Chapter 13: Vietnamese Americans, Arab Americans, and Resurgent Racism

1. Chapter 13:Vietnamese Americans, Arab Americans, and Resurgent Racism • Vietnamese American Immigrants to the U.S. • The Vietnam War lasted thirty years from 1945 to 1975 (France, British, & U.S.) • The U.S. helped establish South Vietnam. The war spread to include Cambodia and Laos • U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ended in 1975

2. Locals were under attack by North Vietcong and Vietminh while Pol Pot became a butcher of his own people. This contributed to many displaced civilians who launched boats out to sea • About 197,000 of these “boat people” came to the U.S. by 1981 • By 1992, about 1 million Southeast Asian refugees had settled in the U.S. • Many came through refugee camps and dispersed throughout the U.S.

3. Vietnamese American Assimilation in the U.S. • Contributing to Vietnamese immigrants’ adjustment problem was the federal government’s policy of scattering the refugees throughout the U.S. • Most learned to read, speak, or write English well • Education levels are moderate • Performance test scores are high • Secondary assimilation should be quite rapid for second-generation Vietnamese

4. Many new immigrants rapidly entered the labor force in the U.S. • Vietnamese have lower labor force participation, and median family incomes, higher poverty and unemployment rates, and disproportionate representation in low-skill, low-paying jobs, than most East Asian groups • Vietnamese are highly segregated, undergoing rapid cultural assimilation, with high rates of naturalization and relatively low primary and marital assimilation

5. Other Southeast Asians • Of the approximately 1 million Indochinese Americans identified by the 2000 census • 24% were from Laos • 15% were from Cambodia (Kampuchea) • 61% were from Vietnam • 111,000 were from Thailand (formerly Siam)

6. Arab American Immigrants to the U.S. • Arab is a broad term covering people of diverse nationalities, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds • North Africa and the Middle East have 200 million Arabs who speak Arabic and worship according to Islam • European contact with the Arab world transpired through commerce and conflict

9. Christian influence came with military and economic influence from Europe and the U.S. • Early immigrants were mostly men • Naturalization began as early as the 1880s because Syrians were of Caucasian type and Christians • They assimilated easily with little discrimination • Early immigrants to the U.S. were often called “Syrians” and came to view themselves as “Syrian Americans” • Early immigrants were from Mount Lebanon, poor, Christian, and rural

10. The Syrian-Lebanese • A combination of harsh living conditions and Turkish oppression led many Syrians to leave • Newly arrived Syrians often replaced departing Irish Americans residents in old city neighborhoods in a pattern of invasion-succession • Syrian Americans achieved economic security quickly

11. Second immigrants were from many countries, well-educated, Muslims, and urban • The third immigration stream saw a major increase in immigrants from the Arab world • Those in the third, like the second stream, tend to be highly educated and from many diverse countries

12. The Palestinians • About 100,000 Palestinians Americans now live in the U.S. • Many recent Palestinian arrivals find employment in various working class trades • For middle-class Palestinians, the community’s mosques and churches serve many purposes • Endogamy remains the norm among Palestinian Americans

13. Arab American Assimilation in the U.S. • Official counts of Arab Americans range up to 3 million • Cultural assimilation appears to be higher among native-born • Secondary assimilation is high • Median household incomes are high • Occupational status is high

14. Arab American National Organizations in the U.S. • Association of Arab-American University Graduates • National Association of Arab Americans • American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee • Arab American Institute

15. Resurgent Racism in the U.S. • The Southern Poverty Law Center identified 700 active hate groups in the U.S. • Neo-Nazis • KKKs • Support white supremacy, are anti-immigration, and are anti-minorities

16. Slide 12: Anti-Islamic Acts of Hate Crime in the U.S. 1995–2002 1996 1998 2000 2002 Source: Fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm#hate for years 1995–2002, Table 1 retrieved June 8, 2004. 1995 1997 1999 2001

17. Why does racism continue and even get worse? • Perceived threats by native-born of increased non-European immigrants, which led to increased xenophobia • Post September 11, 2001 attack reactions • Perhaps transference of anti-communism hate to Muslims • Perceived threats from terrorism and difficulty in identifying terrorists

18. Racism is Not Universal Among Those Living in the U.S. • President George W. Bush and FBI Director Mueller called for an awareness of the issues after September 11, 2001 • Groups organized to show solidarity in various cities across the U.S. • Individuals reached out to show tolerance, solidarity, and support for people of different walks of life