Divided on Unity

Some community leaders in Little Saigon are worried that unprecedented political unity created by two months of anti-Communist demonstrations could be squandered by protesters focusing on a new target: Westminster City Councilman Tony Lam.

Communitywide demonstrations outside Truong Van Tran’s video store over a Vietnamese flag and photo of late Communist leader Ho Chi Minh transformed the political landscape of the Vietnamese emigre community nationwide. Drawing up to 15,000 people in largely peaceful rallies, protest organizers forged a movement that many hope will become a force for improving Vietnam’s human rights record and accomplishing other political goals.

But the rallies, which ended last week when Tran abandoned attempts to return to his Bolsa Avenue shop, have spawned something else: For the last week, a group of 25 to 50 people has been picketing outside Vien Dong, Lam’s Garden Grove restaurant, demanding the councilman’s recall for his conspicuous absence during the protests.

To many community leaders, the anger directed at Lam, the nation’s first Vietnamese American elected official, represents not the future of the Vietnamese American political movement, but the past--a return to the community’s long history of divisiveness.

“The mood is unity. The mood is about human rights. That’s the general direction where the community is headed. That hasn’t changed,” said community activist Diem Do. “But I am concerned that the general public will see [the Lam protests] as a reflection of the mood of the entire community. People may think the Vietnamese American community is so divided, and that’s not true. This is just one small group.”

Lam’s critics object that he was nowhere to be seen during the two months of protests. “He comes to us when he needs votes and money, but when we need his leadership, he’s not there,” said protest leader Ky Ngo. Others added that Lam shirked his responsibility to the Vietnamese American community by refusing to join the demonstrations.

“He didn’t have to go as a councilman. He could have come as Quang Lam, Vietnamese American refugee,” said Hong Ngoc Do of Westminster. “The rallies sponsored by the youth groups--that wasn’t about Truong Tran. That was about human rights and freedom in Vietnam. Why didn’t he come?”

Lam contends he stayed away from the protests on the advice of City Atty. Richard D. Jones, who warned council members that if they got involved, they risked the possibility of making the city legally liable.

Jones said the ACLU repeatedly threatened to sue the city if officials didn’t take steps to protect Tran’s 1st Amendment rights.

“We were charged with maintaining the public peace. The best thing the City Council could do was not to further inflame the situation and stay neutral,” said Jones. “I still believe that’s sound advice. I just feel very badly for Tony Lam.”

During an emotional showdown at a council meeting this week, more than 50 protesters accused Lam of being a Communist and a traitor. But the councilman vowed to fight what he calls a personal vendetta.

“It’s been a personal attack on me,” said Lam. “They are using the excuse that I’m an elected official and I should have joined them at the protests. But I will not kowtow to intimidation tactics by any group.”

Lam angrily rejects insinuations that he is a Communist sympathizer.

“I want to be clear to everyone that I have nothing but disdain for the Communist rulers of Vietnam, past and present,” Lam said. “I yield to no one in my hatred of communism.”

His supporters echo Lam’s belief that the protesters have a personal grudge against him.

“These people aren’t going after Tony Lam because he didn’t go down there,” said county Supervisor Charles V. Smith, a longtime friend and supporter of Lam. “They have their own personal agenda. Their leader, Ky Ngo, had a dislike for Tony for many years. They have a motivation that has nothing to do with anti-communism.”

Ngo denies that it is a personal attack, saying Lam’s recent inaction is simply the latest in what he calls a string of questionable activities over the years. Among those, Ky said, are business deals his brother negotiated with the Vietnamese government, his stance on the U.S. embargo being lifted and his alleged support for “Asian Town” as a name for Little Saigon.

“We don’t hate him. He just hasn’t been a very good leader for the community,” he said.

Lam said protesters have harassed patrons going into his restaurant, screamed obscenities, urinated in the parking lot and blocked the driveway--tactics very different from the orchestrated and largely peaceful demonstrations outside Tran’s video store.

Garden Grove police confirmed that they’ve gotten reports of protesters being unruly, rude and loud at Lam’s business. On two occasions police have been called out to break up physical confrontations at the restaurant.

Dietrich Nicholson of Garden Grove, who was the first person to urge Lam’s recall, says even he has become uncomfortable with the turn the protest has taken.

“I don’t think Tony has done much for his community and I still want to recall the guy, but this is getting way out of hand,” Nicholson said. “I don’t want to hurt his family. We’ve made a point at the restaurant. Now we should leave. We should be at City Hall. This should be political, not personal.”

Other community observers agree that the tone of the ongoing protest has become disturbing.

“The community had tried to raise the flag and the poster issue to a higher issue of human rights. With new blood from the younger generation, the community was becoming united,” said Yen Do, publisher of Nguoi Viet newspaper, a prominent local daily. “What’s happening at the restaurant is the reverse trend. They’ve lowered the issue to personal politics.”

Many Vietnamese Americans were hopeful that the new movement would mean an end to past conflicts, but the protest tactics raise the specter of continued divisive politics and internal disputes within the Vietnamese American community.

“Some of the people who led the protests are resorting to the old habit of infighting and factionalism,” said Jeffrey Brody, a Cal State Fullerton assistant professor of communication and former campaign consultant for Lam. “What they’re doing will divide the community instead of unifying it.”

Lam has been a controversial figure for years, criticized by some for not doing enough for the Vietnamese American community and for his moderate views on normalization of relations with Vietnam. Lam says he advocates trade with the condition that human rights is part of the equation.

A successful businessman in Vietnam, Lam arrived in the United States in 1975 with his wife and six children after the fall of Saigon. His brother was killed by Communist troops during the war and an uncle was imprisoned.

Elected to the Westminster council in 1992, Lam is a savvy political player successful at fund-raising. He won reelection to his seat twice--but barely. He survived a bitter recall attempt by the firefighters union in 1993. His restaurant was the target of arson in 1996 after a heated council meeting in which merchants opposed the closure of Bolsa Avenue for a Tet festival that Lam supported.

His critics have accused him of being opportunistic and too mainstream, but Lam says it has been difficult to get the Vietnamese community--about 20% of Westminster residents--to understand his role as a public servant for all his constituents.

“I serve not only the Vietnamese American community but the city at large,” he said.

He has also been less visible in recent years because he wanted to stay out of the political infighting that plagued the community, Lam said.

“I’ve learned to stay away from taking sides in the Vietnamese American community,” he said. “I felt it’s not worth it.”

But Lam maintains he has done much to help his own ethnic community, such as working to get the Little Saigon signs on the freeway and getting a South Vietnamese flag hoisted at City Hall during Vietnamese Armed Services Day.

His fellow council members agree that Lam has worked hard for his community since his early days as a new immigrant, from working with the school board to improving the Bolsa Corridor.

“I have not always agreed with Tony. In fact, we were opponents in three different elections, and he beat me in two, so I’m not like his best friend,” said Councilwoman Margie L. Rice. “But this recall and this situation is completely unfair and unwarranted. I think he has served that community with his whole heart.”