Re:  "No-Communist Zone" Has No Place in America

by T.Phong

Dear Ms. Reed:

First, congratulation on the fact that you left Viet Nam in 1975. Otherwise you would have some bitter experiences living under a totalitarian regime. I do not have to relate the horrors of life under Stalin, Mao, and Ho here because much has been said about them. Hitler was a devil too, but his brutality and savagery was directed at foreigners, while the three communist leaders enjoyed putting to death millions of their own countrymen.

Ms. Reed, you must hate us very much to use the _expression "hard-core communist haters" to describe us. I can feel in this _expression your hate. Do you know the word "activist" and its meaning? Don't you know that we had to run for our life when the communist succeeded in their invasion of South Viet Nam? Don't you know that we feel very fortunate to reach the shore of a free country believing to have seen the last of them that the communists are thousands of miles away and separated by an ocean? Don't you know that our movement for liberty and democracy in Viet Nam is not for us but for our countrymen who are deprived of their rights ? Didn't you read in the news about Le Chi Quang, Nguyen Vu Binh, and others who were incarcerated just because one dared translate into Vietnamese a document on "What is Democracy" issued by the American Embassy in Ha Noi, and the other wrote an article about "why should we yield land and sea territory to China"?

I bet there are numerous other issues that you didn't and you don't want to know. In other words, you don't care about the underdogs. And I suspect that you are in cahoots with the upper ones.

No, we are not "hard-core communist haters". We are just simple freedom loving people willing to use our spare time and little means doing whatever we could for our countrymen so someday they too will be able to enjoy freedom and rights like we, including you too Ms. Reed, are enjoying in this land of liberty.

You mention that "The U.S. and the current Vietnamese government have full diplomatic relations, . . .", but that does not mean that communist authorities are free to oppress Vietnamese people without anyone doing anything about it. Do you know or remember that we had supported the CONTRA against the Marxist Nicaraguan Government, and that we had full diplomatic relations with that regime.

You also mention about "a newfound friendliness between former enemies", although not specific, I assume "enemies" here means Americans and communist Vietnamese. Therefore, what's that having anything to do with us Vietnamese-Americans whom the Ha Noi regime has officially classified as "those thieves and prostitutes" running after the Americans for leftover bread and butter cumshaw. And this term is still being used today, although, in a restraining way, so not to disturb the flow of dollars from overseas Vietnamese. May I remind you that you too are included in their list of "thieves and prostitutes."? If you don't believe me, please ask them.

No, we do not try to keep the communists from visiting Little Saigon. You should know, or maybe you have already known but don't want to acknowledge it, that the very communist parliamentary delegation that was refused an official police escort for a grandstand pompous parade, was actually touring Little Saigon later by themselves, low key, without any incident. Upon their return to Viet Nam, they had described their "pleasant" visit to Little Saigon to the controlled media. So you see, they are free to come, although, they are not welcomed.

Sure, there are hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese-Americans visiting Viet Nam every year, but that does not mean that we could accept oppression and repression, nor would we accept violations of human rights by the communist authorities.

That's right, there is some voicing about: (1) don't visit VN unless necessary like a departed relative; (2) don't send money to VN; (3) don't buy VN products. However, nothing happened. You know why? I bet you don't. The answer is: we are culturally a traditional people very much attached to our roots, our family, our village, our fatherland. We cannot abandon traditions just because the communists have occupied our home, our village, and our fatherland.

The communists call us "thieves and prostitutes". Now, you are insulting us with the term "the small vocal bunch". It is all right, it is freedom of speech, it is your right to insult us. And you also have the right to accept the label given you by the communist just because you decided to leave Viet Nam ahead of their entry into Sai Gon.

You even use derogatory words like "hardened anti-communists" to describe us. You must really hate us intensely in order to use so many different expressions in painting us. Even the communists who should have every reason to detest us have tagged only one label on us, that of "thieves and prostitutes."

Don't you forget that in the communist eyes, I am a thief and you are a prostitute. I really cannot understand you, Ms. Reed.

As to your suggestion to preaching American values to the communists to change them. Good luck. You could be the first to succeed, or just another in a long line of those who had tried.

Ms. Reed, I wonder what is your opinion about the AC.L.U. Do you think them as "hardened liberals"? You should understand that in this world where injustice still exists, some like in these United States, a lot like in Indonesia or Pakistan, wholly in China or Viet Nam, there are always individuals like the Reverend Martin Luther King or organizations like the A.C.L.U. willing to stand up and fight so the others can be free. There are still a few idealists who are not just "preoccupied with putting food on the table and providing an education for the kids."

Do you know the term "equal opportunity?" It came into being because there were brave men, a very small group, who dared stood up against injustice. They were also labeled "extremists", "hard-core", etc. . fitting your own vocabularies.

One last noble example about people willing to sacrifice their life for the freedom of others that should be mentioned for your own benefit is the American Civil War. People were willing to die to get rid of slavery for complete strangers.

I do not know your age, your background, nor your knowledge about living under oppressive regimes, so I cannot comment about your personal self. However, we, the "hardened" and "hard-core" bunch who are enjoying a life in liberty without fear in this country, belong to generations of concerned Vietnamese who have lost many members of our family fighting against the French colonialists, the Japanese militarists, and the international communists, we cannot forget that our relatives, our friends, our compatriots in Viet Nam are living under totalitarianism; we just cannot look at ourselves in the mirror without feeling ashamed for having done nothing to help our people.

I believe it was Jefferson who said: "When government fears the people, there is liberty. When people fear government, there is tyranny."

Ms. Reed, do you maintain that the communist government fears the Vietnamese people?

Nevertheless, please be assured that I do not entertain any hate or resentment against you, I just feel rather regrettable that your spiteful letter indicates your rather immature look at an issue. I believe you were looking at only one angle of a very complex subject. Therefore, it is pardonable.

T.Phong

trphong@comcast.net

Original letter by Thuy Reed:

May 29, 2004

COMMENTARY
'No-Communist Zone' Has No Place in America
A hard-core few in Orange County's Little Saigon need a civics lesson.

By Thuy Reed

While our country is fighting, figuratively and literally, to defend this nation's good name in Iraq, the elected city officials of Garden Grove and Westminster spent precious time declaring that their cities are against "high-profile drive-bys or stopovers by members and officials of the Vietnamese communist government." Garden Grove deemed itself a "no-communist zone."



How would these officials explain to their counterparts from Vietnam how we operate here in the United States? Instead of upholding American values and conveying to newcomers that in the U.S. we cannot do away with the rights of some to favor the rights of others in this way, these Orange County officials bowed to Little Saigon's hard-core communist haters, whose numbers are few but who clamor the loudest. Aren't the restrictions of Vietnam's communist government on its citizens one of the complaints we often hear about?

The United States and the current Vietnamese government have full diplomatic relations, trade treaties and a warming military bond. People from both countries are free to visit and conduct business in each other's country. And they have.

The current developments in U.S.-Vietnam relations show a newfound friendliness between former enemies. This is progress that we in the U.S. should encourage, not stifle. It is unrealistic as well as anti-democratic to keep any visiting Vietnamese out of Little Saigon.

The war in Vietnam ended almost three decades ago. People of Vietnamese ancestry make up about 5% of Orange County's population, according to the 2000 census. Shopkeepers in Little Saigon peddle items directly from Vietnam. There are hundreds of thousands of them who go back to visit every year, and many more indirectly contribute billions of hard U.S. currency to Vietnam's economy through remittances to their families.

But every now and then, the anti-communists here advocate the "three nos" rhetoric: Don't go home, don't send money home, and don't buy Vietnam products. There has never been a serious exchange of thoughts between expatriates as to how to best deal with present-day Vietnam. Politically reticent Vietnamese Americans tend to concentrate on putting food on the table and providing an education for the kids. They are willing to tolerate the small vocal bunch. They have been through war and through communist gulags.

In voting yes on the so-called "no-communist zone" resolution, the city councils in Garden Grove and Westminster have inadvertently made this silent majority in Little Saigon more silent. The measure will give the new citizens the impression that the "government" is condoning the acts of hardened anti-communists, whose tactics might be considered a violation of civil liberties in the American mainstream.

The United States would be better served if those who vow to uphold the Constitution find ways to channel American values to the newcomers. Let them soak it all in. Let them lose some sleep over America too. Tell them that there is not a thing they can change about the past. But the future is for them to form, and the future is now.

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Thuy Reed, who left Vietnam in 1975, is founder and director of New Viet Women, a support group for Vietnamese women. E-mail: newvietwomen@yahoo.com

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