Montagnard Center
Lap Siu
I just changed some settings hoping that the system will allow us to
post, edit, email, etc. If you have problems with these things, please
let me know. I tried to change my status from "owner" to "member" but
I could not do that. I want to be labeled as "member" not "owner." If
you have any suggestions, also let me.
Ok, let's start our first dicussion. Let me start by posting this
question: Why do you think it is important to have a physical
Montagnard Educational Center? Please share you ideas and post as much
as you want. :) Lap.
Note: I would like to encourage everyone to post your picture and a
brief message about yourself, especially your interests in regard to
the Montagnard people, culture, history, etc.
Andrew Young
Its important for the group to know about the initiative that the
Montagnard Human Rights Organization is exploring with Duke
University's Human Rights Center. The archive is intended for the
entire Montagnard community, not just one organization's history. Lap
Siu is already aware of this in some of the correspondence that MHRO
has shared with him. The Center has offered to make an archive of
Montagnard history, however, this would not include physical
artifacts. MHRO staff met Patrick Stawski, the Center's archivist at
Duke, last year, but unfortunately, have not moved forward. MHRO has
been gathering historical documents in the past year which we plan to
share with the Human Rights Center. It would be great if the
"Education Center" organizers could meet with us and especially, some
of the staff at Duke. It seems there is a common vision here. MHRO's
perspective is that a Montagnard culture center (or archival center )
should be in North Carolina, which has the largest population of
Montagnards outside of Vietnam.
Andrew Young
Lap Siu was good enough to organize this site and get the ball
rolling. He and I have shared views about a physical center for
Montagnard culture and we talked about how the many people we know
have thought about this, too. It strikes me that those who've fought
beside them in war or worked with them as they painfully transitioned
through camps or helped them after their arrival in the US (and
especially here in the Piedmont region of North Carolina) can disagree
over many things but can agree that some kind of center is
appropriate.
Personally, I hope that the fleetingness of time and the fragility of
objects and memories will inspire everyone to consider the future.
There will come a day when the tiny third generation kids we see today
will wonder about the circumstances of their forefathers' arrival,
their struggles, and their legacy. They may come to regret having
learned Koho, Rhade, and other languages only very imperfectly, having
only bits and pieces of their culture to pass on to their own kids.
Without action, I do not think these memories and history will survive
in the mainstream American culture except as a footnote. Surely a
loss, we'd say -- but not to the mainstream which has only been dimly
aware of its presence, after 23 years since the first group of
refugees came to the region.
Some of you know that Greensboro, my town, has taken decades to
finally open an International Civil Rights Museum, mostly because of
arguments about the past. Here, we are slow to recognize the value of
people, their talents and contributions to the full American story. If
it takes this region more than forty years to connect an African-
American experience to the greater American story, how long do we
think it'll take an Asian-American one to be similarly embraced?
Intellectual arguments only go so far; when people are moved, they
act. In this entry I am seeking to frame the story in such a way that
you are moved to act.
Thoughts?
Full disclosure: I am not a Montagnard! I am a fourth-generation
Chinese-American! My maternal grandmother was the first girl born in
New York City's Chinatown; my great uncle was ambassador to Mexico and
later director of education in Kwangtung Province in Sun Yat-Sen's
government. My uncles fought in the Pacific -- one in the Americal
Division, another with Chennault's air group in China. Another fought
in Belgium. My dad started as a private and ended as a combat officer
commanding white troops in a segregated US Army in Italy, France and
Germany. Later he joined the immigration service. Growing up, the
source of community conflict was the dispute between the PRC and ROC.
In the 80's my dad had a couple of tours in the Southeast Asian
refugee camps. He ended his career as assistant director of INS in
Singapore. Many in my family, such as my mom and aunts and myself,
were teachers. For a year my wife and I have been working at MDA
teaching and lending technical support. Mention "MDA" to some is
asking for trouble! Anyone can spot its flaws -- what's its potential?
And, given the broke and disconnected refugee system we have, what are
the options? In an ideal world with unlimited time, we could end all
feuds move together, united. But for today, for a Montagnard Center to
be realized doesn't require parties to agree on all points. Only that
we seek a common goal.