Most recent public comments by Nisi Uthikamporn https://nowcomment.com/users/16355 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=385413 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=385413 Many Vietnamese refugees have fled their home country to evade the harsh realities of communism and start a new life of freedom in the United States. Some refugees are stuck in unfavorable programs that offer the bare minimum of survival while others, like Viet Nguyen's family, reached the "American Dream". Nevertheless, only through the help of the West could Vietnamese refugees have the “opportunity” for a new life. However, the US also has a begrudging perspective of support. In “Toward a Critical Refugee Study: The Vietnamese Refugee Subject in US Scholarship”, Yen Le Espiritu argues that massive influx of Vietnamese refugees has become a “refugee crisis” in the West’s eyes. She claims that the “self-appointed US role as a rescuer” constructs and represents the Vietnamese as passive recipients of generosity, which ends up creating and sustaining this label. Furthermore, the American public pushes for assimilation. As if the struggle for survival in a new country where language is a barrier isn’t enough, Vietnamese refugees are also pressured to assimilate to the “American way” because it will be more rewarding. Thus, they have become the “model minority”. Espiritu describes the US’s reasoning as “the civic duty of the individual to reduce their burden on society.” Therefore, achieving the “American Dream” is brought on by the US’s “support” and expectation of upholding the idea of the “model minority”. Tue, 13 Oct 2015 12:58:43 -0400