have lived in Vietnam for several centuries peacefully.
Even when the Chinese dominated and manipulated some aspect of Vietnam 
economy (dda^`u co+ ti'ch tru+~, ta(ng gia' ga.o, v.v..), Vietnamese resented
that but there weren't any mob lynching the Chinese.  The disguised expulsion
of Chinese-Vietnamese in the late 70s was the work of Hanoi government, not
of the Vietnamese people.

There is this hatred between the Vietnamese and Cambodia, but it is the 
Vietnamese who got massacred all this time.

I haven't heard any news of Vietnamese mob beat the shit out of some hispanic
black or white American because of racial discrimination reasons. So far, it
is the Vietnamese or Asian American in general who are the victims.

Vietnamese victims of racial discrimination elsewhere: in Eastern Germany, 
in Bulgaria, in Czechslovakia, in Russia .....

So really, who are the racist here?

* On judging people's values
----------------------------

Some netter said "I think Vietnamese society tends to judge people's values 
based on how much money one makes."

I think all modern society tends to judge people's values based on how much
money they make.  I don't know if American society value a high-school teacher
more than someone who earn a million a year or not.  On contrary, Vietnamese
society pre-75 tended to have higher value of a teacher than a businessman,
at least that's my perception. After 75, VN society tends to judge people's
value on their survival skills. :-)

* On SCV's chaos
----------------

So what? It mirrors what real life is. There are some unpleasant aspects of
life but that is not the reason you quit life and become a hermit. Don't like
it, speak your thoughts. Don't want to speak out, ignore them. Enjoy what
you like on SCV and ignore the junk.

* On American newspaper
-----------------------

Being able to see Vietnam related news from major news wire like Reuters,
AFP, UPI, AP, etc...  I monitor Orlando's newspaper to see what kind of 
VN related news they would print.  

They would print only any news with US involved. For example, the marathon
in Saigon, the surfing competition in DDa` Na(?ng, the MIAs news, etc...

All other news like Prof. Phan DDi`nh Die^.u urging dropping communism,
the arrest of dissidents: Nguye^~n DDan Que^', DDoa`n Vie^'t Hoa.t, v.v...
the suppression of so-called counter-revolutionary group, etc...

With this kind of selection, the American readers in Orlando have an
incompleted and distorted view of Vietnam.  The Orlando Sentinel reader
would think that Vietnam is OK now; everything is normal.

I don't know about other newspaper in America but from what I know of
the Orlando Sentinel, I don't like it. Other than writing to the editor,
you have any suggestion?

If there is a newsletter of Vietnam Vets, of Asian American community in your 
area, please send them the VN related news posted on SCV.  That would help 
spread the news to give people a more accurate view of Vietnam.

Nha^n

Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese