Finding Ways to Reconcile Two Cultures

Khai Nguyen strode to the microphone, masking nervousness with purpose.

Before her were more than 3,500 Vietnamese Americans, mostly young adults like herself, taking part in the first Vietnamese Youth Day.

“I want to address the problem of Vietnamese living in the U.S.,” she began. “Should we pick out the qualities of Americans or Vietnamese?”

The question hushed the audience inside the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine.

“We can get good qualities from both,” said Nguyen, a 17-year-old from San Diego. “Vietnamese have good family qualities and from the U.S., we have freedom and liberty.”

Nguyen then walked back to her seat amid an explosion of applause and cheers. The event, a kind of youth summit sponsored by the Federation of Vietnamese Catholics, was held to help bring meaning and guidance to Vietnamese and Vietnamese American youth.

Nearly 21 years after Saigon’s fall to the Communists, with hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese having since fled to the United States, it is this generation that is most troubled with drugs, gangs, and questions about which culture is theirs.

Dr. Le Duy Huan of Westminster, who served as president of Youth Day ‘96, said the event was held to bring Vietnamese, primarily from California, together for dialogue and debate.

“These young adults are the first to be raised as Americans and they have no role models, no path to follow like other people,” Huan said. “They are on transitional ground.”

Amid nationalistic songs, panel debates, flag waving and patriotic statements on behalf of both countries, organizers were hoping the event would plant a few seeds of hope for tomorrow’s Vietnamese-American community leaders.

Catholic Archbishop Thuan Van Nguyen, 68, visiting from the Vatican, presided over a Mass and received a hero’s welcome for his personal struggle.

The archbishop, who was at the forefront of Vietnam’s movement toward religious freedom, was imprisoned for 13 years after Saigon fell. From prison, he wrote daily in a collection that eventually was published as a book, “The Road of Hope.”

After hearing part of a lively debate and Khai Nguyen’s comments, Archbishop Nguyen said he “was proud” to be at Youth Day and felt the remarks were “very positive.”

Hong Chau Tran, 21, of Laguna Niguel, who said she suffers from lupus, was moved to speak and share her story of how the disease brought her closer to her parents.

“I was terrified when I was told I had the disease,” Tran said. “I was feeling guilty that I did something wrong and I looked back on my life and saw all the trouble that I gave my parents.

“I’m here to tell you that you don’t need a crisis like I did to find out your parents love you,” Tran said.

One of the debates dealt with whether young Vietnamese Americans should become involved in politics.

“To involve yourself in politics here,” said Hanh Nguyen, 30, of Westminster, “you have to study law or be a doctor because in American culture, only the rich are heard. Look at who’s president and in Congress.”

But Francis Tran, 37, of San Diego, posed a more basic question.

“America has so many different cultures, but we as Vietnamese don’t get involved with other communities,” Tran said. “So how are we going to get involved in politics? You need to know yourself first and then you can get involved.”