Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth in an American High School (New Americans (Lfb Scholarly Publishing Llc).)

The New Americans Recent Immigration and American Society

Edited by Steven J. Gold and Rubén G. Rumbaut

A Series from LFB Scholarly

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth in an American High School

Craig Centrie Preface by Maxine Seller

LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC New York 2004

Copyright © 2004 by LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Centrie, Craig, 1953Identity formation of Vietnamese immigrant youth in an American high school / Craig Centrie. p. cm. -- (The New Americans) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-931202-67-2 (alk. paper) 1. Vietnamese American youth--Education (Secondary)--Social aspects--New York (State)--New York--Case studies. 2. Children of immigrants--Education (Secondary)--Social aspects--New York (State)—New York--Case studies. 3. Group identity--New York (State)--New York—Case studies. 4. West Side High School (New York, N.Y.)--Students—Social conditions--Case studies. I. Title. II. Series: New Americans (LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC) LC3501.V53C45 2003 373.18295'92073--dc22 2003023711

ISBN 1-931202-67-2 Printed on acid-free 250-year-life paper. Manufactured in the United States of America.

This work is dedicated to my entire extended family.

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Table of Contents

1

Chapter 1:

Introduction

Chapter 2:

The Politics of Site, Self and Access

27

Chapter 3:

Vietnamese in Perspective

47

Chapter 4:

Inside West Side High School

69

Chapter 5:

West Side High Vietnamese Males

121

Chapter 6:

West Side High Vietnamese Females

159

Chapter 7:

Family Matters: The Contribution of Parents, Friends and Community

193

Chapter 8:

Conclusions

233 253 257 269

Notes References Index

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Acknowledgments

I would especially like to thank the Spencer and Carnegie Foundations for their generous support through most of the data collection and all of the analysis and writing of this work. These funds were granted to Lois Weis and Michelle Fine for The Unknown City. Without this assistance, this research would have been a much more difficult task. There are also many other individuals who guided me throughout this work. I would first like to thank Lois Weis whose guidance was present throughout every phase of this work and whose consistent encouragement and praise pushed me to finish. I would also like to thank Lois for inviting me to work with her on so many of her research projects, providing me with a very thorough knowledge and understanding of qualitative research. I would also like to thank many others, particularly Maxine Seller, who has graciously offered to write a preface to this work and whose life work on immigration has been of unparalleled inspiration. Maxine asked all the right questions at just the right time. I would also like to thank Ruth Meyerowitz, who sat me down for the last chapter and teased out the final details after I explained that I was brain dead, and John Stalely, whose assistance in the final phase of this work was invaluable and raised the level of scholarship. Without John, this work would have been much more difficult to read. Thank you for going through every page, checking for language errors and simplifying the prose. A special thanks to Julia Hall for much encouragement and many suggestions. I would like to thank my dear friend Harold McNeal who also pushed and encouraged me to get this work done. I would especially like to thank him for the critical work he did in re-typing and editing of the manuscript after several of my disks went corrupt. There are also endless lists of friends who encouraged me through their genuine interest in this work, for their patience, listening to my frustrations, and asking “Is it done yet?” I would like to thank the late Gail Kelly, who encouraged me to work with the Vietnamese, and who generously gave me her personal collection of Vietnamese papers and scholarship. ix

x

Acknowlegments

Thank you Amy Ferry for accepting the difficult task of correcting this manuscript after many problems arose in the final draft. Finally, I would like to thank Leo Balk, the publisher of Scholarly Press, who has been very patient and saw some value when I myself was not sure.

Preface by Maxine Seller

From its beginnings, the United States has been a favored destination for immigrants and refugees from all over the world, and, in early years of the twenty-first century it continues to be so. As wave after wave of newcomers have entered the country, Americans have argued about whether they should be welcomed as economic and cultural assets or feared as aliens diluting the national culture. Whatever their perspective on immigration, Americans have agreed on the importance of the public school as the central institution in the education and acculturation of “foreign” populations. While some immigrants have established their own schools in the hope of preserving native languages, religions, and cultures, most have entrusted their children to the quintessential American institution, the American public school. Craig Centrie’s study Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth examines the experience of one recently arrived community that has done so, the Vietnamese of “Nickel City,” a mid-sized industrial city in the Northeast. In the nineteenth century, the creators of American public schools envisioned the institution not only as both a builder of a national culture, but also as an agent of equality. Public schools, they believed, would prevent poverty by extending the benefits of education equally to all and would provide diligent students from humble backgrounds Ptake them. In the early twentieth century, the public schools were expanded and compulsory attendance extended largely as a response to the arrival of unprecedented numbers of immigrants, mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe. As the second and third generations made their way into American society, educators and the general public praised the public school as the “portal to America,” the open door through which not only immigrants but also the native born “minority populations could pass from poverty into the middle class. If some immigrant groups and other racial and ethnic communities didn’t “make it” in America, it was because they didn’t try or, more sympathetically, because they came from culturally and economically deprived homes. xi

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Preface

In the 1960s and 1970s, scholars responding to the Civil Rights Movement with new scholarship on the history of education pointed out that the public schools had failed to provide social mobility to African Americans and other native-born minorities and, indeed, had helped maintain and reproduce social inequalities. As the education, or miseducation, of native-born minority children was being reexamined, a new generation of educational scholars—historians, sociologists, philosophers, and others—also reexamined the education of immigrants. The new scholars, known as the “revisionists,” argued that the traditional view of immigrant education, “the great school legend” as historian Colin Greer called it in a book of the same name, was simply not true. Immigrants from impoverished backgrounds who succeeded in moving into the middle class were likely to have done so in spite of the schools rather than because of them. Revisionist scholars pointed out that schools did Americanize immigrant children, but at the cost of suppressing native languages and cultures. Instead of promoting social mobility, schools reproduced an oppressive hierarchical social order by tracking minority students into academically inferior vocational courses. In the closing decades of the twentieth century, a new generation of educational scholars—I will call them post-revisionists—moved beyond the now well-worn debate between traditionalist and revisionist interpretations of the education of immigrants. While taking on the critical perspective introduced by the revisionists, the new scholars did not accept the revisionist tendency to treat students (and their families and communities) as passive victims of an all-powerful educational system. They argued that even where the power of the parties involved in making educational decisions was not equal, there was room for negotiation. They stressed the importance of agency, the self initiated activity of immigrant students and their families in their own behalf, in the public schools, in ethnic and parochial schools, and in their own communities. They noted the great diversity not only among but also within immigrant communities, and investigated the impact of culture and gender as well as race and class on education and Americanization. They moved beyond theory to examine interactions within actual classrooms, homes, and communities. The result was a scholarship on the education of immigrants that was sophisticated and nuanced as well

Preface

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as critical. Craig Centrie’s ethnographic study of Vietnamese high school students in “Nickel City” is part of this new scholarship. Centrie focuses on Vietnamese who, like some other Asian groups, have been relatively successful in American public schools. Despite lack of prior knowledge of English and in most cases, parents who could offer little in the way of academic help or economic resources, the young people Centrie studies (with some exceptions) make As and Bs, do their homework, and behave respectfully in the classroom. Centrie moves beyond the “model minority” stereotype, however, to explore these students’ difficulties, to document their educational strategies and to analyze the reasons for their successes. Building on the work of John Ogbu, Centrie notes that the Vietnamese behave like “voluntary “ immigrants. Unlike many born minority students, they are unburdened by the weight of past discrimination. Although their school in Nickel City is a troubled one, they compare their educational opportunities in the United States with the lack of opportunities in Vietnam, rather than with the superior opportunities available to the American middle class. Building on the work of scholars like Paul Willis and Lois Weis, Centrie investigates the student culture created by the Vietnamese students, in this case a culture that is favorable rather than “oppositional” to the requirements and goals of the school. He shows how this culture is supported by the availability of a “free space,” a homeroom where Vietnamese students feel safe and where a Vietnamese teacher with links to both the local community and the school administration provides counseling, academic help, books, and computers. While some scholars have noted that high achievement in some European and Latino communities separated the achiever from his friends and family, Centrie demonstrates that it is the underachieving Vietnamese student who will be in conflict with family and community. His findings highlight the role of family, siblings as well as parents, and community in reinforcing students’ positive attitude toward academic achievement. He notes, too, that Vietnamese expectations of what is, at best, a mediocre urban school are limited and realistic. The students do not expect academic excellence. They want the schools to introduce them to American life and teach them English so that they can go on to higher education, and they believe that, on the whole, the school does this.

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Preface

Centrie is an informed and sensitive ethnographer. He brings the reader into the lives of Vietnamese students, documenting in their own words their ambitions, and their problems. He captures the dynamics of classroom, family, and community and analyzes the complex interaction among them. His work is grounded in history, both in the history of Vietnamese immigration to the United States and in the smaller story of the Vietnamese experience in “Nickel City.” His study places him in the center of the new scholarship on the education of immigrants in American schools.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

“…(A)nd you know, when the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong, were almost at our door steps, we did not believe it; we could not believe it. It was not until we saw the Americans panic and begin to leave that we begin to understand. It was, I think, the saddest day of my life.” Grandpa Tiu The fall of American occupied Saigon, South Vietnam to the Viet Cong in April 1975 initiated the departure of 130,000 shocked and confused Vietnamese to the United States. No one, particularly Saigoners, believed that their beloved country, protected and supported by the powerful United States, would succumb to the communist guerrillas from the North. Just days before Saigon was under siege, it was business as usual in the capital. The South Vietnamese believed that the Viet Cong of the North would be defeated. Few made preparations. Within hours of the attack on the capital, crowds of Vietnamese, mostly those with connections to the United States government, stormed the American embassy in Saigon, seeking asylum and evacuation from the besieged city. While hundreds left on helicopters and were taken to American tankers waiting in the South China sea, many more were left behind while the saddened and panicked American ambassador left on the last flight to safety. The hundreds of Vietnamese that evacuated in April 1975 began a journey that would be continued by more than one and a half million countrymen over the next quarter century. Shortly after Saigon fell, other Southeast Asian refugees, mostly from Laos and Cambodia, fled their homes to seek safety in the United States or Thailand as political instability in both countries increased. The massive departure of fleeing Southeast Asians to the United States occurred in three waves, the first immediately following the initial departure of refugees from Vietnam from 1975 until 1979, the second 1

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

from 1979 until 1983, and the third continuing until 1997, when the United States reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam, eliminating refugee status. By 1997, 70,000 Vietnamese refugees were being admitted into the United States annually. Since 1997, most Vietnamese have entered the United States on an individual basis. Historically, Southeast Asian immigration is identified by the class background of the refugees. The Vietnamese who departed in the early seventies are mostly highly educated and skilled individuals and their families have strong connections to the American administration in South Vietnam. The second wave consists predominantly of urban, middle class Vietnamese with strong business backgrounds who are financially independent. The third and final wave consists primarily of less educated and often rural Vietnamese and fishermen. Over the past 25 years, thousands of Vietnamese children have been educated in American schools. Most were new arrivals when they began their American educational odyssey. Although there are now many Vietnamese American children born in the United States (the children of the first arrivals), it is the new arrivals, those youth that have been in the United States five years or less, and their identity formation, that are the focus of this research. The Vietnamese, like all the immigrant groups before them, are becoming an integrated and dynamic part of the immense patchwork of cultures and traditions that compose American society. Like other immigrants, the Vietnamese are struggling to find their place. Nickel City, a rust belt urban environment with few economic opportunities, rarely saw its population grow from external migration. Over the last twenty years, this pattern is slowly changing, bringing new ethnic groups from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Today, the Vietnamese are one of the most visible newcomers, establishing a presence and leaving their imprint on the urban “street scape.” Although the newest arrivals have a much easier time adjusting and establishing themselves than their predecessors, there are still many hurdles to overcome. This research has convinced me that it is the youth that negotiate the most difficult obstacles. Vietnamese refugees generally have a difficult time adapting and adjusting during the first two to three years after their arrival because of language and cultural difference, although this process has been greatly mediated since the establishment of communities. The first refugees,

Introduction

3

however, had an especially difficult time because they arrived during a period of deep economic recession, creating concerns among American citizens that Southeast Asians would take job opportunities, and reminding Americans of an immensely unpopular war. Adjustment was further complicated because many of the first arrivals did not understand that they would never return to Vietnam. They are in many ways the reluctant immigrant. They believed that they would be leaving or evacuating for only a temporary period and to would return to a stabilized political structure, perhaps a major victory. For several days after the end of the war, many Vietnamese did not realize that South Vietnam lost, and that the United States was pulling out permanently. As a result of this misunderstanding, many first arrivals were very reluctant to cut ties with their homeland (Kelly, 1977). Since the greater economic growth of the 1990s, Vietnamese communities have emerged in many cities across the nation, allowing for easier adjustment for those that followed. In 1999, the first Buddhist temple and community center of the region has opened on the East Side. Twenty-five Vietnamese families have recently purchased homes and are creating businesses within walking distance of the temple, creating what may be the beginning of Nickel City’s first little Saigon. Since the arrival of the first wave of Vietnamese refugees—and despite many difficulties—a generation of Vietnamese students have become educated in the American school system. The literature on the Vietnamese experience has grown considerably, increasing as the Vietnamese population has grown. Literature from the 1980s was primarily concerned with policy issues. Today, the literature is more varied and addresses the many facets of the Vietnamese experience, including the experiences of Vietnamese American children growing up American and who have never seen Vietnam.

Research Description This research is a micro examination that analyzes the identity formation of Vietnamese teenagers and young adults in one high school. Specifically, I have explored the construction of Vietnamese collective social identity within one secondary school in a large

4

Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

northeastern city in the United States referred to throughout this research as Nickel City. I examine those factors, both within and outside of school, which relate to this identity formation process. My research strategies involve an exploration of how Vietnamese student school behavior and attitudes toward school, both male and female, impact their identity; how teacher/administrator perceptions and practice, as well as institutional practices, contribute to Vietnamese identity formation; in what ways Vietnamese students’ educational and occupational aspirations and expectations impact their identity; and how family and community expectations and attitudes affect their education. I also explore what Vietnamese students’ lives are like and what this may mean in terms of cultural change, and the extent to which these young adults are supported by their parents, family, teachers, administrators and friends. I further investigate what Vietnamese students’ social lives are like in school, what sorts of friends they have acquired in school and out, what leisure or extracurricular activities they are involved in, and whether American socialization is creating tension and conflict within themselves and between themselves and their families. In summary, this research probes the collective social identity of Vietnamese students in school and the Vietnamese community as a whole, and the ways Vietnamese students construct culture as a response to both schooling and broader social experiences. It is not my intention to collect data on other groups in the school system and compare the experience of these groups to that of the Vietnamese, although some discussion of inter-group relations is unavoidable. I wish to note that Vietnamese youth identity in the research at this particular site at least partly arises in relation to the two dominant groups in West Side High: Latinos and African Americans.1 Any comparisons here, however, are speculative. In the end, I find that identity formation is fluid and ongoing, emerging, not in a vacuum, but rather as part of a complex dynamic of institutional, inter-group, and personal relationships. To acquire the data, I interviewed and observed approximately 20 Vietnamese students, 20 parents, and 20 school administrators, teachers, and counselors to uncover the internal and external factors contributing to the construction of student culture and Vietnamese student identity. I have also interviewed 25 Vietnamese community

Introduction

5

leaders, observed and recorded family life and attended numerous community celebrations. Preliminary or background information on Vietnamese in the Nickel City area was acquired through Catholic Charities, a voluntary agency which has settled Vietnamese families in the Nickel City area since 1975. Currently, there are approximately 3,000 Vietnamese in the area. Significant numbers of Vietnamese high school students are located in three public city schools. The field site for this study is a neighborhood school referred to as West Side High, after the neighborhood in which it is located. As an inner city school, it serves a racially and ethnically mixed, largely working class population. Therefore, the present study probes the micro issues outlined above within one educational institution and within one Vietnamese neighborhood. The community celebrations and interviews with community leaders situate the students of West Side High and the 18th Street community in a larger citywide context. In this research, Vietnamese youth identity formation is understood to emerge in relation to their families, neighborhood and broader relationships with American youth, teachers and school administrators. As such, the school becomes a microcosm of American society. Throughout, I have employed John Ogbu’s voluntary and involuntary minority theoretical framework to analyze Vietnamese youths’ attitudes and perceptions toward schooling and achievement, as well as their future expectations and social relations both inside and outside of school. Stacey Lee’s (1996) work on model minorities helped to further refine this analysis as it pertains to Asians. In addition, I have employed the “free space” work of Michelle Fine and Lois Weis (1998) to explore how the Vietnamese use space in West Side High and the public and private domain of family and community life. Throughout, I argue that the Vietnamese dual reference framework on education positions them to appreciate education, and moves them toward a collective identity of achievement, most continuing on to higher education. Further, their collective experiences as refugees and immigrants, and specifically as Vietnamese, help to consolidate them as a group, moving them toward success. The Vietnamese youths’ emerging identity is, as explored in this research, forged from a supportive and nurturing home, community,

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

and institutional environment. In this research I argue that the majority of these Vietnamese have been excluded, either directly or indirectly, from participating in the benefits of education “back home” by a communist regime that viewed them suspiciously, creating a dual reference framework that appreciates American public education, encourages higher education, and directs students toward future economic success. Throughout this work I find that the institutional dynamics of West Side High create an environment where the Vietnamese can consolidate as a group by using their homeroom as “free space,” moving them toward a goal of educational attainment. Teachers and administrators, discouraged by the rigors and difficulties of working in an inner city school, are encouraged by the positive attitudes and hard work of the Vietnamese. I speculate that the Vietnamese designation as ESL (English as a Second Language) students, often viewed as a detriment in other school contexts, also helps to consolidate the Vietnamese as a group in West Side High. ESL positions non-native English speakers, and the Vietnamese in particular, within the context of an inner city school, as hard workers and students that appreciate the value of education. Most literature on the Southeast Asian experience does not take into account the different experiences of males and females. To provide for a richer account, I explore the different attitudes and experiences between Vietnamese males and females. While both males and females share positive attitudes toward school and work collectively toward academic achievement, I argue that Vietnamese females negotiate the dual expectation of having to maintain traditional female Vietnamese roles (thereby maintaining male dominant roles), and having to appease American attitudes of greater gender equality. I argue that females are not unaware of the dual expectations, but often do not challenge these traditional relationships because of the fragile state of the immigrant Vietnamese family and community. Every male I interviewed stated his interest in pursuing a professional college degree; females, by contrast, were less likely to do so. In addition, I examine Vietnamese relationships with other students at West Side High. I argue that American students, African American and Latino in particular, perceive the Vietnamese as being privileged, creating an atmosphere of resentment which sometimes

Introduction

7

leads to the harassment of the Vietnamese. In turn, this dynamic provides for the creation of stereotypes and the foundation for racist attitudes on the part of the Vietnamese toward African Americans and Latinos and vice versa. Finally, I examine the role of the Vietnamese community and family in the development of Vietnamese high school students’ identities. In this chapter I argue that the collective experiences of the Vietnamese as immigrants and refugees position the Vietnamese family and community to act as a complex network of support for Vietnamese youth, providing a nurturing environment that encourages academic achievement. The home becomes a miniature education system where everyone, family and community, participate in the education of Vietnamese youth. At the same time, I find the line between the public and private sphere becoming blurred, creating a community where Vietnamese youth are carefully monitored by both adults and each other in both public and private spaces. While for most, this atmosphere creates an environment of love and support, it also creates an arena of tension, where Vietnamese teens must balance traditional culture and expectations with American teenage values and the broader American experience. Overall, I find that Vietnamese youths’ identity formation is forged, not from a static insular experience, but rather, from a complex dynamic incorporating community, family, and school, none of which singularly block or facilitate its development. Rather, it is a discursive dialogue between institutions that enables a forging of collective and public identity modified and interpreted by the individual. It is here that I turn to a review of literature to frame the data and analysis of this study.

The Vietnamese Immigrant Experience in Perspective Scholars such as Kelly (1977) in From Vietnam to America, Weis (1985) in Between Two Worlds, Cusick (1973) in Inside High School, and others have demonstrated and suggested that large quantified studies cannot probe the more embedded issues of social process. The aforementioned scholars have turned to qualitative data collection to

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

begin to understand how, in a detailed way, people make sense of their world. In a similar manner, this study employs qualitative data collection in order to investigate the process of collective identity formation, and the more embedded issues of family educational expectations and aspirations, and administrator, teacher, and counselor expectations. The large quantitative statistical technique, while arguably more scientific and objective, cannot uncover the micro issues of social process in schools as outlined in this study. A further feature of this study is that it probes the many facets of their experience and textualizes the Vietnamese experience within an historical framework. This research also broadens the current discourse on identity formation to include Asians and to push beyond debates which primarily explore only the voices of Blacks and whites (Seller and Weis, 1997). To this end, it is often the case that the basic concerns of adjustment and identity remain the same but the process differs. The results of this study, therefore, can shed light on the overall process of group integration and collective social identity formation beyond Black and white, and situates the process and the experience within a cultural and historical context.

Background on Vietnamese in the United States The first wave of Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees came to the United States in 1975. The abrupt ending of the war provided for an equally abrupt arrival. The American government was unprepared to cope with the large volume of incoming refugees. Processing and settling the refugees was a huge task for which Congress slowly developed policies. For the first wave, policy development translated into many months in a detention camp. Vietnamese immigration in the United States is marked by three waves, the first occurring in the mid-1970s and the other two in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Settling has not been easy; the Vietnamese were greeted with hostility, and the traumatic conditions of their departure made adaptation difficult (Kelly, 1977). Unlike other immigrants, the early Vietnamese had no predecessors to assist them in adjusting (Nhu, 1976).

Introduction

9

The early settlement policies scattered the refugees around the nation. The Vietnamese, however, have since relocated themselves in urban communities. They previously had been isolated with no established community to attach themselves to. In addition, their culture and language are drastically different from the Western cultural and language base, making adaptation and adjustment more difficult. There is a tendency in the United States to group people who have geography, culture, or language together, disregarding differences in history. This is especially evident with Latino peoples, making them all Hispanics for demographics and census data, and more importantly, for the political distribution of federal dollars. The significance here is that the Vietnamese are surely Asian, but have very different cultural and historical experiences than the Chinese or Koreans; for example, though both Chinese and Koreans have also fled communist governments. It was not possible for the Vietnamese to attach themselves to an existing Asian community. Furthermore, it would be a disservice to them and inaccurate to compare the Vietnamese experiences with other Asian groups already established in the United States. While some comparison is unavoidable, this review focuses on literature which addresses the Vietnamese experience. The current literature available on Vietnamese immigrants and refugees focuses on four major areas: 1) Departure/settlement; 2) adjustment and adaptation; 3) employment/self-reliance—social services/dependency; and 4) education. Several Vietnamese settlement, adjustment, and employment experiences emerge in this study. It has been posited that many of the Vietnamese refugees in Vietnam were white-collar professionals, some working directly for the American government (Kelly, 1977, 1984; Caplan, 1989, 1991). Since their arrival in the United States, they have experienced considerable downward social mobility. They have either been routed into welfare or entry-level blue-collar positions. Downward social mobility is most profound in the refugees of the first wave, since this group is marked by a high number of professionals. As an ethnic group, the Vietnamese have higher levels of education than other Southeast Asian refugees and have been found to use state aid less. They have also had better success finding employment, though for professionals, employment is often underemployment (Kelly, 1977).

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

The settlement literature (Kelly, 1977, 1984; Baker, 1977; Baldwin, 1984; Kivisto, 1990) has also indicated that the policy implications differ considerably for refugees and immigrants. Refugees leave because of persecution, but immigrants leave of their own desire to improve their life circumstances. In terms of adjustment and adaptation, refugees, especially those of middle or higher socioeconomic backgrounds, tend to strive hard to recover what has been lost (Stein, 1979). Further, the more education the Vietnamese have, the better economically adjusted they are. They are, however, less satisfied than those with lesser education. Higher education has been linked to dissatisfaction due to unemployment or underemployment (Khe-Minj, 1979; Basche, 1979; Baldwin, 1984). In light of the research question posed earlier in this chapter, a number of sub questions were considered. For example, I examined the question: do family socio-economic background characteristics of the Vietnamese families affect their children’s identity formation in school, or, do Vietnamese children have an identity concurrent with their families’ lived experiences here in the United States? As previously stated, Kelly (1977) has posited that the Vietnamese are not a homogenous group. The second and third waves have had more Vietnamese of blue-collar or agrarian backgrounds with less education. I explore, therefore, what dominant identities school administrators and teachers associate with the Vietnamese students as a group. Ogbu (1989) has argued that racial groups in the United States (i.e., African Americans) constitute a socio-economic caste. Have the Vietnamese, because of American perceptions of Asians, been accepted as “honorary” whites, along with all the associated privileges, or, are they being racially categorized differently, like African Americans? The literature on Vietnamese adjustment has also posited that Vietnamese exile and settlement in the United States has affected their adaptation (Lanphier, 1978). In addition to general geographic isolation, Vietnamese families were found to adjust better culturally if they had a sustained relationship with an American host family. Stein further argues that the type of settlement experience by the Vietnamese “establishes both a priority in the orientation of the refugees, as well as the path of outcome which itself significantly determines other life chances” (Stein, 1979, p. 48). The overall changes experienced by the refugees have created a considerable amount of anxiety. When the

Introduction

11

gender variable is introduced, it has been found that young men, required to find jobs to support their families, have experienced greater anxiety than women and older men who remain at home. This is also the case for young single women with families. Considering these findings, I investigate how specific circumstances of Vietnamese family settlement have an effect on the identity formation and aspirations of young Vietnamese students in high school. This literature has also posited that adjustments and social integration for the Vietnamese have been better when they have been introduced into a heterogeneous community, which, by virtue of class and ethnic mix, is more flexible about facilitating integration and adjustment (Starr and Roberts, 1980). The above adjustment and adaptation issues relate to the individual and group identity formation in school. Some of the high school students themselves have experienced some or all of these adjustment issues. Parents who experienced their effects may influence their children’s perceptions of school. As it relates to this research, the collective experience of the Vietnamese as refugees and as members of the same ethnic group has affected student, parental and community acceptance of academic culture and its values. Some scholars have argued that the experiences of Vietnamese refugees will encourage their children to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded to them in the United States (Nhu, 1976). Addressing this point, Andrada (1984) argues that Vietnamese students are adjusting rapidly to the American system of education. This is creating, however, tension and conflict in the family in the area of norms and values. Rapid adjustment of Vietnamese students has also been noted to alienate them from the group. New appearances and the acquisition of American peers are creating conflict as well. While Vietnamese students may be adjusting culturally, it is not clear what specific group identity they are forming in school. They may either resist or accept school norms and values. While there is no specific study available on Vietnamese achievement in school, it is further argued that Southeast Asian students are perceived by teachers to maintain good school habits because of their learning style, and teachers have passed students on good behavior even when they have failed academically (Goldstein, 1987b). Their most significant

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

problems are cited to be having no official records, having to rely heavily upon classroom lectures rather than texts, and shyness and inappropriate smiling. The literature on the Vietnamese suggests that their previous socio-economic background in Vietnam and their refugee related experiences will affect their desire to achieve success and their social mobility here in the United States. In the present study, Vietnamese West Side High students fit the profile as outlined by the above studies. In terms of Vietnamese children’s collective social identity formation in school, their parent’s background experiences or the firsthand experiences of the children may affect their identities. To examine these possibilities, the family settlement experiences and the experiences of Vietnamese children are probed in parent and student interviews to determine possible relationships between group settlement experiences and identity formation in school. Vietnamese collective social identity issues are also related to various debates in the field. I now turn to a presentation of these debates in order to situate this study within a larger theoretical framework, and to identify the points which bear directly on Vietnamese collective social identity formation in school.

Schools and the Reproduction of Structure The Vietnamese have not been in the United States long enough to have established a firm position in the nation’s socio-economic structure. Because they have no similar predecessor, it is difficult to predict social outcomes by linking them to the experiences of other groups. Their relationship to the economy, the state, and its institutions are still evolving. Because Vietnamese families relocated themselves in urban areas and were initially routed into entry-level blue-collar employment and welfare, it would be easy to conclude that they are becoming the newest members of a growing and struggling urban underclass. However, that analysis would be simple and incomplete. The findings of present research suggest the opposite. Ethnographic studies of poor urban comminutes such as Valentine’s (1978) African Americans in Blackston or Bourgois’ (1995) poor urban Latino community in a large northeastern city argue that group dependence on irregular work, such as domestic service,

Introduction

13

seasonal agrarian employment, or state aid in the form of welfare and food stamps, entrap individuals in a cycle. Insufficient incomes from sporadic and unpredictable blue-collar jobs or the elimination of one household income forces individuals to derive additional income from illicit or “extra” legal activities (e.g., numbers running or the selling of marijuana). This dependence on a secondary job market, welfare, and/or illicit income-producing activities is essentially a survival existence that is a difficult cycle to break. This permanently entraps groups in an urban underclass. Because the Vietnamese have fallen into similar situations, it would be easy to assume a beginning entrapment. However, there are some differences. Both African Americans and Puerto Ricans have had a different historical relationship in the United States. African Americans began in the United States as slaves and were relegated to low socio-economic positions through various forms of institutionalized racism. Puerto Ricans have had a quasi-colonial relationship, which tends to relegate them to a similar position as Blacks vis-à-vis the economic system (Fine and Weis, 1998). It is, perhaps, this lack of a long historical relationship that makes the Vietnamese position potentially different from these two groups and may offer the strongest argument to explain why the Vietnamese are achieving academic and financial success. The literature on the Vietnamese suggests that their prior backgrounds and refugee experiences encourage them to recover what they have lost, or that their experiences will encourage them to take advantage of the opportunities afforded them here in the United States. The data from this study clearly posit that West Side High Vietnamese students, their families, and community are working hard to become self-sufficient and contributing members of American society. American schools are subject to a number of expectations. They are, on the one hand, to be institutions which reward students on a fair meritocratic basis, and on the other hand, it is argued, schools must respond to the needs and demands of a larger economic infrastructure (Bowles & Gintis, 1976). In accordance with these dual expectations, schools must distribute knowledge, but they distribute specific knowledge to certain groups so as to meet the requirements of the economy.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

As Bowles and Gintis contend with their theory of correspondence, while responding to economic requirements, schools produce student outcomes which reproduce the class structure. The entire organization of schools (e.g., grades, tracks, hierarchy and competition) is geared toward the needs of capitalism. Refining this position further, Apple and Weis (1983) argue that the requirements of the state (the legitimation function of which is expected to ensure meritocracy) and the economy (capitalist accumulation) result in schools producing educational outcomes favorable to the job market. During their years in school, students are socialized into appropriate work behavior and have acquired certain job skills for various forms of employment. Group socialization, however, is not random. Groups are placed into a hierarchically organized labor force as a result of the cross demands of the economy. Correspondence theory (Bowles & Gintis, 1976) assumes that the ideological characteristics of schooling and the categorization of students by the system are accepted by them. Other scholars (Willis, 1977; Valli, 1986; Weis, 1990) have since argued that while Bowles and Gintis are not entirely wrong, this model does not explain everything. Critical cultural theorists have challenged the perception that identities are immutable forms manufactured in a passive manner. Rather, by introducing culture as a critical element, critical cultural theorists recognize the autonomous nature of individual and group subjectivity and its relationship with others (Roman, Christian-Smith, and Ellsworth, 1988). Here, identities are formed in a more dynamic way, taking into consideration symbolic meanings and lived experiences, as well as those social structures which support historic domination and subordination patterns between groups (Omi and Winant, 1994). In this model, race, class, and gender become culturally synthesized “texts,” both real and symbolic, which are applied in everyday experiences, and which affect everyone within a particular culture. Therefore the collective cultural experiences are created between “texts” through changing social struggles and economic contests in everyday locations of social and economic interaction, (Roman, Christian-Smith, and Ellsworth, 1988). What goes on at the institutional level is, under this formulation, of great significance.

Introduction

15

Studies produced by Willis (1977), Valli (1986) and Weis (1985) have posited that schools are sites where culture and ideologies are produced through interactions, rather than being places where ideologies are imposed and remain static. Interactions and processes of identity construction are characterized by tension and conflict. It is the two major points of this discussion which are specifically important to the study of Vietnamese collective social identity formation in school: 1) schools are required to perform two contradictory functions; and 2) the contradictions are worked out at the cultural level of the group as groups define their identity (i.e., class, race, gender).

Ethnographic Studies of Student Identity Formation In the 1970s and the 1980s, the cross pressures of legitimation and capital accumulation on schools increased. Since the 1960s, minorities, recognizing their inferior socio-economic status, pressured for increased state involvement to narrow the gap between themselves and their more affluent counterparts through political contest. To solve this contest, which is fundamentally an issue of the economy, the state has “required” schools to mediate these problems by emphasizing the meritocratic ideology and increasing access. Increased access itself was contradictory to the needs of capital accumulation. It became more contradictory because the state was reliant on the economy for support and was more involved in the capital accumulation process than ever before. However, more recently, since the explosion of technology, it appears that the corporate world needs people with enough education to be useful in the new workforce and to prevent shortages in the work force that raises wages. It is arguable today that better access to education, and better education itself, is in the interest of corporate America, not contradictory to those issues. Routing the Vietnamese into welfare and low level blue-collar jobs suggested that the economy in the 1970s and 1980s was unable to absorb large numbers of people at the white-collar or professional level, nor had there been a policy which allowed for a ratio of qualified Vietnamese to attain professional status, as is arguably the case for other groups. Their refugee/immigrant status does not adequately

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

explain these points either. During the 1950s, large numbers of Hungarian refugees were assisted by the state to recover the professional status they had left behind. Vietnamese minority status is not successfully linked to the Black or Puerto Rican position as previously stated because of a lack of historical relationship to the United States and the lack of an established cadre of unsuccessful or successful predecessors from which to formulate an identity. Ogbu (1989) begins to demystify the possible relationship between immigrant status and identity formation. He argues that voluntary minorities (individuals that have opted to come to the United States), regardless of race or cultural background, such as various Asian groups, do better (in school) than involuntary minority students, such as African Americans. Because voluntary minorities have come on their own, they tend to focus on the potential for success rather than failure. Involuntary minorities, because of their history and historically oppressed positions in the United States, view education and its rewards to be for white Americans. While this theory does not completely address the experiences of the Vietnamese, there are some points which offer insight. The distinction between “refugee” and “immigrant” is mostly significant in policy issues due to its determination of political status. While the refugee is not voluntary in the same sense as an immigrant, refugees are, like immigrants, leaving a less desirable situation for a better one. Therefore, the overall realities of socio-economic adjustment and adaptation for both groups are likely to be the same. While some Vietnamese left a middle or upper class position and may suffer psychologically from the loss of status, a desire to recover lost status has been posited in the psychological literature on Vietnamese (KheMinj, 1979; Montero, 1979; Cohon, 1981; Nguyen, 1984). Ogbu’s (1989) framework suggests that the Vietnamese may have a more positive outlook on education than other minorities or possibly even working class whites. Whether or not this potentially optimistic view of education will continue after they attempt to articulate their education and job plans with the economic sector is significant to the identity formation of West Side High Vietnamese, but falls outside of the realm of this research. To understand more clearly how group frameworks function and how they are related to tension, conflict, and resistance or

Introduction

17

accommodation in school, the following three ethnographic studies which examine resistance as it is lived and formulated along lines of class, race and gender make the points very clearly. Paul Willis’ (1977) Learning to Labor examines an all male school in a central industrial city in England. It is an ethnographic account which identifies two distinct student groups: the “lads” and the “ear ‘oles” so identified by the “lads.” The “lads” identified along white working class lines and resisted the middle class norms and values of the school. They view their schooling as a way to “have a laff.” The “ear ‘oles” accepted or accommodated the norms and values of school and were looked down upon by the other group. The “lads” were resistant to authority and the accountability of time, but especially to the total mental processes involved in, and required by schools. The “lads’” identification with the working class ethos of manual labor viewed blue-collar work as positive and successful. By extension, the position that manual labor is good became linked to a larger masculinity ethos, as well. The “ear ‘oles” and their compliant identity in school and intellectual process were characterized as effete and, therefore, unsuccessful. The total working class cultural forms of the “lads” acted to counter school culture. The “lads’” class identity further divided the working class, both materially and ideologically. This issue was particularly salient in the “lads’” positioning of working class minorities in England. While both groups (the “lads” and the minorities) may have common economic interests, racism separated both groups, disallowing a working class unity which might apply pressure on the state and the economy. Most significant in Willis’ study is that the “lads’” acceptance of manual labor and resistance to school confirmed the most basic distinction of a capitalist system. In essence, the “lads’” resistance continues to retain them at their current socio-economic stratification level and embraces a class-based economic structure which, as Willis argues, works against them. Between Two Worlds (Weis, 1985) provides insights on race, the economy, and education. Here, Weis examines Black community college students in a large northeastern city in the United States. She argues that race and its relationship to historical economic experiences created a group identity formation process within the college.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

Essentially, the lived culture of poor Black students acted to return many of the students back to the ghetto. Weis argues that student cultural forms are thus lived and only partially produced in school. These specific cultural elements embody oppositional tendencies which contribute to the maintenance of an unequal social structure. Different from Willis’ (1977) working class “lads,” Black community college students view education and knowledge as critical to success. Though Black collective identity held institutional racism partially responsible for group failure, individuals also blamed themselves for their own personal failure. Since the formal barriers to access have been eliminated, and because of the group acknowledgment of education and knowledge as “key” to success, it was clear that students internalized some dominant ideological points. But inability to “penetrate” the complete ideology caused students to turn their personal failures inward. Similar to the “lads’” culture, Black community college student culture served to limit their own group’s political potential, and to encourage the maintenance of their socioeconomic position. Though the basis and causes of resistance among Willis’ “lads” and Weis’ Black community college students are different, the outcomes are similar. In Linda Valli’s Becoming Clerical Workers (1986), working class high school women’s roles were examined and the process of understanding gender-based differences began. Typical female roles were reinforced by subordinate curricula, tracking, and messages of teachers and the school. Women were selected out of certain training (male dominant tracks) and routed into clerical work, home economics and other traditionally female jobs. Unlike men, women’s identities tended to be less intrinsically linked to wage labor. Further, women’s beliefs about themselves as inferior were reinforced by ideological messages. The women themselves maintained a group cultural resistance of primping and talking about clothes and dates at inappropriate times. As a dynamic culture, it reinforced the concept of men’s superiority and women’s inferiority as workers and wage earners. Because of women’s major family roles (i.e., mother, homemaker), they resisted the double workload of full time jobs. Though not stated but inferred in this piece, it was clear that women were expected to get married and have a family as a routine part of their existence rather than become major income-producing agents.

Introduction

19

Thus, by subordinating themselves to men, they made themselves dependent on them. In comparing the identities of Valli’s (1986) women and Weis’ (1985) Black college students, we again find that the dynamic resistant culture produced in schools serves to encourage the maintenance of an inferior socio-economic position and confirm basic distinctions within the working classes. Also, these studies demonstrate the ways in which the group and the individual may become cross identified by class, race, and/or gender and construct resistant or accommodating cultures in school. Studying the Vietnamese collective social identity formation will add to the existing body of knowledge on cultural production and reproduction by examining the way in which ethnicity or immigrant status relates to the formation of culture. While this present study also uses the school as the site to examine the development of culture, it also looks at the development of culture in relationship to internal school factors (teachers and administrators) and external factors (parents’ expectations and background). Before moving to methodology, I turn to two studies (Payne, 1986; Ogbu, 1991) which examine these factors separately. Payne (1986) identified a totally chaotic institutional culture in one inner city high school. The school predominantly served inner city Black youths who were resistant to the fundamental norms and values of school. However, faculty and administrator culture also participated in the general chaos in terms of leaving early, arriving late, having inadequate lesson plans, etc. While it was clear that student, administrator and teacher cultures emerged in response to one another, it was also clear that faculty and administrators had a personal stake in maintaining the status quo. To do so allowed them less accountability while blaming the students for their failure. By examining the total social dynamics of the institution, Payne was able to acquire insight as to how lived cultures emerge in response to one another and reproduce the structure. Though students, teachers and administrators maintain different positions in the school hierarchy, their collective cultures, born of tension and conflict, create a symbiotic relationship which recreate the social order in school. Payne thus provides an example of the ways in which teenagers contribute to the collective student identity

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

formation process. Following Payne, my study investigates the role of teachers, administrators and school culture as well. As previously stated, Ogbu’s (1991) notions of voluntary and involuntary minority status and dual reference framework are threaded throughout this work. In addition, I have found the theoretical construct of “free space” helpful where I explore the Vietnamese use of space in West Side High and the ways in which the Vietnamese community and family interact to create a safe haven in which to nurture Vietnamese youth.

The Second Generation Since the mid-1990s, a new literature has been written which explores the lives of the second generation children whose immigrant/refugee parents have settled in the Unites States since the 1970s. Although these scholarly works do not directly pertain to the youth I have examined in this research, as the voices uplifted here for analysis are all refugees themselves, Second Generation Literature does address a number of questions I have posed throughout this present work. In the final chapter of this research I have suggested that although the Vietnamese in Nickel City have created a culture which supports Vietnamese youth’s academic success, it is not clear what the future will hold. The following work begins to unravel this question. Perhaps the most significant of these new works which statistically presents a broad expanse of second generation lives is Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation (Portes and Rumbaut, 2001). Here Portes and Rumbaut elegantly lay out the societal and economic conditions in the United States over the past 30 years, which differ greatly from those prevailing at the beginning of the 20th century. The turn of the preceding century saw an unprecedented economic expansion in the United States which easily accommodated the millions of new European immigrants and provided them with small incremental economic steps by which to achieve upward social mobility. This economic expansion, along with the relative similarity in culture and physical appearance to the existing population, made possible easy socio-economic assimilation of the new European immigrants. However, the gradual de-industrialization of the American economy beginning in the late 1960s, and the overall global economic

Introduction

21

restructuring of the U.S. economy has created an environment much more difficult for new immigrants to achieve upward social mobility in. The present hour glass configuration of the economy along with several economic downturns has created drastically different conditions for new immigrants that the previous generations had not faced (Portes and Rumbaut, 2001; Waters, 1999; Zhou and Bankston, 1998). In addition, the new immigrants and refugees are primarily arriving from Latin America, Asia, and Africa, differing drastically culturally, linguistically and socially from previous immigrant groups and making successful upward social and economic mobility harder to achieve. As Portes and Rumbaut explain, “A racial gradient continues to exist in U.S. culture so the darker a person’s skin is, the greater the social distance from dominant groups and the more difficult it is to make his or her personal qualifications count.” Furthermore, the U.S. government has only selectively assisted groups over the last 30 years, of which the Vietnamese have been one, and leave many groups on their own to negotiate America’s more complex society and economy. Overall, the general reception of all these groups along with their personal, family and community structure greatly affect potential success. Portes and Rumbaut have identified that the extent to which second generation adaptation occurs is strongly linked to family composition and the extent to which it includes both biological parents. This affects outcomes even after taking into account parental human capital or education and occupational skills. Vietnamese students in the present study are from varying backgrounds. Some come from two parent households, others have had fathers join after many years of separation, and others still live in one parent households headed by the mother or some other older adult such as a grown brother or sister. A limitation of the present work is that I have not examined differences between these family configurations. Also of consideration in second generation immigrant student success is what type of neighborhood these students grow up in. Portes and Rumbaut suggest that “(i)n this situation, the central question is not whether it will assimilate into U.S. society but to what segment of that society it will assimilate.” In this historical context, they suggest there are three major challenges to educational attainment and further career success: the persistence of racial discrimination, the bifurcation of the

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

U. S. labor market, and the growing inequality and consolidation of a marginalized population in the inner city. Depending on the group or the experiences of the individual, they may identify with countercultures in school and neighborhoods that promote dropping out, joining youth gangs, or participation in drug culture, an alternative path labeled as downward assimilation (Portes and Rumbaut, 2001; Waters, 1999; Zhou and Bankston, 1998). This was particularly the case with some Vietnamese youth in Versailles Village, students studied by Zhou and Bankston in Growing Up American (1998). These were children who arrived in the U.S. before age 13 or were born in the U.S. and regarded by the overall Vietnamese community as “bad children,” or those who were alienated from their communities and overexposed to American society. In a sense then, these are youth who I would describe as between traditional Vietnamese community and American society, but not completely accepted by either. They are to some extent trapped by a desire to assimilate to American society but are discriminated against in one way or another. My experiences with these children who are “lost” to the Vietnamese community are rather limited. I saw evidence of this segment of Vietnamese youth in terms of tough kids on the bus or walking down the street, but they were an isolated few. This is partly due to the relative small size of the Vietnamese community here in Nickel City and the overall ability of the Nickel City community to maintain control. Similarly, in Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities (1999), Mary Waters (1999) suggests that American racial discrimination negatively impacts West Indians’ upward social mobility. Attempting to improve their lives, middle class West Indians in Brooklyn, N.Y. move to better neighborhoods with better services, better schools, and no drug and gang activity, only to have whites flee. Quickly to follow behind white flight is the very element that middle class West Indian families tried to escape, creating a never-ending cycle of marginalization. Like their Mexican counterparts identified in Legacies (Portes and Rumbaut, 2001), West Indians as a group find that a significant part of their youth identify with counter-cultures leading to downward assimilation. These marginalized inner city neighborhoods have been described by Waters as toxic. I couldn’t agree more. Although the Vietnamese in the present research are exclusively living in inner city environments and only partially live in two parent

Introduction

23

households, they tend to exhibit high degrees of upward social mobility and have displayed high degrees of academic achievement very similar to most of the youth in Versailles Village community. One possible explanation, in addition to Vietnamese refugee culture and a dual reference framework, is that racial discrimination experienced by Nickel City’s Vietnamese at the hands of Latino and African American students works in Vietnamese youth’s overall favor. By this I am suggesting that attending a school which is primarily minority, and where the Vietnamese experience discrimination, may in fact block Vietnamese counter-culture identification. Discrimination of Vietnamese by American minorities is not unique to the Nickel City community. This has also been documented in works such as From Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia: A Refugee Experience in the United States (Hein, 1995). While American ethnic discrimination is usually perpetrated by whites on groups such as African Americans, Hein finds that in Philadelphia, for example, where Blacks have a high representation, Vietnamese have suffered racial discrimination at the hands of American minorities. The argument I have just presented is in direct contrast with the theories presented in many second generation analyses, including the exhaustive work on the Vietnamese by Zhou and Bankston (1998). They, too, paint an equally bleak picture of the prospects of the second generation stating that: Children growing up in households headed by poor, lowskilled immigrants face uncertain prospects for moving ahead through school success. The parents, of course have few of the economic resources that can help children do well in school. The environment does not help; when neighborhoods are poor, beset by violence and drugs, and local schools do not function well. To add to this difficulty, immigrant children receive conflicting signals, hearing at home that they should achieve at school while learning a different lesson—that rebellion against authority and rejection of the goals of achievement—on the street. At the same time, both real life and the television screen expose children to the wage and consumption standards of U.S. society, and children come to expect more than their parents.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

However, keep in mind that the Vietnamese examined here are first generation immigrants/refugees. For many second generation immigrant/refugee children, socio-economic marginalization in poor neighborhoods and what I am boldly referring to as bad schools, can lead to ghettoization “…provid(ing) for a political atmosphere and mentality that preserves class distinction along racial lines, leading to greater alienation of minority children from American institutions and further diminishing their chances for upward mobility” (Fainstein, 1995). Ultimately, what may initially work for immigrant and refugee children, along with their distinct ethnic and cultural qualities, may not work for the next generation. On this point, the data presented in Black Identities (Waters, 1999) is in agreement. Nickel City Vietnamese youth have benefited from the stereotypes given by West Side High administrators and teachers, but have been alienated from their Latino and African American peers. Overall, the Vietnamese original culture has promoted upward assimilation, at least academically, in the inner city. If West Side High’s Vietnamese would have been placed in a predominantly white suburban school, the second generation literature strongly suggests they would not have nearly been so successful. The analysis here also suggests the same. Like the Vietnamese of Versailles Village, Nickel City Vietnamese have established themselves in racially mixed inner city neighborhoods where the rent is cheap. In both communities (Nickel City and Versailles Village), the Vietnamese youth attend marginal schools where the general student population views teachers and administrators with oppressive authority. Although the majority of Nickel City’s Vietnamese are academically successful, they are confronted with oppositional youth culture in light of a parental and community push for success. Further, although a few of Nickel City’s Vietnamese youth have been “lost,” the majority appear to be successful academically and may provide a positive alternative to the overall bleak picture presented in the second generation literature.

Creating a “Free Space” Nickel City is an urban environment that has been plagued by a withering private sector and an increased reliance on public dollars. Over the last twenty years, there has been a dramatic increase in

Introduction

25

poverty, crime, and domestic violence (Fine and Weis, 1998). For many individuals and families, there is an increased sense of isolation and loss of community along with a concomitant search for, and creation of, safe and alternative spaces. To explore these existing and emerging spaces, Weis and Fine (2000) further refine the theoretical constructs of “free space” as posited by Boyte and Evans (1992). Here, “free space” is understood to be the terrain between private lives and institutional structures where individuals learn to critique their experiences, assigned stereotypes, and often engage in community affirmation through democratic consensus. A critical component of participation is that it is totally voluntary. In these locations, individuals learn new skills and create a new identity while incorporating diverse perspectives. These new skills and identities translate into institutional practice, social lives, and politics. As it relates to the Vietnamese of West Side High, “free space” assists in the analysis of how the Vietnamese faculty and students delegate space in their homeroom, as well as how this space is used to consolidate them as a group, moving them forward, shaping goals, creating a safe environment free of outside stereotypes (and sometimes abuse), and forging a collective identity as Vietnamese, regardless of prior status based on common experiences and ethnicity. I also employ the construct of “free space” to explore how the Vietnamese family and community come together to create a nurturing environment for Vietnamese youth, positively enforcing the value of education and self-sufficiency. At the same time, these spaces can enable the creation of a hegemonic group identity that can be oppressive for Vietnamese youth as well. By exploring the role of the institution, as well as the roles of teachers, administrators, students (both males and females), families, and the Vietnamese community, this research examines a comprehensive environment in which Vietnamese student identity is forged. In addition to investigating the immigrant experience as a factor in identity formation, and adding to the existing body of literature on culture and the reproduction of structure, the present study also employs ethnographic data collection techniques to explore culture inside and outside of school. By doing so, I am suggesting that external influences greatly influence Vietnamese identity in school. Due to the

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

lack of information on refugee student construction of academic culture, the present work explores a new area of research. The following chapter descriptions help to explain this research design. This first chapter presented brief historical remarks in which to frame the Vietnamese immigration to the United States, and was followed by the major theoretical questions explored in this work. Included in this chapter was a review of the literature which couches my questions and analysis. Chapter 2 examines the methods used to gain access to the sites, as well as the collection, management, and analysis of the data. Chapter 3 presents background on Vietnamese immigration to the United States. This chapter also presents a profile of the national Vietnamese population and compares it to the local Vietnamese population, which constitutes the major focus of this research. Chapter 4 explores the ways in which the Vietnamese of West Side High manage space, particularly in the homeroom. This chapter also looks at the ways in which institutional culture contributes to the identity formation of the Vietnamese, with additional data collection on West Side High’s teachers and administrators. Chapter 5 examines the narrations of Vietnamese high school males, their aspirations for the future, perceptions and attitudes toward school, and the struggles with stereotypes both for themselves and others. Chapter 6 examines the narrations of Vietnamese high school females, their aspirations for the future, and their perceptions and attitudes toward school, and compares female narrations to Vietnamese male narrations. Chapter 7 explores the role of the Vietnamese community and family in the identity formation of Vietnamese youth. Chapter 8 presents the findings and the conclusions of this research and suggests other avenues for further research.

CHAPTER 2

The Politics of Site, Self and Access

“Do you know these people; I mean, are you related to them in some kind of way?” Triage nurse in Nickel City General Hospital Feminist research methodology and post-modernism has brought to the forefront a number of important research considerations that have exploded the myth of total objectivity. Throughout my research I have been concerned with what I bring to this ethnography, and what effect my background has on the analysis. Who I am in relationship to my work, my background, what effect I have on the methodology, and in what ways my past experiences, feelings, and assumptions affect the analysis of the data are questions raised by others in the field (Peshkin, 1986; Ladson-Billings, 1994). These are valid questions and ones which suggest that the researcher, no matter how good, is not neutral or completely passive in the process of collecting and analyzing data. Because of my concerns and occasional difficulties during the course of collecting and analyzing the present data, I am including in this chapter some brief remarks on my background, along with my feelings and experiences while investigating my topic. In addition, I include information on the preliminary steps I took before entering into the formal data collection process, how the site was acquired, a profile of the Nickel City school district, and a description of the site. This chapter also contains an explanation of how I collected the data, managed the data and, finally, how the data were analyzed.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

Starting Up I was raised by my maternal grandparents in an old established middle class East Side neighborhood composed of various white ethnics and various “others” like myself. During the mid-1960s, the neighborhood became transitional, at first attracting middle class African Americans, and shortly after, working class and poor African Americans as well. Like everyone else in this community, I awoke in the morning, not to people rushing to get to work, but rather, to people strung out on heroin, prostitutes returning after a night out, and drug pushers and pimps making a deal. Most people survived through a complex network of relationships. Many people I know from this community continue to be on welfare, or are in jail, and in too many instances, are dead. I continued to live in this neighborhood for the next fifteen years, interacting as a member of the community and affiliating with several community-based organizations which predominantly served African Americans. After leaving Nickel City for several years, I returned to live on the West Side in a fully integrated neighborhood which included many Latinos. I have worked for a number of Latino agencies and continue to do so. Currently, as a director of the only Latino arts organization in the city, I am in regular contact with both Latino and African American organizations. Perhaps because of all of the above, this research, more simply put, asks, “why do some people make it, and others don’t?” Partly because of my own complicated background, I have become increasingly interested in issues of identity formation, and chose to examine how one ethnic group in a secondary school setting makes its life meaningful. I believe, after conducting this study and participating in many others, that the specifics of identity formation are particular to each group and person, and yet, the feelings of frustration and insecurity are general to all. In retrospect, I found the identity formation of the Vietnamese of West Side High to be a product of many things, but especially the relationship between people and institutions. My concern for my preconceived feelings and assumptions, along with the positive and negative aspects of knowing many people in both the African American and Latino communities, directed me to study a group with which I had few contacts. Nickel City has historically not attracted many Asians. Only since the late 1970s (a direct result of the

The Politics of Site, Self and Access

29

end of the Vietnam War) has there been any Asian community not associated with the various colleges and universities. Today, these inner city communities are largely Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese. They continue to be very small but are creating a somewhat cosmopolitan atmosphere, and to some extent, are beginning to revitalize core urban areas. Throughout the course of data collection, I have questioned my decision to work with an ethnic group that I was so unfamiliar with and which seriously complicated the process. Initially, I knew little of the history of Vietnam or its cultures and customs, and nothing about the language. In order to center myself, I felt it necessary to first read several books and monographs on Vietnam’s history and culture before reading extensively on the U.S./Vietnam War and Vietnamese exodus and settlement in the United States. I then gathered U.S. government information on immigration and Congressional refugee acts. For local information, Catholic Charities, the regional VOLAG (Voluntary Resettlement Agency), was very helpful and insightful. They were able to give me many regional facts and introduced me to local Vietnamese community leaders, which was key to accessing the community. Because of these introductions, I was able to meet with the leaders of the Vietnamese community and discuss the community before entering West Side High. I attended numerous community meetings and celebrations such as Tet (Vietnamese New Year) as well. All of these things made me recognizable to members of the Vietnamese community, and facilitated the more in-depth aspects of my research. Meetings with local Vietnamese community leaders were critical to my comfort level while working with the Vietnamese. Dropping a familiar name before doing an interview put parents at ease. Also, Mr. Nguyen, a local Vietnamese businessman, made many helpful suggestions regarding proper conduct, for which I continue to be grateful. Unlike the more emotive, informal, and occasionally effusive community gatherings of the African American and Latino communities, the Vietnamese community, for me, was more formal and less demonstrative in public. It was difficult to “read” people’s feelings and gauge my interpersonal successes. When interviewing parents, it was immediately clear that inter-gender (male to female) interactions were governed by unfamiliar rules. For example, formal Vietnamese

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

culture dictates that unrelated males do not touch females; therefore introductory handshakes were regarded as inappropriate. Conversations with women were handled more formally than male-to-male conversations. Younger people were expected to stand until older persons or persons of high position were seated. When offered something to eat or drink, it was more polite to wait until the host or hostess made the first gesture to begin. Although a mistake in these areas did not kill an interview with parents (Americans were not expected to know Asian culture), following convention facilitated them. It was regarded as polite and respectful. When interacting with the Vietnamese, both young and old, I learned never to touch the top of peoples heads, sit in any way deemed disrespectful, or call someone with hand motions that were regarded as aggressive or insulting. I had to learn to take particular care with my feet, never allowing the bottoms of my shoes to be visible or pointing them towards anyone. More complicated still, is the fact that the broader Vietnamese community is not centered in one location. It is a community, or an immigrant “space,” that crosses many sites and geographic locations, although there are clusters of Vietnamese families like the one I refer to in this research as the 18th Street community. Overall, the geographic vastness of the Vietnamese community in Nickel City made becoming familiar with the larger Vietnamese community more challenging. Data collection also presented a number of learning situations. When interviewing parents at home, it was always the case that the mother deferred all responses to her husband or oldest male, when available. Interviews with Vietnamese high school students were generally no different than interviewing American high school students in terms of etiquette. Cultural rules were more essential with the Vietnamese who were the most recent arrivals. Those who had been here over a year were more informal. Overall, I found myself to be much more conscious of my behavior in the Vietnamese community than any other community in which I have conducted ethnographic work, largely because the community was so unfamiliar.

The Politics of Site, Self and Access

31

Situating the Site: A Description of the Nickel City School District All qualitative research was conducted in Nickel City, a mid-size, postindustrial city in the northeast. The vestiges of a blue-collar mentality remain in the city, though much of its heavy industry left in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since then, Nickel City has been attempting a slow economic and cultural renaissance with a shift toward a service sector economy. Nickel City was designed in the earlier part of the 20th century to accommodate a population of 1 million. It peaked in the 1930s and 1940s to nearly 600,000, but fell short of ever realizing its intended population. Since the 1950s, it has regularly lost population to the suburbs. Census 2000 has documented the population to be less then 300,000, with white flight to the suburbs continuing at alarming speed. Today, the population is nearly half minority. It is a predominantly Black and white town with only 4.5 percent of the population foreign born. With the continuing loss of jobs, the city has lost over 35,000 people since 1980 (Fine and Weis, 1998). City government was correct to anticipate that the city would continue to lose white capital to suburban sprawl while the city itself became poorer. Fine and Weis in The Unknown City (1998) further comment that “(Nickel City’s) poor and working class are still relatively supportive of schools and other public institutions” (p. 10). However, the destabilization of the economy, lack of jobs, and the increasing poverty of the city has “(…) seen corresponding/coincident increases in violent crimes, growth of the street-selling drug industry, particularly of crack, the rapid expansion of the prison system, and the intensification of police arrests and reports of police harassment (Fine and Weis, 1998, p. 11). Choosing a site in Nickel City was very easy for this study. Only one high school, West Side High, had a large enough Vietnamese study body to conduct the research; only West Side High offers a secondary level ESL program. Two other schools also had Vietnamese high school students, but the students were too few in number to situate this research. Both are neighborhood schools like West Side High, and are governed by the same attendance rule: you must live in the designated

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth

area to attend. There are no other requirements. The Vietnamese in these schools, however, speak English well enough not to require additional language assistance, generally because they were born here in the United States. The Nickel City school system, since the mid-1970s, has been driven by federal regulations on desegregation.2 It has been under court order and supervision since then, but more recently, a state supreme judge has relaxed this decision, allowing the city to pursue its own methods. In response to desegregation orders, Nickel City maintains a magnet system that has been phased in over a long period of time. Previous to desegregation, the district operated on a neighborhood basis. In the neighborhood school system, each school is designated an area bounded by various streets. The only attendance requirement is to live in the district. Children from outside the area had no choice, unless they opted for vocational training. However, West Side High is a special case, accepting students citywide because it has the city’s only high school level English as a Second Language Program. Because of social segregation, Blacks and whites in Nickel City tended to live in separate neighborhoods. Consequently, there were nearly all Black or all white schools, and unequal opportunities under this system. In response to civil rights lawsuits, the federal government found the Nickel City school district guilty of de-facto segregation and set up a court plan to segregate the city schools. Schools nationally became an easy target to manipulate. Nationally, the government commissioned the Coleman Report to scientifically document assumptions on inequality and to place federal dollars for equalization. What was not anticipated was the conclusion by Coleman and Associates that, no matter what the government did, it would not affect overall outcomes. For this reason, the release of the findings occurred during the summer when Congress was in recess. The report did not initially receive extensive publicity. What the allocation of federal dollars would do is relieve social pressure by giving the appearance that government intervention would address social and economic inequality. As a result of federal desegregation orders, school districts around the country experienced varying degrees of social unrest. The horrifying media pictures of the National Guard protecting Black high school children in Little Rock, Arkansas in the early 1960s set a precedent for segregated school districts around the country to find a better way to

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achieve racial balance. Nickel City’s response much later in 1976 was to create the magnet school system. As the name suggests, the magnet system’s intent is to draw students from around the district to achieve racial balance between whites and Blacks; a 50/50 ratio, or as close to it as possible, was regarded as ideal. Rather than forced integration, the magnet system operates as a voluntary transfer initiative. Innovative curricula were a primary feature of the magnets. There are currently three full magnet high schools, along with many neighborhood high schools that maintain magnet programs within the school. In addition, the district has magnet elementary schools which include early childhood pre-K through 2, academies grade 3 through 8, and some 3 or 4 through 12. There continue to be traditional vocational schools and strictly neighborhood schools as well. Neighborhood schools with magnet programs are viewed in the system as magnet schools, although technically they are not. For example, Upper East Side High has an international studies program, a law program and a computer program. If a student wishes to attend one of these programs, he or she would apply to the magnet program and be placed at Upper East Side High. Children attending Upper East Side High on a neighborhood residency basis cannot attend the magnet programs unless they have applied and been selected. The magnet system results in bussing school children around the district. To avoid forced bussing and the problems it created around the nation, it was necessary for the district to become creative to achieve its ends. Various programs and curricula were put into place whose focus and methodology varied. Therefore, parents would select a program in which to place their child. Parents apply to the magnet office and have a choice of three programs. Children are selected on a binary basis (minority vs. majority). Some programs have additional requirements such as entrance exams. If one program is balanced, the child will be considered for one of the other two. On the secondary level, a child may also opt for a vocational track, of which there are several schools that are not officially regarded as magnet schools. As previously mentioned, vocational schools were already in place prior to desegregation and achieved racial balance by chance.

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The vocational schools specialize in various vocations such as horticulture, cooking, drafting, etc., with a de-emphasis on college preparation. They act as a magnet school because their population is drawn district-wide. Neighborhood schools are similar to those that existed throughout the district prior to desegregation. There are various reasons why someone would want to go to one. Children may have been rejected from a specific magnet school because they did not meet the academic requirements, or simply because they did not wish to attend school outside of their neighborhood. In addition, there might be any vagrant reason, such as a desire to play on a specific sports team, or perhaps their girlfriend or boyfriend is in attendance. Because magnet schools have more expensive programs and higher paid teachers, “the magnet system relies upon the existence of less costly neighborhood schools to balance the budget.”3 Most often, students from middle class backgrounds with educated parents apply to, and are accepted into, the magnet schools. The poorest students, therefore, typically attend the severely under-funded neighborhood schools, thereby serving to segregate the system by social class. Since magnet schools have been in place, there has been an aggressive public relations campaign centered on the high quality of education offered by the magnet system, which has enticed parents and students to participate. It has been so successful that parents, and to some extent administrators and teachers, believe that non-magnet education, or the education offered by the neighborhood schools, is inferior. The district is now encouraging parents to be more informed and conscientious about their choices. The Board of Education reports that the publicity campaign was so successful that they must de-emphasize the magnet system. The new position states that while the methodologies may differ, the quality of education is the same, regardless of whether a child attends a magnet school or a neighborhood school. One high-ranking administrator commented, for instance, that “every child is not suited for Montessori School, or any other program for that matter, and parents must act judiciously.” The ultimate purpose of desegregation is to equalize opportunities for all. However, according to the assistant superintendent, an African American female, there has never been an evaluation of Black and white achievement locally. Therefore, it is not

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known if Black students learn better if taught by white teachers or if they sit next to white students. Currently, the Nickel City district has a 61 percent minority enrollment, making racial balance in all schools impossible. White children are needed to make the system work. In 2002 there continues to be middle class white flight to the suburbs, making the city poorer. Therefore, any white city child is almost assured to be able to attend any program of his or her choice with a few exceptions, such as the most competitive schools like Honor’s High. Due to the departure of many companies and businesses, many whites have left the area entirely, or have moved to suburbs to avoid the growing violence and poverty of the city. Middle class flight is also increasing among minorities as well. One Black administrator remarked, “I had to think long and hard about remaining in the city and placing my children in the city school system. So we have moved to the suburbs, they attend schools there. It has become too dangerous in many of the schools. People are worried.”

Profiling the Site West Side High is located on the city’s lower West Side, a traditionally poor and immigrant neighborhood. It is a large and imposing turn of the century red brick Georgian revival building originally constructed as the area’s Teacher’s College. West Side High was originally located in what is currently the administration building of State College, several miles further north. In 1920, the ever-expanding population of the lower West Side, paralleling national increases in immigration from Europe, dictated that a high school in the neighborhood be provided. This was accomplished by relocating Teacher’s College to the smaller building further north and converting Teacher’s College into what is now West Side High School. Today, because of its architectural significance, West Side High has been awarded local historic status. Its age, however, presents various problems and challenges for the students and staff. Nearly everyone would prefer a more modern building. Teachers, in particular, complain that the building is drafty and cold. Its Edwardian style auditorium is large but has few amenities. In the last twenty years, a

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new gymnasium has been added with a pool, but it is still not as wellequipped or as large as those in the more recent structures. Nevertheless, its wooden oak interior gleams with polish and many faculty refer to West Side High with some pride, speaking of the many years of service it has provided the community, and its fascinating history. In 1969,4 West Side High was designated as the city’s only English as a Second Language High School. It currently has one principal, three vice principals, and three assistants for discipline. The attendance office has two aides. In addition, there are two and one half time guidance counselors. Guidance also has one administrative assistant and two teacher’s aides. There is also one Native American counselor provided by the Native American Community Center. Currently, West Side High has ninety full time teachers and twenty teacher’s aides along with one librarian. West Side High has a multitude of community volunteers from the neighborhood. West Side High’s student population is the most varied in the city. As of the writing of this research, West Side High has a total school population of 636 students. The school student profile, provided by West Side High’s officer of statistics, breaks down as follows: 354 Latinos, 147 African Americans, 85 whites (including Arabs), 126 Asians, and 24 Native Americans. Of the total school population of 636, 47 percent are listed in the school records as below or at the federal poverty level. A full 72 percent are eligible for free or reduced lunches. Thirty-seven percent of the total school population is enrolled in the ESL program.

Collecting the Data Because this study acknowledges the importance of studying the deeply embedded issues of social process within and outside the institution, the qualitative techniques of observation, participant observation and in-depth interviewing predominates in my research methodology. Using multiple qualitative techniques allows for themes to be generated that are multi-dimensional (Bogdan and Biklen, 1982). Primary resource statistical data and analysis are used to establish immigration trends for the Vietnamese background chapter. For the period 1980-2002, Vietnamese refugee data was acquired from the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) Statistical

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Yearbook. Secondary sources have provided recent data (Zhou and Bankston, 1998; Portes and Rumbaut, 2001). This research covers the following areas: age distribution, sex distribution, income/occupational data, family units, religious affiliation, origin—rural or urban, educational characteristics, and language skills. The historical background of Vietnamese immigration is summarized through secondary sources. The literature on the early trends of Vietnamese immigration is quite rich, spanning the problems of initial settlement to the long-term adjustment issues faced by immigrants and refugees. While most of my research is conducted in a public high school, a substantial portion is conducted in the Vietnamese community, which is spread over many neighborhoods. In order to preserve the anonymity of the individuals interviewed or observed, the name of the city, school and all participants will be referred to by names I have created and assigned to my narrators in the actual research presentation. Some of the Vietnamese narrators have traditional Vietnamese names and others Western names. I have changed all names in accordance with the originals. My initial contact with the Vietnamese community was made through two sources: 1) Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program, the voluntary agency (or VOLAG) responsible for the majority of Vietnamese settlements in the area, and 2) the Nickel City Public School System. Although I have met several Vietnamese in my neighborhood and local corner store, the Vietnamese community was an enigma for me and appeared to have no central location. I was initially perplexed at how to make contact, but was advised by the local grocery man, a Vietnamese, that I should pay a visit to the local Catholic Charities who “settled nearly everyone.” The director of the Catholic Charities Resettlement Program was extremely helpful, introducing me to local community leaders, giving me dates of Vietnamese community events, and making it clear that West Side High was the most likely place to do my high school research. For his assistance and advice I will always be grateful. Before I began collecting the main body of data at West Side High School, I visited and spoke with many of the Vietnamese leaders. I also attended several public gatherings, the most important being the Tet

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celebration held annually in a downtown hotel and attended by nearly everyone in the Vietnamese community. Before entering the public school system, I was required to get written permission from the superintendent of the district. In retrospect, this was one of the most anxiety-producing aspects of the entire study. I was denied an appointment with the superintendent’s office several times. After the third try, I was permitted to meet with the superintendent who was especially critical of research being done in his schools. I was reprimanded for being insistent. Further, I was informed that students were in school to study and not be the subject of research. He informed me that the city’s public school system was subject to too many research projects, and many had placed the district “in a bad light.” I was required to write a lengthy proposal outlining my research and its ultimate purpose. After submission of my outline, I waited three months (and several phone calls later) before receiving a letter giving me permission to enter the school. Within days, I presented the letter to the principal of West Side High, who also required a copy of the outline I presented to the superintendent, forcing me to wait an additional month before allowing me to make formal entry. After receiving permission to enter, I began by introducing myself to the Vietnamese teacher, who also had to give me permission to attend his classes and homeroom. He did so without hesitation. The first several days, I walked around the school a great deal, familiarizing myself with the building and facilities, often interacting with office personnel and meeting teachers and administrators at lunch or in the lounge, while using the Vietnamese homeroom as a home base. The teachers and staff were especially open and helpful throughout this study. The entire length of the research in the school was one full academic year, September through June, though I attempted to enter the previous year. In total, 20 students were interviewed, 10 males and 10 females, although all 36 Vietnamese students (including the 20 interviewed students) were observed in homeroom or classroom rounds. Twenty teachers and staff, such as guidance counselors and librarians, were interviewed as well as an additional 7 administrators, including the principal, vice principals, and support staff.

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Homeroom and classroom observations took the form of journal entries. A journal was kept for the entire academic year, and was handwritten, with each entry identified by location, such as homeroom or classroom, and dated. Other entries may include observations in offices or other locations in the school, such as the faculty lunchroom, student cafeteria, guidance office, hallways, auditorium, etc. Each evening, after a site visit, the observations were typed as formal data and initially maintained in chronological order. During the course of an observation, I wrote my feelings or comments with a collection of anecdotal information along the margins to assist in the later analysis of the work. Entries include Vietnamese students interacting with administrators, teachers, counselors, supportive staff, and peers. I also observed classroom settings, free time situations such as study hall, lunch, and after school informal settings like walking home. While many of the observations were focused on Vietnamese students, I also noted the interactions of non-Vietnamese to make comparisons. In both the classroom and study hall, I noted major occurrences such as lecture content and peer and teacher dynamics, but also minutiae such as students napping and peering out of the windows bored with classroom lectures. I often find that qualitative researchers prefer the very large and dramatic issues to explore, most likely because they provide immediate and powerful evidence of trends. However, in this research I also explore the minutiae of the students’ day-to-day experiences which, I believe, present powerful portraits (Fine and Weis, 1998). After the first two weeks in the homeroom, I began my student rounds in the classrooms. I accompanied 10 males and 10 females, 20 students in total, on their daily classroom routines for one week each, including joining them for lunch and leaving with them at the end of the school day. Often, I walked home with the students on my way back to my neighborhood, creating familiarity and trust with the Vietnamese community. In the classroom I noted the conduct of all of the students, their seating, the frequency of teacher/student questions and responses, their overall attentiveness, cooperativeness, and adherence to general classroom regulations, as well as course content, lecturing, and teaching style. After all classroom rounds were completed, I arranged with Mr. Lee to interview Vietnamese students individually in a quiet room in

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the library with permission from the librarian. Each interview lasted approximately 45 minutes, or the length of a school period. Interviews were semi-structured, with an interview schedule that was administered to each student. All interviews were taped with permission from the students and their parents. Students were given the option to have the recorder turned off if they wished to say something off the record. Although this never happened with the students, it happened very often with the teachers, administrators, and staff. The interview schedule was open ended, meaning that students could speak at length on issues that I raised. Questions were carefully constructed so as not to imply a preferred response. Often, questions began with the phrase “how do you feel about…” (this or that subject). One student interview required the assistance of an additional Vietnamese student who spoke English fluently and who assisted me by translating my questions into Vietnamese. Student interviews also allowed for students to speak broadly about themselves, including their home life, community, and educational experiences. After completing student interviews, I began the process of making appointments with teachers and administrators for interviews. Although I would have preferred to interview teachers as a set, and administrators as a set, scattered appointment times made interviewing individuals easier as they became available. As previously mentioned, administrators were the most difficult to interview because of their busy schedules and general reluctance. Like students, teachers and administrators were interviewed generally in one hour sessions, though they were allowed to continue longer if they had a great deal to say. Teacher/administrator questionnaires were prepared in advance and consisted of 15 open-ended questions. These questions acted primarily to structure the interview and ensure that all areas of interest were covered. However, they essentially acted as conversation starters or probe questions, which allowed for the narrator to express themselves freely. Narrators were aware they were being taped and, like the students, had the option to turn off the recorder at any time. Both administrators and teachers used this option rather frequently. When this occurred, I continued to take handwritten notes with their permission. Later, in the transcription process, I would fill in these blank areas with my written notes. Handwritten notes were italicized to distinguish them from the actual taped material. After completing all

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in-school interviews, I then turned my attention to the Vietnamese community. The most difficult aspect of this study was entering the broader Vietnamese community. It was here that my ability to conduct qualitative research was really tested. In the community, I did not have an institution to rely upon to provide structure. Although I began my study by meeting and interviewing community leaders and attending various Vietnamese public functions, this did not provide me with immediate entry into the Vietnamese neighborhood around the school. Living in the immediate neighborhood helped to some extent, partly because I was visible, but mostly because it allowed for me to be very flexible in terms of having time to “hang out.” Ten families were observed and 20 parents in total were interviewed, 10 males and 10 females. Access to Vietnamese families came from my acquaintance with five students at West Side High. I often walked with students on my way home. I occasionally was asked to sit on the porch or just stopped briefly to chat. Eventually, I became known well-enough to speak with a father or a mother, be offered something to eat, or just come inside and watch T.V. After a few such occasions, I asked if they would mind being observed in a more formal way. Sometimes the answer was no. However, with time, and a better understanding of what I was doing, I found 5 families that permitted my observations. Through the initial 5 families, I met other families. From these, I selected an additional 5. Selection was based primarily on my ability to visit with them easily in terms of proximity to my home. In the beginning of my research, penetrating the broader Vietnamese community was the one aspect of the study I was most concerned about, fearing that it would be impossible to do. With time, however, it was possible, and in retrospect, offered the most personally rewarding phase of this research. Observing families’ lived experiences occurred simultaneously with field research conducted in the school. Handwritten journals were labeled by family and date. I maintained a separate journal for each family. It was my personal choice not to record conversations on tape. I tried this twice, and found that it was unnecessarily invasive, often creating an artificial atmosphere and making people uncomfortable. Instead, I chose to observe by taking handwritten notes similar to

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classroom observations. I continued the practice of collecting anecdotal information and writing my feelings and thoughts along the margins, which helped enormously in the later data analysis. The amount of time I spent with each family varied from just two hours to an entire evening, depending on the circumstances. In two cases, I became a friend of the family, and as such, was often called upon for advice or help in various ways. I am fully aware of the anthropological/ sociological concerns regarding cultural transference. Although there were times when I felt very sympathetic to these families and their issues, I was careful not to allow my personal sentiments to influence unduly my analysis of the material. I find that to be completely objective in observations is nearly impossible, especially in such intimate surroundings. Rather, heightened moments of involvement provided me with rare glimpses into the real life experiences of a people that I would otherwise not have had. In the end, I believe that all people have the same limited number of human experiences and feelings. It is how they are managed and handled that makes the difference. On a final note, I once was asked to go to a hospital emergency room with one of the Vietnamese families, their neighbors, and a few friends, most likely for moral and cultural support. It was certainly not because of any language ability I had acquired. Like everyone else in the family, I was herded en mass from room to room with a seriously ill child. At the end of the evening, when the doctors and nurses completed their observations, the hospital decided it was in the best interest of the child to remain overnight; everyone else was told to go home and rest. The family was particularly reluctant to leave the child alone with strangers. There was real concern on the part of the Vietnamese family that, because they did not personally know the doctors and the nurses, there was no real accountability. Further, it was noted by an elderly grandparent that hospitals are places where people die. In fact, she was probably right. It is likely that among the agricultural class of Vietnam, people go to hospitals as a last resort. Individuals are so sick, they are not likely to leave. It was then that I was called upon, in this instance by a doctor, to try to convince the family that leaving the child was the right thing to do, and to assure them that the child would be fine. I suddenly became the liaison between American culture and a foreign culture, and, by hospital

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implications, a primitive culture at that. I did so reluctantly. I, too, was not completely convinced that the child would be fine. By all accounts, it appeared as if the child had acute appendicitis and would certainly become dangerously ill if not attended to properly. A long and loud discussion broke out within the group. As is typical among Southeast Asians, people speak over one another, not waiting for one speaker to finish before the other begins. The atmosphere appeared riotous, and hospital staff and other patients began staring and talking between themselves. At one point a guard took particular notice of us, and I was afraid that we would all be escorted out, or worse, arrested. I immediately became aware that I was neither Vietnamese nor white, and not in concert with the dominant cultural perceptions around me. It was one of those odd and rare cultural experiences. I clearly understood that this was an impassioned discussion with the good of the child at heart, but it was not one that was typical of white middle class America. It was the type of communal process that characterized the Vietnamese community. While the rest of the group was oblivious to the situation, I became self-conscious and hoped that the matter would soon be resolved. By extension, I suddenly understood how African Americans must feel when isolated in a totally white environment, fearing both misunderstanding and simultaneously not caring, realizing the worst white stereotypes as Franz Fanon describes in Black Skin, White Masks (1952), ranging from “yes sah boss” to “sho’ nuf’ good eaten’.” A laborious twenty minutes later, it was collectively agreed that Bin, the ill child, would stay in the hospital overnight and everyone would return early the following morning. On the way out, one of the nurses asked me if I was Vietnamese, and who I was in relation to the sick child. I was stunned and perplexed at this question, since I feel I do not look or act Asian in any way. After explaining that I was just a friend, the nurse made some awkward attempt at an explanation, commenting in a somewhat humorous way that I almost had slanted eyes. I smiled politely and later thought a great deal about this comment and the entire night’s experience and the racism it involved. It seems to me that context is very important, even critical to a proper analysis of ethnographic data. Do we as researchers really see what we think we see? Often, data are collected in very specific and isolated circumstances like a school or other such

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institution, but not often enough through the real lived experiences of people. By including a chapter on community and family, I just begin to explore the enormous impact these influences have on the identity formation of Vietnamese high school students and the correspondence between broader lived culture and the institution.

Data Management All data for this research were managed similarly to the methodology outlined in Bogdan and Biklen (1982). Initially, journals were handwritten, dated, and titled according to location and maintained in chronological order. Each evening, journal entries were typed as data. Parenthetical information, such as my feelings or insights, was typed separately at the end of each entry and labeled as such. The typed journal entries were copied twice. The originals were filed away. The entire set of journal entries were read and reread for trends which were recorded. Later, the entries were divided into categories such as homeroom, classroom, lunchroom, etc. for referencing in specific ways. Taped interviews were labeled with the name of each interviewee, the date of the interview, the status of the individual, such as student, teacher, administrator, parent, or community leader, and the gender of the narrator. I learned to include gender because I was at first unfamiliar with Vietnamese names and couldn’t distinguish between male and female. Tapes were maintained in separate boxes according to the type of interview (i.e., student, teacher, etc.). After all the interviews were collected—a total of 70—I began the process of transcription. This was, in fact, the most laborious phase of the work. After completing this task, I copied each interview twice, maintained the originals intact, and filed them away. Each set of interviews were read and reread for trends which I hand wrote on a separate sheet of paper. These initial trends, along with areas of interest implied by the list of questions, were the basis for the codes which I would later use for coding the material. Next, all observations and interviews were coded. Although I know how to code by computer program, I prefer to manage the data by hand. Each journal entry or transcribed interview was coded according to the pre-established code sheet, one for each category. Most entries or interviews were coded once, but occasionally they were double or triple

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coded. Those areas of the interviews or entries that were double or triple coded were copied again, with the additional pages inserted behind the originals. Coded entries and interviews were then cut into data chunks and filed according to code in folders identifying its contents. Each data chunk had handwritten identifications on the back, such as the name of the interview and page, so that I could view the data in context if something was not clear. Each collection of codes were then read and reread for major themes which were typed and placed inside the envelope. By managing the data in this fashion, it made analysis easier.

Analysis Occasionally, similar data categories and trends were collapsed in order to provide a richer analysis. By doing so, emergent trends in the data provided the broad categories and subcategories for discussion. Each category of analysis was related to relevant literature. Major theoretical points were compared and contrasted to relevant scholarly works. Categories of discussion are illustrated with data chunks—interview or observation excerpts—providing the material for discussion after the theoretical arguments have been made.

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CHAPTER 3

Vietnamese In Perspective

You have to understand how determined we are as a people, to get our lives back. Mr. Sung, restaurant owner The purpose of this chapter is to examine the background characteristics of Vietnamese refugees in the United States from the period 1975 to 2002. The issues I review in this section are not all directly related to the questions I posed in chapter 1, but are critical— from my perspective—for a full understanding of how the Vietnamese are beginning to formulate their collective identity vis-à-vis American society. This broad picture includes the often brutal conditions of their departure and the lengthy, and sometimes uncertain, resettlement processes of the national group, as well as the profile of a small community of Vietnamese refugees in the Northeast. My goal is to capture how, under difficult conditions, and without an established community with which to attach themselves, a diversified group of Vietnamese refugees situate themselves in their new homeland. I emphasize their personal adjustment and assimilation problems, as well as how they intersect with the labor market and participate in the economy. Through secondary resources, I review their children’s academic achievement. Lastly, I compare the local picture of Vietnamese students with the national profile. The data reviewed in this chapter questions the reproduction of structure literature and its theories, and further provides a basis to suggest that identity formation processes are dynamic rather than static, as posited by some scholars. Without the advantage of American middle class privileges, and in spite of language and cultural differences, as will be seen, Vietnamese refugee children are performing very well in schools. 47

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The Departure from Vietnam The fall of Saigon in April 1975 initiated the departure of 130,000 Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian refugees. This began a new chapter in U.S. immigration history. Over the years, two additional waves of Vietnamese followed; the last, or third wave continues to the present. Scholars disagree when the second and third waves began. Caplan (1991) cites 1978 as the beginning of the second wave, and 1981 as the beginning of the third wave. Since 1981, approximately 70,000 Vietnamese, in addition to other Southeast Asian refugees, have arrived annually in the United States. Most have come in search of freedom and a better life for themselves and their children. Their introduction to American society has been, not surprisingly, a difficult one. First wave Vietnamese arrived to an unwelcoming America. The United States was experiencing a deep recession at the time, creating concerns for Americans that Southeast Asians would take away scarce job opportunities. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese reminded America of an immensely unpopular war. With distance of time and the continuing improvement in relations between the United States and Vietnam, these issues became less important in the experiences of the Vietnamese. The experiences of the first wave immigrants were especially difficult due to their lack of understanding of what was actually happening in the final days of the war. The Vietnamese expected only to be evacuated from a threatened territory and later to return. They never intended to leave Vietnam permanently. Subsequently, many of the first Vietnamese refugees put much energy into maintaining ties with their homeland, with the notion that they would soon come back (Kelly, 1977). In the initial evacuation, transportation helicopters, troopships, fishing boats, and sampans headed toward the American fleet in the South China Sea. It was only after several days that most first wave Vietnamese realized they were expatriating themselves. The Vietnamese intended to escape, but had no intended goal. A 500-acre Japanese World War II airstrip in Guam unexpectedly became the first refugee processing center. The United States Congress, like the Vietnamese, was also taken by surprise. The American government was unprepared to cope with

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the large volume of incoming refugees, though top ranking officials were aware of the impending success of the North Vietnamese. Processing and settling the refugees was a huge task for which Congress slowly developed policies. For the first wave, policy development translated into many months in detention camps. Overall, the Vietnamese were greeted with hostility. Along with the traumatic conditions of their departure, adaptation was especially difficult (Kelly, 1977). Furthermore, unlike other immigrants, the Vietnamese had no predecessor to assist them in adjusting (Nhu, 1976). The early settlement policies scattered the refugees around the nation. The Vietnamese, however, have since relocated themselves in urban communities, creating clusters of Vietnamese enclaves. Before secondary migration, they were isolated with no established community to which they could attach themselves. Their culture and language were drastically different from Western cultures and languages, which made adaptation and adjustment extremely difficult. Kelly (1977, 1982) has posited that many of the first wave Vietnamese were white-collar professionals in Vietnam. Some worked directly for the United States government or American corporations. This group was also marked by an abundance of doctors, lawyers, professors, journalists, and other highly trained professionals. They often spoke English, were well-educated, and were part of the middle and upper classes of South Vietnam. This, in fact, necessitated their departure; they and their families would have experienced intimidation, and most likely torture, if they did not leave. The first wave was prepared to leave, but only for a short time, and only with very short notice. Since their arrival in the United States, they have experienced severe downward social mobility. Like most Vietnamese, they have either been referred to or channeled into welfare or entry-level, bluecollar positions. Downward social mobility is most profound among these first wave refugees, since this group is marked by a high number of professionals without comparable job opportunities in the United States. The second wave of Vietnamese refugees, which closely followed the first, was vastly different. They were composed of fishermen and soldiers. Many were Catholic and ethnic Chinese, once fleeing communists in the North and now again in the South (Kelly, 1984).

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They were blue-collar or lower middle class with much less education. The Vietnamese, as documented by Kelly (1984) and again by Caplan (1991), are not a homogeneous group. Native Vietnamese regarded ethnic Chinese as wealthy and bourgeois. For generations they maintained most of the small businesses in North and South Vietnam. This made them the focus of much negative attention, especially in North Vietnam. In anticipation of brutal treatment by the communists, they fled en mass to the South. The first two waves of refugees to the United States were comprised of a disproportionate number of Catholics, who were also concerned about reprisals. Like the ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese Catholics generally did better than Vietnamese Buddhists, who were not culturally influenced by other philosophies (Kelly, 1984). Furthermore, Catholic doctrine was incompatible with communism. Many of the Catholic clergy were opposed to communism, using their pulpits and congregations as anti-communist forums. In fiscal year (FY) 1980-1981, the flow of Southeast Asian refugees peaked (166,727 in FY 1980, and 132,447 in FY 1981); the vast majority (90%) were Vietnamese (Organization of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), 1989). Since then, there has been a relatively consistent flow of Vietnamese every year. Social workers complain that their jobs have become harder as each new group is less prepared for life in the United States. Fiscal year 1987-1988 marked a new phenomenon in Southeast Asian refugee migration, as Vietnam released Amerasians. They are the children of Vietnamese women and American soldiers. Many were orphaned; all of them were disliked because they were illegitimate and bi-racial. Zhou and Bankston document the refugees in the following way: Exiles who fled at the end of the war made up most of the first group. Then came the “boat people,” who entered the United States in two waves, one peaking in 1978 and the other in 1982. The influx of Vietnamese refugees then declined for several years, only to surge again between 1988 and 1992. Over six hundred thousand Vietnam-born people were resettled in the United States between 1975 and 1995, most of them as refugees. By the mid-1990s, the Vietnamese refugee crisis had eventually subsided. Subsequent arrivals are mainly

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immigrants rejoining their families already resettled in the United States” (Zhou and Bankston, 1998).

The Process of Resettling As mentioned in the previous chapter, the literature on settlement posits that policy implications differ considerably for refugees and immigrants. Refugees leave because of persecution, but immigrants leave of their own desire to improve their life circumstances. In real terms, individuals who expatriate themselves from communist or unfriendly nations are regarded as refugees. Others who expatriate themselves from nations that are regarded by the American government as friendly, such as Haiti, are regarded as economic asylees, and therefore, not admissible under the U.S. Refugee Act. As refugees, the Vietnamese were required to be processed in resettlement camps. Resettlement camps were created by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials to prepare the first wave Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian refugees. Camp Pendleton, California; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; Elgin Air Force Base, Florida; and smaller ones such as Indian Town Gap, Pennsylvania, were set up ad hoc in the United States (Kelly, 1977). In addition to the bureaucratic aspects of processing, such as background checks, interviews, health exams, identification number issuance, and awaiting sponsors through voluntary agencies and church groups, refugees were becoming educated on becoming American. It is argued that “(I)n the camps, Vietnamese were…introduced into American society and culture and found a place to live and work in the U.S. Vietnamese went into the camps as refugees, they came out as immigrants” (Kelly, 1977). This point has also been documented by Zhou and Bankston (1998). In the camps, children went to school; culture classes taught them the skills needed to become functional in the United States, for example, grocery shopping, apartment hunting, and general social interaction. Everyone went to English classes. Refugees saw movies, attended orientation sessions, and took an assortment of vocational training courses. In short, the camps were at all times highly structured environments designated to Americanize the Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians and to facilitate the process of assimilation (Kelly,

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1977). The final step was registration with a resettlement agency or voluntary agency, which are social service agencies often run by church organizations and given the task of finding host families, and/or assisting the refugees in finding a place to live. Refugees were free to select the agency of their choice. This choice was often random; sometimes the choice was connected to refugee networking. Choosing an agency was, for the Vietnamese people, a first step toward independence. Agencies in 39 states continued the assimilation process by offering English classes, job screening and placement, as well as assisting in the acquisition of public assistance. For resettlement services, the U.S. government allotted large sums of money (ORR, 1989). In some instances, refugees were abused. There are reports of refugees being put to work at hard labor in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. In almost all cases, refugees were given minimum wage positions. Under the circumstances, not all refugees were willing to resettle (Doyle, 1985). Some repatriated themselves. The U.S. government assumed that the flow of refugees was a onetime only phenomenon. Thus, the resettlement programs were regarded as proceeding on schedule. By the end of 1975, the resettlement camps closed and the interagency task force that managed refugee resettlement was disbanded. Thereafter, refugees came under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Between April and December of 1975, only an additional 377 refugees appeared for asylum from other Southeast Asian countries. The new Refugee Act established by Congress required that all incoming refugees be admitted into a first nation of asylum before being considered for immigration to the United States. Many refugees, therefore, were detained in other countries such as Thailand and Malaysia before gaining admittance to the United States. Most Vietnamese were in these camps a year or less. Foreign asylum camps offered fewer services than the ones in the United States. In 1976, the Vietnamese refugee total rose to 5,619, and in 1977 the total number jumped to 21,276. Due to the influx of refugees, two new permanent agencies were created: the Interagency Task Force for Indochinese Refugees and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. “The role of IATF and ORR has been to allocate funds, keep track of the refugees, and organize resettlement strategies” (Caplan, 1991, p. 52).

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The basic task of resettlement comes from local affiliates (voluntary agencies) such as not-for-profit private organizations like Catholic Charities. Each agency is provided $500.00 for each refugee resettled. All refugees must have a sponsoring individual before resettlement. This could be a family member or unrelated sponsor or agency such as a church or voluntary agency. After the second wave of refugees, sponsorship has shifted primarily to voluntary agencies. In the city in which this study was conducted, the director of the local Catholic Charities Resettlement Program remarks as follows: Refugees leaving Vietnam after 1975 were very different from their predecessors. They were no longer the cream of South Vietnam, but rather the common man. They also left Vietnam under very different circumstances; most departed in overcrowded boats which were attacked by pirates. Many of these refugees never arrived at any port but perished at sea. Those that arrived suffered enormous hardships. These are the people we refer to as boat people. Many of these were, as previously stated, ethnic Chinese or the Hoa. The Hoa were historically disliked because they represented 1,000 years of Chinese rule. Their businesses were completely disrupted when the communists abolished all free trade in 1978. The communist Vietnamese of the North, who were often in dispute with China, questioned their loyalty and often sent ethnic Chinese to different economic zones. In 1978, the relations between China and Vietnam worsened. In February of 1979, China invaded Vietnam in a 17-day war. Concerned for national security, the Vietnamese ordered the Hoa an option to leave. Virtually all Chinese left North Vietnam. For fees, the Vietnamese allowed the Chinese to leave, creating a 3 billion dollar enterprise. Many ethnic Vietnamese posed as Chinese, speaking in limited Cantonese to take advantage of this option. The North Vietnamese act of ethnic cleansing was intended to minimize internal threats and to attempt to homogenize the populace and culture. To be fair, the ethnic Vietnamese perception of the Hoa was at best a stereotype. While it is true that some Chinese-Vietnamese are wealthy

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business people, the majority are not. Survey data indicates that the Hoa are less educated than ethnic Vietnamese, and as a group are poorer, even if their community includes some successful business owners (Gold, 1994). Like the Vietnamese, other governments and political factions throughout world history have imposed similar acts in order to target specific peoples as scapegoats for their country’s ills.

The Vietnamese: A Demographic Profile5 Well over one million Southeast Asian refugees have resettled in the United States over the past 24 years. Of this group, the vast majority are ethnic Vietnamese.6 According to the 1990 U.S. Census, Asian Americans are currently the fastest growing minority group in the United States, and will grow to 20 million, or more than 6 percent of the total U.S. population, by 2020. Currently, Asians comprise 7.3 million, or 3 percent of the total population. Their overall growth rate was 95 percent during the 1980-1990 decade. This compares to 6 percent for whites, 13 percent for Blacks, and 53 percent for Latinos during the same period. Of the total Asian population in the United States, Vietnamese constitute 8 percent. The Vietnamese median age is 21 years, or 3 years younger than the median age of the population of the United States as a whole. Because of the youthfulness of the Vietnamese population, 32 percent are of school age, while 8 percent are of preschool age. (School age is defined in the United States as that cohort of the population that is eligible to attend elementary through high school.) Less than 2 percent of the Vietnamese population is 65 years or older. Of the total Vietnamese population, 55 percent is male, with a clustering of persons in their late teens. From the period 1975 to 1997, Southeast Asians, and specifically the Vietnamese, have remained the largest category of refugee arrivals to the United States. Approximately 4 percent of the total Vietnamese population has been in the United States one year or less. Fourteen percent of the total Vietnamese population has been in the United States three years or less. Approximately 34 percent of Vietnamese arrived in the United States in the peak fiscal year 1980-1981. Over time, the ethnic composition of the Southeast Asians has become more diversified, while the Vietnamese population has become

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more ethnically and religiously homogenous (the majority of Christian Vietnamese and Hoa departed Vietnam between 1978 and 1980). Between 1975 and 1979, 90 percent of all Southeast Asian refugees were from Vietnam. Cambodian and Laotian refugees have arrived in much larger numbers since 1980 (in 1981, 72.3 percent of all Southeast Asian refugees were Vietnamese; 21.3 percent Laotian; and 6.4 percent from Cambodia). Since then, the statistics have remained relatively stable. During this 24-year period, Americans have been concerned over the large number of Southeast Asians immigrating to the United States. However, in the last ten years, with economic prosperity, this concern has declined. A comparison of arrivals indicates that the total Southeast Asian population is similar to that of the total Cuban immigrant population.

Demographic Settlement The United States resettlement policy for Southeast Asian refugees has been to spread them across the continental United States. Ostensibly, this is to prevent any one or several states from having to absorb too many immigrants into their economy and tax base. Over the years, a secondary migration process has occurred, especially to areas where an established ethnic community exists. In 1989, the states with the largest Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian communities were Texas, 66,200; Washington, 41,400; California, 40,400; New York, 32,100; Minnesota, 31,700; Pennsylvania, 28,600; Illinois, 28,400; Virginia, 23,100; and Oregon, 20,000. Recently, several states have changed their relative rank position due to secondary migration and recent arrivals. Currently, 39.5 percent of the entire Vietnamese community resides in California. Over a seven-year period from 1983 to 1990, however, the data show a declining trend in secondary migration to California. Conversely, Minnesota and Wisconsin increased their Vietnamese population by small fractions through secondary migration and new arrivals. Secondary migration trends are characterized by increased employment opportunities, the pull of an established ethnic community, more generous welfare benefits, better training opportunities, or a congenial climate. The federal government has identified the

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geographic mobility of refugees by their Social Security numbers, which all refugees must acquire immediately after their arrival. Though little federal data are available, trends reported by resettlement agencies suggest that in the period from 1990 to 1999, Southeast Asian secondary migration was more evenly distributed over the continental United States as refugees became more psychologically comfortable in their adopted homeland. Vietnamese refugees, as well as other Southeast Asian refugees, initially became established in the cities and states of their sponsors or their sponsoring agencies. Early Vietnamese professionals who were able to re-establish their professional status, such as dentists or doctors, have, through secondary migration, moved to larger Vietnamese communities to acquire Vietnamese clients. For other professionals, it has not been so easy. In many instances, there are no equivalent positions, especially if the refugee was a career politician or member of the military. For these and many other early arrivals, there continues to be downward social mobility trends. However, recent reports to Congress state that many of the first and second wave refugees are establishing small businesses such as restaurants, boutiques, etc. In addition to employment concerns, religion or ethnicity may also be a consideration in secondary migration trends, especially for Catholic Vietnamese or the Hoa. Catholic Vietnamese almost always select Catholic family sponsors or Catholic voluntary agencies. The initial or secondary pull to various communities is partially due to the Vietnamese perception that certain communities have a higher tolerance of non-traditional American religions. In the case of the Hoa, there is a pull toward a Chinese community.

Vietnamese Participation in the Economy and Labor Force The vast majority of Southeast Asian refugees begin life in the United States on welfare or some other form of public assistance. It varies from state to state and often comes in the form of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).7 In spite of the cash assistance available, they consistently take employment as it becomes available, regardless of quality (Caplan, 1991). It is important to note that most family income was a combination of grants and wages from low level or part

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time employment. Over a three-year period of time, refugees rely less on grants and more on wages until the outright grants are eliminated. For Vietnamese refugees, the period from 1983 to 1999 has been marked by a labor force participation of 37 percent to 40 percent for those 16 years or older, as compared to 66 percent for the United States population as a whole. These data are compiled from an annual random sampling of refugees arriving in the United States since 1984 by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Each year, refugees are reinterviewed. Refugees who arrived since the previous year’s survey are sampled and added to the total survey population each year. The survey continuously tracks the progress of a randomly sampled group of refugees over their initial five years in the United States. Of those Vietnamese refugees in the labor force, approximately 92 percent were employed as compared to 95 percent for the U.S. population as a whole. For those who entered after 1982, labor force participation was considerably lower than the overall U.S. population, but after five years of residency, Vietnamese employment rate increased, but only slightly higher than the general population. These statistics include refugees who have only recently been admitted into the country and are still involved in various adjustment and settlement processes. It is important to note that the statistics of recent Vietnamese arrivals lowers the overall outcomes of the sampled group participating in the labor force. Surveys prior to March 1983 indicate that refugees are far more likely to be residing in self-sufficient households. When employment status was considered separately by year of entry, the results indicate the progress of earlier arrivals and the relative difficulty faced by more recent arrivals. For example, refugees arriving in 1988 had a labor force participation rate of 20 percent and an unemployment rate of 21 percent. Those refugees arriving earlier in the sample showed increased labor force participation. A major determinate in labor force participation and earnings was proficiency in the English language. However, in 1986, a survey of the median incomes of Vietnamese who arrived in the United States in 1975 indicated that Vietnamese incomes exceeded the medium income of the U.S. general population anywhere between several hundred to several thousand dollars, demonstrating their determination to regain their former socio-economic status.

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The Refugee Act of 1980 and the Refugee Assistance Amendments of 1982 and 1986 stress employment and economic selfsufficiency as soon as possible after the refugees arrive in the United States. Achievement and economic self-sufficiency, as defined by the Refugee Resettlement Act, is “the employment potential of the refugees, including their skills, education, English language competence, health and desire for work; the needs that they as individuals and members of families have for financial resources, whether for food, housing, or child rearing, and the economic environment in which they settle, including the availability of housing and other local resources” (ORR, 1989). The total Southeast Asian refugee population labor force participation has remained relatively steady, with a slight declining trend during the period 1983-1990. The labor force participation rate was 55 percent in 1983 and 1984. The rate dropped to 44 percent in 1985, 42 percent in 1986, 39 percent in 1987, and to 37 percent in 1988, and finally 36 percent in 1989. Again, it is important to note that these statistics include the most recent arrivals. Social service agencies have reported that the most recent arrivals are less prepared for life in the United States, in terms of employment skills, education, and language ability, as compared to Southeast Asian refugees prior to 1984. However, reports of refugees who do participate in the labor force indicate a good record for finding and retaining jobs. The drop in labor force participation can be viewed more favorably in light of Vietnamese unemployment rates, which peaked in 1982 at 24 percent. By October 1984, this figure dropped to 15 percent, and during the next two years, remained steady at 16 percent. In 1987, the unemployment rate dropped to 12 percent and in 1988, to 8 percent. The unemployment rate trend is higher in the first year of entry and decreases rapidly over the next 3 to 4 years. For example, for 1985 arrivals, it decreased from 50 percent to 20 percent in 1986 and to 5 percent in 1988. In 1988, the arrival cohort showed an unemployment rate reduction from 32 percent in their initial year, to 11 percent in 1988. The 21 percent unemployment rate in their first year in the United States for the 1988 cohort is the best since the statistics have been calculated in 1981. Often, the types of jobs held by Vietnamese refugees are vastly different from the ones they held in Vietnam. Far more hold blue-collar

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jobs or service sector jobs in the United States than in Vietnam. Survey data indicate a tripling of those in service occupations and a near doubling of those in skilled blue-collar occupations as compared to the proportion in similar jobs in Southeast Asia. Examples of skilled bluecollar jobs are maintenance work and factory work. There are many reasons cited by Southeast Asian refugees for nonparticipation in the labor force. Much depends on age and gender. For those under 25, the pursuit of an education is the overriding concern. For Southeast Asian refugees between 25 and 44 years old, family needs rank highest—college must be put aside for participation in the workforce. Health was the highest ranked concern for those over 44. Limited English ability was declared as well for those Southeast Asian refugees over 34. Health, a reason for not seeking work, increased in all categories except in the 16-24 age cohort. Among all Southeast Asian refugees for the period 1975-1989, the poverty rate ranges from 80 percent for those in the U.S. three months or less, to 30 percent for those in the United States three to four years. It is comparable to the poverty rate of other minorities in the United States. The statistics indicate that there is a continuing decrease in poverty with an increase in length of time in the United States (U.S. Census, 1990; U.S. Census 2002).

Vietnamese Adjustment The type of exile and settlement experienced by the Vietnamese in the United States is considered by some scholars to affect their ability to adapt (Lanphier, 1978). In addition to adjusting better psychologically in cities with large populations of Asians and especially other Vietnamese, Vietnamese families were found to adjust better culturally if they had a sustained relationship with an American host family (Stein, 1979). The type and amount of trauma experienced by refugees also has had an effect on their psychological ability to adapt. It is further argued that the type of resettlement experienced by the Vietnamese “establishes both a priority in the orientation of the refugees as well as the path of outcome which itself significantly determines other life chances” (Stein, 1979). The overall amount of changes experienced by

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the refugees creates a considerable amount of anxiety. When gender is considered, it has been found that young men—required within the culture to find jobs to support their families—have experienced greater anxiety than women and older men remaining at home. This is also the case for young single women with families who enter the job market, and who do not have financial support from other family members. Adjustment and social integration of the Vietnamese has been noted to be better when they have been introduced into a heterogeneous community, which, by virtue of class and ethnic mix, is more flexible in facilitating adjustment and integration (Starr and Roberts, 1980). Some scholars have argued that the experiences of Vietnamese refugees have encouraged their children to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded them in the United States. Addressing this point, Andrada (1984) argues that Vietnamese students are adjusting rapidly to the American system of education. This is creating, however, tension and conflict within the family in the area of norms and values. Rapid adjustment of Vietnamese students has also been noted to alienate them from the larger Vietnamese community. In particular, changes in personal appearance and the acquisition of American peers is creating conflict as well. While Vietnamese students are adjusting culturally, it is not clear what specific group identity they are forming in schools. As stated earlier, it is further argued that Southeast Asian students are perceived by teachers to maintain good school habits because of their learning style. Teachers have passed students on good behavior even when they have failed academically (Goldstein, 1987b). Their most significant problems—only indirectly academic—are cited to be having no official records, heavily relying upon classroom lectures rather than texts, and shyness and inappropriate smiling. The literature on the Vietnamese suggests that their previous socio-economic background in Vietnam and their refugee related experiences have positively affected their desire to achieve success and social mobility here in the United States.

Vietnamese Academic Achievement8 Caplan, Choy, and Whitmore (1992) have examined, through quantitative analysis, the achievement of Vietnamese children currently living in California. They found that a 52.1 percent majority of

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Southeast Asians fell within the B range (2.6 - 3.5 GPA) and 21 percent of the cohort fell within the A range (3.6 - 4.0 GPA). These percentages, however, only compare Vietnamese students to others in the same situation. Of all subjects tested among Southeast Asians, math scores are the highest, with 47 percent in the A range; in the general population the mean is B, or 3.18. If the Southeast Asian statistics were removed from the total California GPA (Grade-Point Average), the overall mean would drop to 2.63. Similarly, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian students did well in other subjects such as physics and biology, or science subjects that required less English proficiency. Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians did least well in subjects that require more language proficiency such as history, social sciences, and English (Caplan, 1991). Out of the 3 Southeast Asian ethnic groups— Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian—the Vietnamese maintained the highest academic performance. Similarly, across the United States, where large Vietnamese communities exist, administrators report excellence in Southeast Asian high school achievement with over-representation as valedictorians. Also, administrators report no suspensions, drug use, or serious misconduct (Caplan, 1991). The national data of standardized achievement tests, such as the Texas Achievement or the Iowa Achievement tests, demonstrate that Southeast Asians excel not only on the local level, but do as well or better than the national average. The vast majority, or 69.7 percent of Southeast Asians, fall within the second and third quartile (39.7 percent in the 3rd and approximately one-fifth, or 21.0 percent, fall in the fourth, or highest quartile) with only 9.3 percent in the first, or lowest quartile.9 Like the GPAs, the data demonstrate that Southeast Asians do exceptionally well in subjects which require less language proficiency. For example, the mean for Southeast Asians in national math scores is 72, indicating they do better than more than 71 percent of the total national cohort. The lowest ratings for Southeast Asians in the same subject are close to the national average. Further, they do least well in areas that require English proficiency, such as language and reading. However, these scores are also close to the national average. The average length of residency (time in the United States) for this cohort is three and a half years.

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When ethnicity is taken into account, the mean GPA for Vietnamese is 3.7; the mean for the total Southeast Asian cohort (Vietnamese included) is 3.5 (Science, 3.08, math, 3.35); the mean for Southeast Asians (Vietnamese not included) is 3.18. The data suggest that the Vietnamese do better by .12 percent than the total Southeast Asian average.10 While it is unclear what gives Vietnamese students an additional advantage over other Southeast Asians, I am speculating that it is due to their previous relationship with schools in Vietnam. Cambodians and Laotians (primarily Hmong) have had a less-sustained relationship with formal education. In the case of the Hmong, the majority of students have had no experience with formal educational institutions at all. Traditionally, the ethnic Vietnamese have advanced through education, the Hoa have relied more so on commerce, and the Laotians—though having the lowest test scores of Southeast Asians, but still higher than the national average—have had the least continued contact with schools. They have spent the longest amount of time in the camps and have engaged only in pre-industrial agricultural economic activities in Laos. When religion is taken into account as an independent variable affecting achievement, it has been found that students with Confucian backgrounds have the highest GPA mean followed by those with Mahayanna Buddhist backgrounds. Catholics had the average mean among Southeast Asians, and Protestants and Theravada Buddhists had the lowest. No reliable difference exists in the GPA or CAT data when adjusted for gender. Similarly, no reliable difference exits in GPA or CAT scores when adjusted for socio-economic status. The vast majority in the sample come from lower or poor backgrounds, both in the United States and in their Southeast Asian homeland.11 Therefore, while reading and writing English proficiency was very low, it did not affect student ability significantly in GPA or CAT performance (Caplan, 1989, 1991). Researchers have also found that age and maturity of Southeast Asian refugee children was identical to that of the national population. They also found that younger children (grades 1-8) who experienced less trauma from departure and resettlement did not significantly alter the Southeast Asian achievement mean by maintaining higher GPA or CAT scores. This younger cohort, however, did do better than the total Southeast Asian cohort in language proficiency (Caplan, 1991).

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Within the family, it is found that there is a positive relationship between the number of children in the household and academic performance. This is opposite of what is found among the American population in general. That is, “…the effects of family size and birth order on school achievement have shown a strong negative relationship: the greater the number of children, the lower the level of academic achievement, with the later born doing less well than the older siblings” (Caplan, 1991, p. 22). Academic aptitude tests demonstrate a 15% drop with the addition of each child in the family. Some scholars have argued that the social network of the family, within which parents and children form relationships, accounts for this result. Others posit that family size acts as a proxy for socio-economic standing, which includes limited home resources, overcrowded conditions, etc. Even among Vietnamese families with five or six children, all do as well or better. Furthermore, these findings among Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian families were not related to prior socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds in Southeast Asia. Children from formally low class backgrounds do as well in the United States as do those of the elite.

Local Vietnamese Population Profile As mentioned in chapter 1, the present study was conducted in a large Northeastern city which I call Nickel City, with an approximate population of 320,000. Vietnamese refugee families may be sponsored by an American host family, Catholic parish, or social agency. In Nickel City, the local sponsoring agency is Catholic Charities. Refugees, however, are preferably sponsored by family members or an American host family. The director of the local Catholic Charities commented that the local Catholic Diocese was one of the first in the country to respond to the needs of the Vietnamese refugees. However, there has been a decreasing number of willing American host families locally as well as nationally. There are few statistics kept by the local INS agency, as is the case on the national level. The only source of information is general and for the purpose of tracking individual whereabouts. More substantive information is available at the offices of Catholic Charities, but it is

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mostly informal. The more official statistics are in the form of recording the number and ethnicity of clients served and are only for the purposes of keeping records for the federal government to maintain funding. The director took special care to point out that record keeping such as I was seeking was not required. Therefore, there are no records of age, gender, religion, or SES background available on the local population. The director of Catholic Charities did remark that the local population appeared to reflect the general trends recorded in national statistics. The only perceived difference is the high number of Catholics in the local group. This observation by the director of Catholic Charities is inconsistent with the interviews I have conducted with students at West Side High and with local Vietnamese community leaders who cite traditional Vietnamese ancestor worship or Buddhism as the principal religions of the local Vietnamese population. I can only infer that the purpose of the Vietnamese telling Catholic Charities that they are Catholic is because they anticipated preferential treatment. Currently, there are approximately 3,000 Vietnamese individuals in Nickel City. All of them have been placed by Catholic Charities. Vietnamese refugees have been arriving since the first wave and, like the national profile, continue to arrive. The Catholic Charities director reports that the local population increases by approximately 75 to 100 individuals per year. Eighty-five percent are family reunion cases, with about fifteen percent being single individuals with no family sponsor. Since 1989, there has been a marked increase in Amerasian refugees—the children of American servicemen and Vietnamese women. Over the past 10 years, there has been an attempt by the Vietnamese government to export Amerasians. In Vietnam, Amerasians were treated poorly because Vietnam was not a pluralistic12 society and because these mixed children were reminders of the war with the United States. However, a recent visit to Vietnam strongly suggests that the whole of Southeast Asia, Vietnam as well, is putting the past behind them and is looking forward to a new era of cooperation with the United States. Because of the special social difficulties experienced by these children (the children report cruel social treatment and overall marginalization from their communities) and their lack of a complete family in Vietnam (having a father is regarded as very important), I have chosen not to include them in the interviews presented in later chapters of this research. I am prepared to briefly state that the

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Amerasian children I conversed with stated unequivocally that they were happier here in the United States than in Vietnam. During the period from 1998 to 2002, I have informally witnessed, through the complex process of immigration, a more inclusive Vietnamese bonding with Vietnamese Amerasian children as “real” Vietnamese, which appears to not occur in Vietnam itself. Most Vietnamese Amerasian children I met at West Side High lived with Vietnamese families here. A few lived with American parents. At Catholic Charities, Vietnamese refugees were counseled and assisted by social workers. All refugees initially received public support and were placed in housing. In addition, refugees were required to attend daily language and cultural classes where they learned English and day-to-day operational skills. Today, any newly arriving Vietnamese is likely to be part of an established family that can ease the transition. There is also a Buddhist temple with many services available to the community. The majority of Vietnamese have elected to relocate themselves on the city’s West Side in inexpensive housing. The city’s West Side is the most diverse area of the city in terms of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Here, the Vietnamese have blended with the rest of the population and have not experienced any adverse reactions from the locals. During the period 1985 to 1995, I rarely observed informal gatherings of Vietnamese refugees and Americans. The Vietnamese appeared to prefer to remain among themselves, interacting only when necessary. The issue of social interaction between Vietnamese and Americans will be discussed later. However, a casual stroll down some West Side Streets strongly suggests that some Vietnamese in Nickel City are slowly creating relationships with all types of Americans. A second clustering of Vietnamese refugees has appeared on the East Side, near little Polonia, where the population is also diverse and includes Polish families and African Americans. Near the university, several small Vietnamese businesses have opened and are catering to a predominantly university clientele. There is one very small additional clustering of Vietnamese much farther Northwest in Rockland. I have had no contact with this group. The city’s first Buddhist temple opened in little Polonia in the summer of 1999. Near the temple, 24 homes have been sold to Vietnamese so the families can be near the services

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offered at the temple and adjacent community center. This section of the city has the most affordable housing. When I questioned the generally poor quality of housing I observed, the director of Catholic Charities and Vietnamese residents informed me that the Vietnamese would rather save money for future purposes than spend on short-term conveniences. Because the Vietnamese community is so small, and because there is no prior existence of an Asian community to which they could attach themselves in Nickel City, the Vietnamese in Nickel City have assimilated faster than Vietnamese in other cities where larger Asian communities exist, according to Catholic Charities. The director’s remarks on assimilation are in some disagreement with scholars mentioned earlier, which suggests that existing communities of immigrants greatly help the assimilation process. It should be noted that there is no section of the city for the Vietnamese that is comparable to Chinatown in New York City or San Francisco. The areas of Nickel City I have discussed are large geographic areas. The Vietnamese are spread across them. Occasionally an apartment building may have two or more Vietnamese families, but there is not one complete city block or section of town where they have clustered. The newly formed East Side community is the exception, but was not in existence when this research was begun. Although the population continues to increase in Nickel City, there is a secondary migration pattern to larger cities with larger Asian or Vietnamese communities. Approximately 20 to 35 young individuals leave Nickel City each year. The most frequently cited complaint by the Vietnamese refugees is the cold climate. However, local Vietnamese community leaders have commented that there now is a slow but increasing trend for young Vietnamese to return to Nickel City because of the difficulties of living in larger American cities, as well as the general perception by the Vietnamese that Nickel City is friendly and manageable. Over the past 20 years, the local Vietnamese community has created several social groups. They are predominantly for the purpose of celebrating Vietnamese customs and holidays, and to create a general feeling of community. The celebration of Tet is the most important event for the Vietnamese community. Because of the lack of a “Little Vietnam,” these social clubs are important to their sense of

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well-being. In addition to celebrating, these gatherings are used for networking, electing leaders, and providing entertainment. In terms of education, the Vietnamese high school students are clustered predominantly in three neighborhood high schools—two on the city’s West Side and one in the Rockland area. West Side High maintains the city’s English as a Second Language curriculum, which is why the majority of Vietnamese students are there. School 36 on the city’s East side is where the majority of grammar school-age children attend school. Because of the ESL requirement, as well as a cross-town bussing pattern which came as a result of desegregation court cases, Vietnamese parents have little say in where their children go to school. If they were wealthy and well-informed, they could, of course, send them to a private school.

Summary In this chapter, I have discussed the diversity of the Vietnamese refugees who came to the United States during the period 1975 to 1990 in terms of socio-economic status and ethnicity. Many of these refugees, especially from the first wave, have experienced downward social mobility through underemployment. Regardless of previous training, many from this group were routed into blue-collar employment. Others from the later second and third waves were far less prepared to enter into a technologically advanced society and had few, if any, English language skills. Their economic adjustment was further complicated by the timing of their entry. The end of the 1970s marked the downturn of the second longest period of sustained economic growth in U.S. history, the first being the present one in the 1990s. For the American proletariat, the de-industrializing Reagan-Bush economy was lean and unable to accommodate and sustain large numbers of incoming aliens. What is now clear is that the Vietnamese often took jobs no American wanted. Despite rigorous social and economic impediments, Vietnamese refugees demonstrated their resolve to eliminate public assistance from family income and to enter in the labor market and participate in the economy. The mean national Vietnamese income is slightly higher than the national mean, with 30 percent (mostly new arrivals) living in

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poverty. This figure is on par with African American and Latino poverty statistics. Scholarship by Caplan (1991) and Goldstein (1987b) document the vast majority of Vietnamese children are doing exceptionally well in terms of academic achievement. This is particularly so in subjects which require few language skills, such as science and math. Vietnamese children of low socio-economic backgrounds, both here and in Vietnam, are performing as well as those of the elites. Predictors of low achievement, such as large families or low rank order in families, are not positively correlated with poor performance, as is the case in the general American population. It is certain that Vietnamese families and their children are struggling to control their futures and relationships to society and the economy. Their continuing collective identity formation, thus far, has resisted economic marginalization. Like other Asians before them, they are well on their way to “model minority” status. However, the ways in which their identity is being formed is unclear. Unlike African Americans and Puerto Ricans, they do not have a long historical relationship of colonialism or internal colonialism with the United States to contend with and, by extension, a sustained familial relationship to American social movements. Vietnamese refugees, unlike Ogbu’s (1991) voluntary immigrants, are not clearly voluntary either. Ogbu posits that minority children from families that have voluntarily immigrated to the United States do better in schools than non-voluntary minorities such as African Americans and Puerto Ricans. The Vietnamese high school students in Nickel City’s West Side High mirror the national profile in their academic achievement and socio-cultural adjustment issues. It would be easy to assume that previous SES background characteristics or a sense of having “lost everything” bears a positive causal relationship to their academic success and presumed pro-school identity here in the United States, especially for children of the first wave. However, the basis of this assumption is unfounded in light of the same academic success of poor Vietnamese. For these reasons, I turn to the revelations and observations of Vietnamese youth to uncover the ways in which the school acts as a site for the production of identities.

CHAPTER 4

Inside West Side High School

Now, what can I tell you about my brilliant and beautiful students? Mr. Lee, Vietnamese teacher In the previous three chapters, I have examined the national and local profile of Vietnamese immigrants/refugees in the United States and in Nickel City. In the present chapter, I will explore how the school, as an institution, contributes to the identity construction of West Side High Vietnamese students through management of space and effective use of curriculum. The school, as a contributing institution to Vietnamese identity, will also be explored through teacher and administrator narratives. I will argue that the delegation of space by the school, and effective utilization and appropriation of this space, particularly the Vietnamese homeroom/study hall, contribute in very powerful ways to the consolidation of the Vietnamese as a group, and move them towards an orientation of achievement. In addition, the Vietnamese students and their teacher utilize West Side High as an agency of culture and skill acquisition. I also argue that the particular circumstances of West Side High School within the larger magnet system helps to position Vietnamese students in an especially favorable way with administrators and teachers. Throughout this chapter, I have found “free space” theory to be particularly helpful in understanding how the Vietnamese of West Side High manage space and “use” West Side High overall. “Free Space,” as explored by Boyte and Evans (1992), is a space or location created by individuals and groups, such as church groups, community programs, schools, block clubs, etc., where people enable a sense of control over one’s circumstances. They are most often places where a great deal of political work is done. In the case of the Vietnamese of West Side High 69

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School, their creation of “free space” more closely resembles spaces explored by Fine and Weis in The Unknown City (1998) and Oldenburg in The Great Good Place (1989). Here, spaces are created to recuperate from harmful stereotypes and are locations where individuals may reenvision themselves and engage in a process of self-affirmation. West Side High is a neighborhood school which teaches general high school academics. However, Nickel City operates under the magnet system. That is, many schools in the city have a specialization such as performing arts, technical studies, or vocational studies including horticulture or cooking. To be accepted into magnet schools, students are selected primarily by lottery to balance gender and race. Other schools, like Honor’s High, also have an entrance exam requirement. As two guidance counselors and several teachers at West Side High state, a disproportionate amount of the city’s educational budget goes to magnet schools, with neighborhood schools like West Side High being underfunded. To be fair, in conversations with the members of the Board of Education, most disagree with parent and teacher perceptions that this is the case. Neighborhood schools, unlike magnet schools, have an open enrollment policy and are attended primarily by students living in the community who have not attempted to enter a magnet school, or have not been accepted into one. The neighborhood surrounding West Side High is primarily poor, with many immigrant families, creating a transient student body with special needs. As such, as one high-ranking Board of Education member remarked in a private communication, the magnet system, while balancing race and gender, essentially siphons off students who are stable, and thus better prepared, segregating students by social class. In the words of one disillusioned history teacher “…(T)he magnet system takes all the best students, leaving just the academic trash for us.” Although this was not the expressed opinion of most teachers and administrators, the perception that West Side High students were not the best and the brightest was widespread. For some teachers, this led to apathy towards the teaching profession and teaching at West Side High in particular. However, teacher and administrator attitudes toward the Vietnamese students were decidedly positive. Scholarship, such as Making and Molding Identities: Negotiating Family, Peers, and School by Ann Locke Davidson, et al. (1996),

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posits that ESL students are often marginalized and isolated. ESL students at West Side High, however, were often viewed as the exception to teacher perceptions that many students were lazy and inept. ESL students are viewed as hard workers and studious when compared to American students. Vietnamese students, in particular, are perceived as hard working, good students and, as the librarian stated, “the bright spot in a school where most students are dull.” This statement becomes more compelling when considering the Valedictorians and Salutatorians of the last 5 years: 1999, Hispanic and Russian; 1998, Vietnamese and Indian; 1997, Indian and Vietnamese; 1996, Vietnamese and Vietnamese; 1995, Hispanic and Vietnamese. Due to the high concentration of students with a foreign language as their first language, West Side High is designated as the city’s principal ESL (English as a Second Language) high school. Any high school student in the city with ESL needs would likely attend West Side High, though the majority of immigrant families already live in the neighborhoods nearby. Due to their ESL needs, most Vietnamese students, regardless of where they live, attend West Side High. As a singular, ethnic language minority, the Vietnamese constitute the second largest culturally different, non-native English-speaking population after Puerto Ricans. When I began this study, the Vietnamese student body was 20. By the time I concluded my fieldwork, the Vietnamese student population increased to 52. At the time the fieldwork was conducted, other ethnic language groups, such as Eastern Europeans, collectively constituted 10 students; Japanese, 2; Cambodians, 3; and Laotians, 9; The West Side High student enrollment, however, poses some problems for the school administration. Because so many of the students are poor and transient, West Side High has the city’s worst retention and graduation record in the city and one of the worst in the state. The previous statement was corroborated by one Board of Education member, one vice principal, and one assistant vice principal. Often, students come to West Side High without appropriate transfer records or no records at all, as is often the case with foreign refugee students, leaving student placement at the discretion of the administrators. In 1999, there were 61 students that had never been in school before. All of these were students from underdeveloped

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countries. Because so many of the students come with English language deficiencies, many students do very poorly on the Regents English Language Arts Exam, a six hour test that examines reading, writing, and speaking abilities. This exam is especially difficult for the foreign students. The principal was consistently in the position of trying to keep the state from placing the school under official state scrutiny, or SURR (School Under Regents Review). Near the end of my study, the principal briefly lost the battle with the state auditors and turned over the school to state review, creating very negative local headlines. For many years, however, the principal was successful in keeping West Side High out of the papers and out of the hands of the state. In a number of ways, the Vietnamese students helped considerably by maintaining high academic standards and keeping the school’s success record higher than it would have been without them. Because of this, the administration appeared to be especially receptive to Vietnamese needs and was especially accommodating to Vietnamese admissions.

Creating Intellectual “Free Space” Within the Institution West Side High has a very tough citywide reputation. I expected to find metal detectors at the door and to be frisked upon entering the building. I also expected to see hall fights and massive amounts of graffiti on the walls. Instead, I walked right in and found a clean, rather orderly school. West Side high had the typical bells ringing to signal the beginning and end of classes, the usual hall monitors who cajolingly urged the straggler to hurry, and teachers and administrators who knew the first names of many students. There was a relaxed and familiar quality to the building. I was surprised to find that many neighborhood adults I personally knew were teacher’s aides, personnel, or just volunteers. Several people waved to me and greeted me by my first name. At least two neighbors, however, were deeply chagrined that I was not focusing my work on Latinos. One neighbor, Ana Maria, was especially vocal and disappointed with me. She commented, “Craig, Craig, the Vietnamese again. You should be here working and studying with us. We need your help a lot more than the Vietnamese do.” This was one of a number of remarks on my first day that suggested that the Vietnamese at West Side High were perceived as a privileged group.

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After reporting to the main office, one of the clerks accompanied me to see Mr. Lee in the Vietnamese homeroom and study hall (as room 210 was known), despite other ethnic groups in the room. I was introduced to Mr. Lee, a very well-educated teacher from South Vietnam, and also a leader of the local Vietnamese community. I was instructed by Mr. Lee to sit on the left side of the room. After observing the Southeast Asian homeroom, I suspected that I was asked to sit there with the non-Vietnamese Southeast Asians so as not to disturb the Vietnamese students in any way. The following observation/ description of the Vietnamese homeroom explores and helps situate the Vietnamese experience in the school. For the first two weeks, I spent my time solely in this room before following each student around on his or her daily classroom rounds. It is important to note, this room was also used by the Vietnamese as a study hall. If any of the Vietnamese students had a free period, they went to Mr. Lee’s room where they would study and get special assistance. Observation, Vietnamese Homeroom/Study Hall13 The Vietnamese homeroom is a very large room that easily can accommodate over 100 students. It is so large that there are two entrances. I am surprised to find that this is not just the Vietnamese homeroom but the Southeast Asian homeroom. In addition to 20 Vietnamese students, there are also 12 other Southeast Asian students: 9 Hmong from Laos and 3 from Cambodia. The homeroom/classroom is essentially divided into two rooms. The Vietnamese sit on the right side of the room and the other Southeast Asians sit on the left side of the room where I am sitting. There is a very large aisle down the center giving the distinct impression that there are two separate spaces. The desks on the Vietnamese side are very ordered and are facing the front toward Mr. Lee’s desk. The desks on the left are a bit half-hazardly placed (they appear to be moved around a lot), but also face the front of the room toward the desk. I was not introduced to the Southeast Asian teacher’s aide. The room is surrounded with blackboards. There are many lessons written on the board in English and in

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Vietnamese on the right side of the room. The boards are blank on the left. There are many tall windows, all located on the right side of the room, but there are only two on the left side, making the right side of the room bright and cheerful, while the left side of the room (the Laotian and Cambodian side) is primarily illuminated by two fluorescent light bulbs from the ceiling. One of the bulbs is burning out and is giving an annoying flickering. Overall the left side where I and the other Southeast Asian students are sitting, is somewhat gloomy. The Vietnamese side is decorated with colorful pictures of beautiful scenic views of Southeast Asia and pictures of beautiful Vietnamese girls dressed in native costume with fans and looking coquettish. Also on the right side are various big plants which give the Vietnamese side of the room a homey and inviting quality. The left side of the room is totally undecorated. As a matter of fact, there are many folding tables pushed against the walls. The tables are filled with a disorderly assortment of packages and empty boxes. There are several piles of boxes and papers leaning menacingly to one side and about to topple over. There is an assortment of stuff pushed under the tables as well. All of this disarray gives the left side of the room the appearance of a storage facility. Observation, Southeast Asian Homeroom/Study Hall …(I)t has just occurred to me that there are a great many reference books, such as dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, in the room. There are several bookcases filled with a large assortment of academic books. There are also five computers in the room. All of these learning aids are on the Vietnamese side of the room. There are no such learning materials on the left side of the room where the other Southeast Asian students are sitting. (…) It is now after class and I am looking at all the books and dictionaries in the room. There are 10 English/Vietnamese translation dictionaries in the room, but no English/Hmong or English/Cambodian dictionaries.

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Observation, Southeast Asian Homeroom …(I) have been here now for two weeks. The Southeast Asian homeroom is not used in the traditional way that I remember homerooms being used as study time by individuals or relaxation time before ending class. There are twelve Vietnamese students in the room during this period. Ten of them have grouped together in two groups of five. One group is a tutor/study group for math, and the other group is a tutor/study group for English. Different individuals in the group take the lead, depending on the problem. Mr. Lee moves between groups to monitor progress, and answer questions and give directives. He also goes to the remaining individuals who are working on separate assignments and asks questions and gives responses. This is all done very quietly in Vietnamese. On the other side of the room are the other Southeast Asians. There are six of them in the room now. They are sitting individually at their desk. Four of the six are just talking to each other while the remaining two appear bored and unoccupied. (A)bout half an hour into the period, one conversation between two Hmong becomes a little loud. Mr. Lee first scolds them in English, telling them they are talking too loud and reminding them that some students want to study and learn. He then walks over to the Cambodian teacher’s aide and says something to her in an inaudible tone of voice. She looks disgruntled but is not confrontational. (…) In consideration of space and convenience, the administration of West Side High placed all Southeast Asian students in the same room. It simply made sense. When I first began this study there were 32 Southeast Asian students in all. Everyone easily fit into this one homeroom. However, what the administration did not take into consideration is that the Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians have a long history of mutual antagonism in Southeast Asia. There are also considerable cultural differences. Historically, Vietnam has always been wealthier and more powerful, with a long list of military aggressions against their neighbors. While the mutual experiences of

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immigration would appear to give all three groups a common purpose, placed in the same room, it created an atmosphere of exclusion of Laotians and Cambodians by the Vietnamese. In fact, the entire Southeast Asian homeroom was set up to the total benefit of the Vietnamese, and to the exclusion of the other Southeast Asians. This arrangement was not missed by the other Southeast Asian students or their teacher’s aide. The following excerpt from an interview with Ms. Wacharamontri, the teacher’s aide from Laos, confirms this point. C.C.: Is there anything that you would change here at West Side High? Ms. Wacharamontri: Yes there is. I would have my students out of this room. C.C.: Why is that? Ms. Wacharamontri: You have been here over a week. I know that you can see what is going on. The Vietnamese students have everything and my poor students, they have nothing. C.C.: I shouldn’t be saying this, but why don’t you do something about it. I mean, why don’t you have a talk with Mr. Lee and if that doesn’t solve the problem, why don’t you talk to some people in the administration, and if that doesn’t work why not speak to someone at the Board of Education? Ms. Wacharamontri: It’s not that easy. Mr. Lee is a tenured teacher here, and he knows many people and he is very powerful. He was a well-respected teacher and leader even in Vietnam. The Vietnamese are the only foreign group of students that have their own teacher. All the rest of us are teacher’s aides and we don’t have any say in what is going on. And as far as Mr. Jackson (the principal) is concerned, he needs the Vietnamese. C.C.: What do you mean?

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Ms. Wacharamontri: They’re (West Side High) always in trouble. They always have problems with the Board of Education and the state. Students don’t do well on the state exams and there is a low graduation rate here. The school always has problems. The Vietnamese, they are doing very well, and it helps to keep the school out of trouble. C.C.: Why do you think that the Vietnamese do so well? Ms. Wacharamontri: Because they are aggressive. They are very aggressive. They are the most aggressive people in Southeast Asia. (…) Also, they have an extensive education system in Vietnam, and they know how to use the system. They know how to use the American education system better than the Americans do. Ms. Wacharamontri’s conversation with me was filled with a great deal of emotion. Her reference to “them” (Vietnamese) rather than “us” (Cambodians and Laotians) is telling. She viewed herself and her students as outside of mainstream school decisions and activities. It was clear that she was deeply disturbed that non-Vietnamese Southeast Asians were not being treated as well as the Vietnamese. Every conversation I had with her during the year was filled with great disappointment and frustration that she could not do anything about it. The Laotian and Cambodian students themselves, by comparison to the Vietnamese, appear very timid generally, but seemed even more so when having any interactions with Vietnamese students or the Vietnamese teacher. The following observation helps clarify this point: Observation, Vietnamese Homeroom/Study Hall This is the fourth period and Kim, a student, and I have returned to Mr. Lee’s room for a study hall. It’s very quiet as usual. There are three groups of Vietnamese students studying collectively, Mr. Lee is walking around the room offering support and answering questions. There are four Vietnamese students alone at their own desks with books open and writing. There is a new teacher’s aide here, also from Vietnam. He is

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth working with one of the Vietnamese students. (…) From time to time, one or more of the Vietnamese students gets up and walks to the reference books or support materials, and takes what he or she needs and returns to the group or to their desk. On the left side of the room there are four other Southeast Asian students, three Hmong and one Cambodian. One of the Hmong students appears asleep, another is leaning forward on folded arms and is staring at the Vietnamese side, and another Hmong student is rapidly leafing through one of her textbooks. The Cambodian student appears to be just staring out of the window and looking very bored. The teacher’s aide from Laos is at her desk and is doing some paperwork. (…About fifteen minutes into the period), one of the Hmong males raises his hand but is not noticed by the teacher’s aide, who is engrossed in paperwork. Exhausted, he is holding up his arm with his other hand. A minute or so later, he lowers his hand and begins scribbling in his notebook. I noticed that Mr. Lee sees the Cambodian student trying to get the teacher’s aide’s attention, but he continues to work and talk with the group of Vietnamese students. Observation, Vietnamese Homeroom (…) Today the Cambodian teacher’s aide is out, but there are three Vietnamese adults in the room: Mr. Lee, Mr. Bow, and a Vietnamese college intern from State College. The Vietnamese side of the room is very busy studying and using the computers and reference materials to do their work. The Cambodians and Laotians are at their desks working individually, and two are napping at their desks. (About one half hour into the period)… (O)ne of the Cambodian males raises his hand to be recognized, but is not. After about five minutes he gets up and walks over to the Vietnamese side, and begins to use one of the unused computers. Two Vietnamese males working on the nearest computer emphatically state that the computer is going to be used, the place is already taken. A few more things are said that I cannot hear. The Cambodian student defers to the two Vietnamese, and quietly walks away, resuming his place at his desk.

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Over the course of an academic year, I have never seen a Cambodian or Laotian student either using the computer or using any of the instructional support material on the Vietnamese side of the room. It appeared to be the exclusive domain of the Vietnamese. Also, the Vietnamese students in the homeroom/study hall, though always polite to the teacher and the aides, regularly acted more independently and assertively by walking around the room, creating study groups, or using the support materials. By comparison, the other Southeast Asian students always appeared to be more timid and shy, even when interacting with Vietnamese students. Although all of the Southeast Asian students were in the same homeroom, it functioned as two separate ones: a Vietnamese room and a Cambodian/Laotian one. The Vietnamese teacher and aides also did not see it as their responsibility to encourage the other Southeast Asians in the room to work hard, or to assist them with their work. When I questioned Mr. Lee on this point, I was told that the Cambodians and the Laotians were the responsibility of the Laotian teacher’s aide. The responsibility to arrange and decorate the left side of the room and acquire teaching support materials was also the responsibility of the Laotian aide. The privileges of the Vietnamese students were also understood by the Laotian and Cambodian students. On the first day I began my fieldwork, I sat behind a Hmong student on the left side of the room. He looked delighted to see me, and shortly after I was settled, he turned to me and asked what I was doing there. I responded by saying that I was there to study the Vietnamese. His entire facial expression changed and he said: “Everyone is interested in the Vietnamese, no one is ever interested in us.” I felt very bad about this remark and felt that I could have answered that I was there to study Southeast Asians. Over the course of an academic year, I have accumulated nearly 100 Southeast Asian homeroom observations of varying lengths, which have essentially the same content. The Vietnamese within the larger Southeast Asian homeroom were both numerically dominant, and appeared privileged by comparison to the others by maintaining a very orderly and attractive space, while the Laotians and Cambodians could not. This was accomplished my Mr. Lee’s successful marshaling of all instructional and support materials to the right side of the room, and the

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seemingly intentional use of the left side of the room as storage by Mr. Lee and his students. Because of the above, the Vietnamese experience homeroom very differently from other Southeast Asians or any other group in the school. The Vietnamese used their space as an instructional time and tutorial session. African Americans and Latinos, for example, were dispersed throughout the school and grouped according to grade level. Other ESL students were kept together and were assigned a teacher’s aide, but did not have large enough numbers to have an entire homeroom to themselves. For example, all Eastern Europeans shared the same homeroom along with Yemenite students and some others. In the case of American minorities such as African Americans or Latinos, the school could not group them together because their numbers were too large, and to do so would violate the rules of integration. Since most of the teachers in the school were white, most homerooms had a white teacher, along with various teacher’s aides. The point is, no other student group, as far as I could see, was given their own space or had a teacher who was looking out solely for their benefit, as was the case with the Vietnamese. During an interview with Mr. Lee, I asked him about this. He responded by saying that it simply made sense that the Vietnamese were grouped together in this fashion; instead of grouping the Vietnamese and others together according to class rank (such as freshman, sophomore, etc.), he presented this as a viable option to the administration. Regardless of how this arrangement came about, it worked well for the Vietnamese. By doing so, the Vietnamese students and their teacher effectively created a “free space” within the larger institution.

Accommodating Special Needs West Side High was not necessarily viewed by the Vietnamese staff or students as a rigorous site for learning; rather, it was viewed primarily as a site for skills and culture acquisition, and specifically, as a site for learning the English language. I had many conversations with Mr. Lee, the aides, and the students, which suggested that West Side High did not compare favorably with the academic rigors of schools in Vietnam. However, it was viewed by staff and students as an important place to learn American culture, acquire English language skills, and prepare

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the students for “moving up.” The following excerpt from an interview with Mr. Lee, the Vietnamese teacher, makes this clear. C.C.: Tell me, Mr. Lee, what your impressions are of West Side High? Mr. Lee: My impressions are from the point of view and the interest I have with my students. They are pleased to be in an American school. It is a big deal for them, you know, to come up and get help here. Especially the language. They need the ESL program in this school in order for them to go up in the world. Here they learn what they need, especially in English and culture. They need this before they enter the work market. And this school is a very special setting, especially for immigrant(s). Also, my students are not singled out (as unusual) or isolated, because there are many different foreign students in this school from many countries. So what I know is that this is very important and very useful. This is a very important setting for them to start their new life here and study new language. C.C.: If there was something that you could change here, what would that be? Mr. Lee: Just one thing? I would change many things. Not just one thing. I would want to change the curriculum and the building. C.C.: The curriculum and the building? Mr. Lee: First of all, the curriculum is not so difficult here like in Vietnam. I think that it is better in Vietnam. It needs more science here, better curriculum. My students, they have this already. Although West Side High was not necessarily viewed as a rigorous site for learning, it played a very important role for Vietnamese teens. Here, students learn how to function in the United States and how to

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speak English. Here, they prepared themselves for their futures in higher education and for employment. As Mr. Lee points out, it is a perfect place for the Vietnamese to learn these skills. At West Side High, the majority of the city’s Vietnamese teens are grouped together to learn essential skills in a controlled environment. It is also a place where they are not completely conspicuous, as there are many other ethnic/language groups there as well and difference is better tolerated. Most of all, it is an environment where Vietnamese values are present and articulated through Mr. Lee and the other Vietnamese teacher’s aides. During a very critical point in their lives, Vietnamese teens have the guiding and nurturing presence of people from the community that are genuinely interested in them and look out for their interests. While the presence of Mr. Lee is recognized throughout the school, nowhere is he more effective than in the homeroom. Other ways in which the Vietnamese homeroom was used effectively to accommodate Vietnamese student needs was the extra English taught by Mr. Lee during study hall. Technically, study hall is a free period where students individually use time to catch up on other classes or do homework. As discussed above, the Vietnamese homeroom often was used for this purpose through collective or group studying. Mr. Lee, however, also used this period to teach important language and cultural skills. In the beginning of the school year, these language and culture lessons were more prevalent, but did occur periodically throughout the entire academic year. The following are some examples: Observation, Vietnamese Study Hall The Vietnamese side of the room has a stand with a large writing pad. This is placed at the head of the space next to Mr. Lee’s desk. On it were written the following words or phrases: Hello Good evening How are you? Please

Good morning Good night I am fine May I have

Good afternoon Good bye Thank you Excuse me

The lecture/tutorial consisted of the entire group saying and pronouncing the words together as Mr. Lee pointed to

Inside Wes Side High School each work or phrase. The aides and advanced students moved around the room to listen to the student’s pronunciation and would make individual corrections. This was done several times. Students were required to write these words or phrases in their notebooks along with a personal guide to pronunciation. After the pronunciation tutorial, Mr. Lee again translated the words into Vietnamese and began explaining the appropriate time to use them according to American customs. For example, Mr. Lee remarked that it is always polite to say thank you whenever anyone does something for you or gives something to you. He also explained that before 12:00 noon, one always greeted someone with good morning and after noon greeted them with good afternoon. Good evening was used for greeting someone after five and good night for ending an evening. Each work or phrase was explained in the same fashion. After this was done and students took notes, the group practiced the lesson on each other several times. Observation, Vietnamese Homeroom Today Mr. Lee is preparing the students for common interactions with Americans. He pulls out his pointer and stand and begins to write common phrases and words down. How much is this? Do you have something less expensive? How do I get to… How much is the fare to… I am lost. Can you help me? Where can I find… May I ask…? I am looking for… Where is the men’s/ladies’ room? Students were asked to write the phrases in their notes along with a translation and pronunciation guide. Together, the class was asked to say and pronounce the phrases out loud while the aides walked around the room and listened to the individual students. If a student badly mispronounced a word or phrase, the aide stopped and worked with the student until it was done correctly. After, students were asked to break down into groups and try the phrases out on one another with appropriate phrase endings, such as “How do I get to school?” This

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth continued for about 30 minutes and then Mr. Lee put new words and phrases on the board. The students were asked to study them for tomorrow.

All Vietnamese homeroom lessons were not always language oriented. Mr. Lee also did such practical things as teach the students about money. Observation, Vietnamese Homeroom Today during third period study hall, Mr. Lee asks all new students to come to the front of the class and stand around his desk. Other students are to use study hall for studying. He then places on his desk several types of American currency including a one dollar bill, a five dollar bill, ten dollar bill, and a twenty dollar bill, as well as an assortment of change. Each student is asked to come up around the desk and examine each piece of currency. Mr. Lee then explains in Vietnamese what each piece of currency is and what it is worth and what the students are to look for on the bill to determine what it is. After about ten minutes, he picks up a five dollar bill and asks, “If you buy something for $2.50, how much money should you get back? What are some of the ways you will get your change?” Several students raise their hand. He picks one student. Andy responds, “I should get two one dollar bills and two quarters.” Mr. Lee approves and asks again. Another student raises her hand and gives other possible ways to get the right change. This lesson continues for the duration of the period. In addition to the language/culture classes that Mr. Lee conducted, the Vietnamese homeroom was also used as a miniature guidance center. The bookshelves were filled with brochures and applications to local colleges and the university, in addition to ones around the state and elsewhere. This was the only room in which I noticed college application material. Other students acquired guidance material, including college applications and information, in the guidance office. Beginning around the end of November, the aides were instructed to pass out brochures and applications. By May, all juniors and seniors

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were regularly filling out applications in the room, often asking Mr. Lee and the aides for assistance with questions. The following observation is one of many during the school year where students are engaged in applying for college during study hall. Observation, Vietnamese Study Hall, Fourth Period During the past week, Mr. Lee has asked all juniors and seniors in study hall to sit near the front of the class near his desk. He begins by giving them all a lecture on how important it is for them to attend college or the university. These are the ways they will get ahead in life. Furthermore, the community and their family expect all of them to work hard and be successes. He passes out applications to two local institutions of higher education and tells them that certain fields, like nursing, are specialties that are available only at certain schools. If they know what they want to major in, he recommends that they speak to him after school and then follow this meeting with an appointment with the guidance counselor. Each student is expected to fill out at least three applications. There are more applications on the tables surrounding the room if they make a mistake or want applications to other places. If they have any problems with any question, they are expected to raise their hand and he, or one of the aides, will come around and assist them. Part of some applications is a personal biography or some other essay. Seniors are to begin these essays, and be finished with them by Monday of the following week. Students are told to submit them and he will check them for mistakes or suggestions. The above observations explore how the Vietnamese have used their study hall, and West Side High, as a location for learning basic necessities to function in American society, such as specific simple language skills and money exchanges. It is also used as a preparation time for application to higher education for advanced students. It is interesting that both of these skills are available at other times in the school. Basic language skills are taught in bilingual education, and

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college applications and general guidance are available in the student guidance office. Mr. Lee, however, does not wish to leave learning these important skills to chance for his students. When I asked him about this, he responded by saying that “It is my job to make sure my students get ahead. I don’t want to leave my work up to other people.” The following guidance office observation helps to support his position. Observation, Guidance Office There is a great deal of activity here. People are coming and going at all times, students and staff. There are a great deal of books and information on the shelves on college applications and financial aid. There is more stuff available on careers in the Navy, Army, and the Marines as well as the Coast Guard and the National Guard. The Army band is playing in the auditorium right now. Many of the posters are of local schools but predominantly of business schools, all two-year institutions. There is nothing on the university or state college. I have been sitting here for over an hour, and there is no guidance counselor. I have several observations similar to this where I have sat for at least an hour or more observing in the waiting room of the guidance office. During these times, office hours were posted and a counselor was scheduled to be there but, in fact, no one was there. The availability of printed material and kinds of material tells a great deal. It was clear that guidance was encouraging many students to pick a career in the military as an alternative to higher education. The higher education material that is available is mostly for two-year institutions that teach business or skills such as secretarial work and general office work. Given the ambitions of the Vietnamese community, these options would not be considered the optimum choices. Mr. Lee justified his additional work in guidance by explaining that the Vietnamese needed extra assistance because of culture and language. Throughout my fieldwork, it was suggested by Mr. Lee many times that because the Vietnamese are recent arrivals, they require an intensive amount of work to bring them up to speed. His language in this statement is very telling. The Vietnamese were clearly Mr. Lee’s domain. Unlike many of the other teachers, Mr. Lee was a member and

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leader of the Vietnamese community, and expressed deep personal obligation to his students. It is easy to understand that, in addition to his personal interest, he is easily held personally accountable by this relatively small community of people. Both his credibility and position within the community are at stake. It also suggests his own personal lack of trust (and perhaps that of the entire Vietnamese community) in the ability of the school to get the job done right. This is a powerful statement about the community and personal accountability, and the particular attitudes of their students towards school. The Vietnamese homeroom poses some interesting questions on how a group can, within an institution, carve out “free space.” The grouping of all Vietnamese into one homeroom was orchestrated, to some extent, by Mr. Lee. All of the Vietnamese students were very supportive and enthusiastic about having this arrangement, and were generally aware that other groups did not have a similar one. Free Spaces, as explored by Boyte and Evans (1992), speaks of geographic locations or communities, places in public institutions, or imagined spaces where individuals gather for personal and collective work. Fine and Weis (1998, 2000) and Fine, Weis, Centrie, and Roberts (2000) further refine and explore this theoretical construct, identifying through their fieldwork locations within the community setting where individuals, faced with shifting and often disappearing opportunities for traditional communities, carve out locations of “recuperation, resistance and home.” Examining these communities and constructions, Fine, Weis, Centrie, and Roberts (2000) state: They are not just a set of geographical/spatial arrangements, but theoretical, analytical and spatial displacements—a crack, a fissure, a place to come together and restore sanity, and to imagine possibilities. Individual dreams collective work, and critical thoughts are smuggled in and then re-thought. Not rigidly bounded by walls/fences, the spaces often are corralled by a series of imaginary borders where community intrusion and state surveillance are not permitted. These are spaces where offensive social stereotypes can be contested; where troubling questions of parenting, schooling, and faith can be posed without recrimination. (p. 10)

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The Vietnamese were the largest Asian group at West Side High and were the first Asian group to come in large numbers to the city, but overall, they constituted a small minority. Their newness and relatively small numbers often made the Vietnamese targets for harassment, or perceived harassment, by other students. The three major racial/ethnic groups at West Side High—African Americans, Latinos, and whites— viewed the Vietnamese as outsiders. Acquaintanceships with nonVietnamese students were rare for the Vietnamese. Further, the ESL program in which all of them were enrolled also contributed to their alienation from the rest of the student population; grouping them in certain classes reinforced their image as culturally and linguistically different. Similarly, Ann Locke Davidson, et al., in Making and Molding Identities (1996) remarks on the silencing, marginalization, and social segregation of ESL students. Historically, ESL “…conveys the message that the knowledge and skill from students’ ESL work is less highly valued and somehow different than that of the world of their European American classmates” and “…that adults so often underestimate, so often down scale their cognitive expectations, rather than provide a scaffolding appropriate to high-level cognitive engagement” (Davidson, et al., 1996, pp. 85-86). Although this type of marginalization was the same for all nonEnglish-speaking/ESL students at West Side High, the Vietnamese were able to counter these liabilities, to some extent, by effectively using the homeroom as a location of resistance and recuperation, or a “free space.” Here, the dominant group was the Vietnamese, creating a safe haven. It was a place where unflattering Vietnamese stereotypes could be soothed and challenged. It was the one place in the school where the Vietnamese had a majority experience. Further, Mr. Lee provided very effective leadership, advancing the interests of the group with the school administration and with the Board of Education. He also was a very effective presence in the larger community, thus reinforcing Vietnamese cultural values and ensuring that the ideals of hard work and academic achievement were followed. Similarly, the Vietnamese appropriated West Side High curriculum, using it to their advantage. Along with the their use of the homeroom, the Vietnamese created and maintained an effective “free space.”

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Knowledge or Skills? Vietnamese students, especially in their homeroom/study hall, were engaged and challenged by the teacher and the aides. This was markedly different from what I observed with other students and teachers. The Vietnamese certainly used West Side High to accommodate their needs to acclimate to American culture within a controlled environment. While following the Vietnamese students on their daily routines, I had the opportunity to observe many courses at West Side High. Most courses took the form of information reviews, rather than engaging students in the production of knowledge. In other words, teachers gave contradictory messages. While school knowledge was highly prized by teachers and administrators alike, teachers adhered more to the form of knowledge rather than the content. Although it was impossible for me to observe all classes at West Side High, I am confident that this was the norm rather than the exception. In Working Class Without Work (Weis, 1990), Weis posits that Freeway School, as a working class school, maintains a contradictory attitude toward knowledge. That is, teachers, administrators, and students all agree that education is important to get a job, but in fact, knowledge is “pre-packaged” and delivered for form rather than for its substance or for the importance of its content. The entire purpose of school becomes an exercise to get through exams and to get a diploma. As analyzed by Weis, “teachers tend to adhere to the form rather than the substance of education, and knowledge tends to be flat and prepackaged. This is reminiscent of curriculum described by Linda McNeil in her high school study, and Jean Anyon in her study of knowledge as distributed through the working class elementary school” (Weis, 1990, p. 81). In fact, knowledge at West Side High is generally not managed any differently. Like Freeway, knowledge at West Side High appears as “pre-packaged” and low level. Lectures, especially in areas such as history or social studies, are similar to a string of note cards, where teachers deliver a series of unconnected dates and events to cover a topic without any analysis, little background, and no critique. Students generally do not ask questions, and no questions are posed by teachers. Like Freeway, the ultimate purpose of the class is to get students to respond correctly to answers on finals, thereby passing

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students and ultimately moving them on to the next level or graduation. The teachers’ focus on exam-taking was so prevalent that it became a major theme in my observations. Because it was so much a part of the curriculum, I asked one of the vice principals about it. At first, Ms. Gomez began by explaining that demonstrating to students how to take an exam was part of effective teaching. After the interview was over and the tape recorder shut off, she remarked, as did many others, that “West Side High for many years has had a bad state record in graduating students. If we don’t do this, the school’s graduation record would undoubtedly be worse. Students here have to be told exactly what to do or they won’t do it. It’s just the way it is.” Interestingly, her comment reveals more concern for the school than for the students. I followed each Vietnamese student around on his or her daily class rounds and found each of their classes to be largely similar in pedagogical technique. The following observation explores my earlier point that knowledge at West Side High is “pre-packaged.” Observation, American History, Period 3 The lesson today is a continuation of a series of lectures on the Civil War. Students are told what to put in their notes. “Write in your notes that the Civil War began in 1861. It was a dispute between the northern states and the southern states. Then put in that in 1862, the situation worsened and the fighting continued. The following year, Lincoln freed the slaves. That was in 1863. The war continued until 1865 when Lincoln was shot and killed. Those are the most important dates and events connected to them. Be sure to put these in your notes. These dates are going to really be important on the Regents exams. Be sure you get them right.” (…) The lecture continued with a series of events and dates that were essentially unconnected and provided no analysis. During the entire session, Mr. Jacobs, the history teacher, never asks a question and not one student raised his or her hand to ask a question either. Observation, English, 5th Period I’m following Joy around today and am sitting in on her English class. Mrs. Mabry apparently has recently finished a

Inside Wes Side High School section exploring Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Today’s lesson is focusing on how to take the English Regents exam. Mrs. Mabry asks students to open up their notebooks and take careful notes. She points out that part of the Regents exam is comprehension, and that students will be given a written passage and asked to answer questions about what they have read. She instructs them to have a piece of scrap paper ready at the exam and to write down the critical information about the passage. She then informs them that they can’t take too much time on any of the sections and must be able to work as fast and efficiently as they can. Then she gives an example. She reads a passage from Shakespeare. She explains that during the test, students will have the passage in front of them. After she is finished, she passes out a set of ten questions which examines if students have understood the passage. The students respond to the questions. She gives the class about ten minutes to respond. (…) After, she gives the students the correct responses; students were to check their own papers. After they accomplished this, Mrs. Mabry asks how everyone did, but does not wait for responses. She then explains that there are certain things that students should be watching out for and goes through a list, instructing them to put it all in their notes, such as: first do this; two, then do this; three, do this etc. (…) During the forty five minute class, no one asks questions, not Mrs. Mabry and not the students. Observation, Social Studies The lesson today is on the American Civil Rights movement. Mr. Charles begins by talking about social relations between the races in the United States after World War II. He explains that throughout much of the country, segregation is the rule. After the war, many African Americans returned and were displeased with being treated as second class citizens even though they had fought and died just like everyone else. Students were asked to open up their notebooks and their textbooks and turn to page 224. He then gives a list of dates and events; i.e., Rosa Parks is considered to be the mother of

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth the Civil Rights movement because she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. “I can see that no one is writing this in their notebooks. You have to write these dates in your notebooks because they are very important. They are sure to come up on the exams.” The list continues with dates on the march on Washington, and eventually ends with the death of Martin Luther King. After each event, Mr. Charles reiterates that these dates are important and students must write them in their notes. Mr. Charles comments rather sarcastically that he is sure that everyone read this chapter in the book. He then points to page 224 of the textbook, which he has instructed everyone to open to. “There is a chapter summary that is very important that contains the most important information on the chapter, which you’ll need for the exam.” (…) During the class, several students are looking out of the window, and at least 6 are slumped over their desks resting their heads on their folded arms. There are 3 Vietnamese in the class sitting close to one another. Each one is meticulously taking notes on the instructions.

In fact, most of the social sciences or humanities classes that I observed, regardless of level, were conducted in a similar way. Like Weis’ Freeway, teachers and administrators presented a contradictory attitude toward education, focusing primarily on form rather then content, and not insisting that students think or become challenged. After I had become acquainted with various teachers, I was permitted to walk around the room during class and observe what students were doing. The first few times I did this, I expected that students would become more fastidious with their note taking. Instead, students would have me look at the work in their notebooks, expecting that I would make a correction as to where to place a comma or some similar matter of punctuation. Both students and teachers appeared frustrated. Most students wrote in their notebooks only what they were told to put in them. Yet, the teaching technique encouraged students to write only when insisted upon by teachers. During one lecture in an American history class, the teacher stopped and said, “All of you look very bored. What are you going to do when you get a job? You can’t sit around and look bored,

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you’ll have to do something or you will get fired.” Again, the appearance of being engaged was more important than actually being engaged. Graduating was the ultimate purpose of going to school, and graduating was regularly linked by teachers and administrators to getting a job and being contributing, self-sustaining members of society. The task at hand was almost always to get students to take exams properly and pass them so that they could move up in rank or graduate. Like the above data suggest, most students wrote only what they were told to write in their notes. Many of the Vietnamese, however, wrote nearly everything that the teacher said, appeared attentive, and were physically responsive (like smiling, although often inappropriately) while teachers lectured. Later, in the homeroom or in the students’ homes, Vietnamese students would get together to compare notes and make corrections. I am not suggesting here that the Vietnamese students were any more intellectually challenged, or that they intellectualized content better then other students. They were, however, more enthusiastic and thorough, giving the appearance of being better students by being polite and constantly engaged. It is not at all clear that overall the Vietnamese were necessarily any more intrinsically interested in the actual content of the course work than the other students. Another topic that was raised in many courses was “how to take an exam.” While this subject occurred intermittently throughout the academic year, it became almost a regular part of lectures, in almost all courses, as the school year approached state exam time. In addition to being told exactly what to put in their notes, students were told how to approach the exam. In one history class the teacher explained, “If you get stuck on a particular question, don’t spend too much time on it. Go on to the next one and go back to it later if you have the time.” Exam-taking instruction was important in the Vietnamese homeroom as well. As exam time approached, Mr. Lee began to instruct the students on how to take various types of exams. Although most of the discussion was conducted in Vietnamese, with the help of a Vietnamese aide, it wasn’t difficult for me to understand what was occurring.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Observation, Vietnamese Study Hall Everyone present in the homeroom was given sample exams and response sheets. Mr. Lee held up both sheets and discussed how the exam was to be taken. The sample was multiple choice. Responses required that one find the corresponding number and then fill in the appropriate bubble with a no. 2 pencil. Mr. Lee then took a ruler and instructed the students to place the ruler under the question and extend the ruler to the response page so as not to make the mistake of filling in the wrong bubble. All students were expected to follow his example. He further explained that at some point it would be clear that a mistake was made, but that it would take a lot of work to find the original mistake and it would cause people to lose a lot of time and possibly fail the exam or get a much lower grade. He then instructed them to begin, and made his rounds around the room to see how everyone was doing. Occasionally someone was not performing the task in the way he instructed them. He then insisted on it being performed exactly as he demonstrated.14

Studying, in general, was a major theme in the Vietnamese homeroom. Students often assisted one another in exam-taking. The following observation demonstrates how students also became engaged in teaching one another how to take exams. Observation, Vietnamese Study Hall Mr. Lee and the teacher’s aides began to pass out sample exams. These exams involved being able to complete the tasks within a particular time limit before moving on to the next section. It was clear that students could not return to the previous section if it was not completed. Students were broken down into dyads. One student watched the clock while the other took the exam. Anyone who did not complete the task within the time limit was asked to explain what the problem was. If it was reading comprehension, Mr. Lee instructed the student to do more work on reading comprehension and to link up with a Vietnamese student whose English was better and work with them after school.

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Weis, in Working Class Without Work (1990), has demonstrated that teachers focusing on form rather than on content is typical in working class high schools. As with Weis’ Freeway, West Side High is no exception. The message that all teachers and administrators give at West Side High is that education is very important to a student’s future. Without an education, one’s future is bleak. It is, as I often heard, a necessity for employment, and hence, for being an independent, selfsufficient, and contributing member of society. Students were rarely asked questions by their teachers, nor did students ask any. Instead, students were encouraged to take specific notes, to memorize them as given, and repeat them as necessary on exams. Rather than educating, teachers became involved in training. This was especially evident in the amount of time devoted to test and exam-taking. Here again, students were trained in the method of taking state exams to ensure advancement to the next level or graduation. Exams were not viewed as a tool for learning, but rather, as an end unto themselves. In one case, a veteran social studies teacher (a middle aged, white male) frustrated at my questions, quipped, “All you academic types are the same. You think that everyone should be a philosopher or great inventor or something, spending time always thinking about stuff and reading or listening to classical music. Well, I have some real serious news. Most of these kids are lucky if they’ll be able to find a minimum wage job after they get out of here. It will be a real job for many of them to stay off of welfare.” While most teachers did not express this extreme position, the belief that most West Side High students were going to have a tough time after graduation, if they did graduate, was prevalent. It was this prevailing belief that justified the emphasis on memorization of unanalyzed facts and dates, and the extensive amount of time devoted to training on how to take an exam. Secondly, as one teacher confided, the administration officially encouraged teachers to take this approach in order to ensure the best possible graduation numbers, thus improving the school’s statewide status. The approach taken by the Vietnamese— the students, teacher, and aides alike—was somewhat different. Rote memorization of information is typical of traditional Vietnamese teaching and study habits. The Vietnamese teacher and aides encouraged this study technique, adopting it to the American

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circumstances by eliminating group singing or chanting of the information, which was typically used in Vietnam as an aid to memorization. Instead, they engaged small groups to form study units with the most knowledgeable student taking the lead. In this way, the Vietnamese actually capitalized on a method that the school employed to “get students through.” The American emphasis on individual achievement or development discourages group activities of this sort. To do so suggests cheating or dependence. When I mentioned to one of the American teachers that I found the Vietnamese study technique helpful, she responded by saying, “They are adjusting to the American system and have some language problems; it helps them to learn when they are together.” Administrators and teachers were very supportive of the Vietnamese at West Side High, sometimes accommodating them in special ways or being more flexible, as will be explored in the following section.

Helping to Forge Identity: Administrator and Teacher Contributions The intent of this section is to explore the ways administrators and teachers contribute to the identity formation of West Side High’s Vietnamese students. Here I will argue that the school’s bad reputation, relatively poor funding as a neighborhood school, and constant threat of coming under state review creates an atmosphere which demoralizes many teachers and administrators. However, the bad reputation of the school and its overall poor and transient population works to the benefit of the Vietnamese. The presence of the Vietnamese, in contrast, provides an opportunity for the administration to raise the school’s academic standard by providing teachers with a relatively stable student population that ostensibly appreciates the opportunity to learn and, in comparison to American students, is respectful and cooperative. Together, these internal school factors help to create a Vietnamese student identity that positions them as academic achievers. In many ways, the administrators of West Side High were the least cooperative of any group I interviewed and offered the least substantive information. The majority of administrators, and there were many of them, claimed to be too busy to participate in the interviews, regularly

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breaking appointments or suggesting I speak to someone else. However, several of them reluctantly did participate. It was school protocol that I spoke with the principal, Mr. Jackson, first. The principal and the other high-ranking administrators presented to me what is essentially the official school “party line.” That is, “West Side is a truly wonderful and personable school with good students and good teachers; neighborhood schools always get a bad rap that is not warranted.” Over the past decade, neighborhood schools were receiving, according to Mr. Jackson, a high volume of bad press. West Side High, in particular, received a disproportionate amount of bad publicity, partly because of its location in a poor and unstable community, but also because of its problems with student retention, an inability to graduate substantial numbers of seniors, and bad Regents scores. The proportion of students taking Regents exams from 1995 to 1999 is as follows: Africans and African Americans, 20 to 25 percent; Hispanics, 30 to 35 percent; others (which includes whites and Native Americans at West Side High), 30 to 32 percent; Asians, 90 percent. When Vietnamese are disarticulated from Asians, Vietnamese percentages are 90 to 95 percent. Vietnamese and East Indians rank highest. Mr. Jackson was intent on demonstrating to me that West Side High was a truly wonderful school that provided the benefits of a full and traditionally rounded education; side benefits included being personal and neighborly, as well as providing a cosmopolitan experience for everyone because of the diversity of its foreign student population. Together, according to Mr. Jackson, these attributes made for a great educational experience for students and staff. C.C.: Mr. Jackson, you spoke briefly earlier in our conversation about problems that West Side High was experiencing. Can you expand more on that topic for me? Mr. Jackson: (laughs) Well, I know you must read the papers. West Side High is a great school. It’s friendly, we have a great staff…the students here are the most culturally and linguistically diversified of any school in the district. We offer a traditional education here and an extensive bilingual

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth education program. This makes West Side High one of the most interesting and enjoyable places to go to school and to teach for me. (…) But in many ways, this is part of the problem. C.C.: Can you explain that? Mr. Jackson: (…) Many of our students come from poor and unstable families. People move around a lot. There are many students that don’t even complete one full academic year. So, we don’t graduate them. We don’t even get the chance to educate them and advance them to the next level. And…we are unfairly criticized for not doing so. (…) If students don’t return, what can we do? Similarly, we are under constant scrutiny from the Board of Ed. and State Regents for low test scores. C.C.: Do you mean that the school as a whole has Regents test scores that are below average? Mr. Jackson: Yes. C.C.: (…) And you are saying that is the case because the student body is poor and transient? Mr. Jackson: That, and the fact that we have a very high concentration of non-native speaking English students in bilingual ed. C.C.: I see. Can you explain that a little more because it’s not completely clear to me. Mr. Jackson: Many of the students here do not speak English well. Students come here without much English at all. This severely impedes their ability to be successful on State Regents exams.

Inside Wes Side High School C.C.: So, let me restate this. Are you saying that bilingual ed. students are required to take the same Regents exams, and that because of their poor English, they are not able to do well on them? Mr. Jackson: Yes. (…) And then these scores are factored into the overall school performance. C.C.: I understand. And you believe that this is contributing to West Side High’s poor reputation? Mr. Jackson: This is contributing in a major way. C.C.: And what, if anything, do you think can be done about this? Mr. Jackson: Well, we are trying to work on that now (laughs). If you have any suggestions, please let me know. C.C.: (…) Mr. Jackson, as you know, I’m here to study the Vietnamese students of West Side High. Is there anything in particular you think I should know. Mr. Jackson: Well, they are a wonderful group of people and I will do anything that I can do to help. C.C.: Wonderful in what way? Mr. Jackson: They have been through a lot and they need as much help as they can get. They work very hard and they are very cooperative. C.C.: Do you find them to work harder and to be more cooperative than Americans, shall we say? Mr. Jackson: I think that they really appreciate the opportunity to go to school, something that American students have come to expect.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth C.C.: Can you expand on that? Mr. Jackson: I really should get back to work. You should also speak to other teachers and maybe Ms. Martinez (one of the vice principals and the school’s unofficial publicity agent). Let’s carry on this conversation at another time.

I was unable to obtain another appointment with Mr. Jackson. We spoke briefly and informally throughout the academic year, often by chance when meeting in the hall, but he never further developed his thoughts on the Vietnamese. At the time I interviewed the teachers and administrators, there was considerable tension in the school because it was under a great deal of criticism and bad press for doing a poor job of educating its students. This, I’m sure, contributed considerably to the reluctance of administrators to be interviewed. However, although Mr. Jackson again managed to keep the state out of West Side High, there was an atmosphere of tension in the school and many teachers and administrators appeared demoralized. This was especially evident in their faces and in informal conversations I observed in the teacher’s cafeteria. People looked tired and spoke of how unfair they felt the state was in regards to its assessment of West Side High. The administration, teachers, and support staff were overwhelmed without enough support and time to accomplish their goals. The following excerpts from an interview with Ms. Martinez, one of the vice principals, and Ms. Sanchez, the guidance counselor, examines this. C.C.: Now tell me specifically about West Side High. From your perspective, is there anything special about school here in a way that is different from other public schools? Ms. Martinez: There is no other public school like West Side High in the State, well, lets say out(side) of Metro City. And since I am not familiar with the schools in Metro City, I don’t even know if there’s any high school like this in Metro City. Not only does West Side High differ from other high schools because we are the designated English as a Second Language School, which would receive those students who are not native speakers of English, but we’re just unique because we have

Inside Wes Side High School The (Nickel City) Training and Vocational Center. We have students who belong to that who come and go. We’re tremendously diverse in many areas and for many, many reasons. And then you take into account the very large limited English proficiency population. There is no other school like this in the whole city, or the whole state. C.C.: If you were going to tell me one or two of the very best things about West Side High, what would that be? Ms. Martinez: All of the kids, the ESL kids especially, they’re wonderful. They really, really are wonderful. People have the impression that poor kids are difficult, but that is not so. It’s an inner city school and we have inner city students. But you have some of the sweetest kids. The easiest children to deal with. Not that they’re free of problems and situations. Those, unfortunately, have been dished out to them by society and by parents, or lack of parents, but the children themselves are wonderful. There is no question about that at all. And the diversity. (…) C.C.: Is there anything that you would change here if you could? Ms. Martinez: Do you have ten hours, Craig? The only problem is that I don’t have 10 hours to give you if you do (laughs). Well, I think the major problem is how West Side High is criticized. We are always under severe scrutiny from the Board of Education and the state. I am working on some things right now as a matter of fact. We are always accused of not doing a good job educating, promoting, and graduating our students. But there are so many things that contribute to this problem. For many reasons, all of which I’m sure you understand, our student population is very mobile. Sometimes we don’t even get a chance to have a student an entire year before they leave the school. The parents move around a lot and the students move out of the neighborhood. These

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth students have choppy and often incomplete educations. Sometimes students come to us with incomplete records or no records at all. That is especially the case with students from Puerto Rico or other parts of Latin America. (…) C.C.: How does this affect the staff and faculty, if at all? Ms. Martinez: Everyone always feels under a lot of pressure. We do more justifying than we should. There is never enough time to do everything that has to be done. *** C.C.: Ms. Sanchez, tell me a little about West Side High; describe to me what kind of school it is. Ms. Sanchez: Well, I guess I am bias(ed). Why? Because we have suffered with such a bad reputation through all the years; but I have been working here for sixteen years. And I know that we have a good faculty, and they are caring, you know, we have people (teachers) who have been here for more than twenty-five years now…so we have pretty much the same faculty here, and uh, we have good kids here also. The reputation that we have, like, we have fights, things like that, but we don’t have any more than any other regular public school. C.C.: Why do you think West Side High has such a bad reputation? Ms. Sanchez: Well, I have asked these same things. The problem goes further back to the sixties. That is what I have been told. That’s when all the riots in the city (happened). It used to be that way. And then we seem to be carrying these bad reputations around, you know, all through the years. And what do we do? Like myself, what I do when people talk to me about West Side High? I always ask them, how do they know so much about this place and have they ever been here.

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So then I invite them. Tell me Craig, you have been here many, many times, I think you are studying something or writing a little paper, is that right? C.C.: That’s right. Ms. Sanchez: Well, you tell me, what do you think? C.C.: Well, I’ve done a lot of studying here, and it’s my favorite school in the city because everyone is so warm and friendly. I haven’t found that anywhere else. Ms. Sanchez: And that is the environment that everybody, you know, claims that we have here. Another thing is, you know, when people like you say that, you know, they really get the new spirit of the school. And I have heard that for the last four years. (…) And the word spreads like that. We have such a wonderful diversity of students here, a rich diversity of people. I feel like I’m coming to work at the UN or something. It’s maybe the best thing about the school. The above was typical of the interviews I had with high-ranking administrators and some teachers. They felt besieged by the Board of Education, the state, and the press for reasons that they believed they had little control over. West Side High is a neighborhood school, they point out, that cannot refuse entry to anyone. West Side High’s designation as the city’s major ESL high school made student retention, promotion, and graduation difficult, along with the problems of maintaining acceptable student scores on Regents exams. The result of this intense scrutiny was a demoralized faculty and administration, with teachers and administrators working and reworking figures to show that the school was doing the best job possible under the circumstances. Without exception, however, the diversity of West Side High’s foreign student population was always stated as the best feature, or asset, of the school by administrators and teachers alike. However, every administrator and teacher did not agree that the school was doing the best job possible. The following interview excerpts examine this point.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth C.C.: (…) Tell me, what are the best things about West Side High School?15 Mrs. Bradberry: Without a doubt it’s the foreign students, the Vietnamese in particular. And, I would say there are some teachers and a few administrators that are a joy to work with but they are far, few, and in between…I’m sorry. Could you ask that question again? C.C.: I had asked you what you would change here if you could change anything. Mrs. Bradberry: Yeah, ok, well, as you probably know, we are in a lot of trouble…with the Board of Ed. and the state. This is no joke, there are lots of problems here. This is putting everyone under a great deal of pressure. And the fact is, the problem is with the administration; to put it mildly, the administration, it really stinks. It is really, really disorganized and inefficient (the administration) and there are plenty of people who are not really doing their job. The students aren’t learning and there is a lot of confusion. Everyone is dissatisfied. C.C.: So, in your opinion, the bad reputation that West Side High has is warranted? Mrs. Bradberry: It certainly is. Beyond just the administration being inept, there are lots of fights here, problems with gangs, and a lot of the teachers don’t really give a damn. The students know it too. That’s why there are so many absentees every day. Have you seen the absentee records? Go take a look at them if they’ll let you. You will be astounded. Does that sum it up? C. C.: Why do you think there are so many absentees here? Mrs. Bradberry: The whole environment is oppressive. Students understand that. Most of the students, they know they

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are the ones that the system has discarded. Most of the students here are at serious risk. They need to be motivated. You have to offer them some real incentives to be here…so they can feel better about themselves and get a better selfimage. We don’t do that here. I feel that this is a real disadvantage of the magnet system. You take disadvantaged kids and put them with other disadvantaged kids. Here, you come from a disadvantaged background, you are sent to a disadvantaged school with other disadvantaged students. Tell me, where does the motivation come from? If you don’t have a better model to aspire to, how can you become anything else? You don’t know what “above” really means. *** C.C.: (…) Tell me Mrs. McNeil, what are the best things about West Side High? Mrs. McNeil (assistant vice principal): I would have to say the students, they are the best part of this job and I have been here for 28 years. When I started, it was a predominantly Italian area. Now its very mixed racially and ethnically. The students now, they need quite a bit. C.C.: Can you explain that? Mrs. McNeil: This is a neighborhood school and the students come predominantly from the local catchment area. And this is a poor, poor neighborhood with lots of problems. I mean, it isn’t even working class here, its poor. Almost all the students and their families are on welfare. Very few people here own their own home, making for a very transitional population. People, you know, they have a tendency to move. Also, many of the parents, they’re not fluent in English and that means that we (West Side High) are on the lower end of the scale in terms of receiving money. C.C.: How does that position the school for less money?

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Mrs. McNeil: Neighborhood schools get less money in general than the magnets; but it’s worse here because the parents cannot speak English well enough and are not educated enough to assert their rights and receive the resources needed to make the school better. C.C.: Understanding that, can’t the administration make a case for additional funds, given the circumstances? Mrs. McNeil: Look, monies are given to schools with principals who are well liked and who knows what other reasons. (Mrs. McNeil turns off the tape recorder. She states that Mr. Jackson, the principal, is not well liked, and that there was a push several years ago to remove him.) Understand? The parents are not able to assert themselves with the powers that be. A full 75 percent or more are on public assistance. They don’t know how to do this kind of lobbying. If they did, their own personal business would be in order. Most administrators and teachers expressed that the school’s position in the larger magnet system created a difficult situation for West Side High in regards to its overall academic student outcomes. Others, perhaps speaking more frankly, placed the blame on the inefficiencies of the administration. The parents themselves, foreign and American alike, were not in a position to demand better funding for their children’s education at West Side High. In any case, West Side High was in a unique position in Nickel City’s public school system because it was the city’s ESL high school. What is interesting about the above interviews is that teachers and administrators viewed the students as the best part of the school. In particular, it was the diversity of the school that made West Side High an interesting place to work. When pressed, teachers and administrators specifically appreciated the nonnative English-speaking students. Not one teacher or administrator made positive comments about the American students at West Side High. Specifically, the Vietnamese were singled out as ideal students, as the following teacher interview excerpts suggest.

Inside Wes Side High School C.C.: Mr. Jacobs, tell me what it is like teaching here. Mr. Jacobs (history teacher): It is challenging, I’ll tell you that (laughs). C.C.: How so? Mr. Jacobs: Most of our students come from poor and often difficult family backgrounds. I would say that over three quarters of our student body come from families that are on welfare. And a lot of these families have major problems such as drug and alcohol abuse. Sometimes students come in and they are tired and sleepy or what have you. School might be the place where they can get away from the problems at home, but it is not always a place to learn. At other times, the same student might be absent for days and days. Some of these kids have kids of their own. I have two juniors in the history class that you were just in that have children. One of them has two. These are children having children. So, many times I’m not really teaching, I’m just trying to get them through the system. (…) (A)nd in the end, I’m not sure the magnet system is all that great. The more stable and academically able students go to the magnet schools. That leaves behind the ones that are less able and…what can I say. There are no incentives for those students. The system puts all the less qualified students together and what do they have to inspire them? C.C.: What would you say is the best part of West Side High? Mr. Jacobs: Oh, I would say our best work is in ESL. C.C.: Tell me why. Mr. Jacobs: There you know that you’re having a real impact. The kids are learning English and you know that’s a skill that they really need and one that they will have all their lives. And the ESL students, in my opinion, are better students. They appreciate the opportunity to go to school and learn, and I

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth think that the American kids have come to just expect it and not really work for it. In the last ten years many of our top seniors are Vietnamese. C.C.: Do you feel that the Vietnamese really appreciate the education that they are getting here? Mr. Jacobs: Without a doubt. Many, maybe all of them, lost their opportunities in Vietnam because of the takeover of the communists. (…) Education is valued there and is understood to be reward for a job well done and not to be taken for granted. They work very hard. They are polite and cooperative. Not everyone is brilliant, but they work hard, and that makes teaching them worthwhile. C.C.: What did you think teaching would be like when you began twelve years ago? Mr. Jacobs: Oh, I thought that I wanted to really make a contribution. I wanted to really change things. I thought that the best way I could do that was to go into teaching. You know, really help form young minds. I expected that it was going to be intellectually stimulating and exciting. C.C.: Is it all of these things? Mr. Jacobs: No, not at all. C.C.: Can you explain that? Mr. Jacobs: Everything is mostly drudgery. The administration is partly the fault for that and the Board of Ed. for the way they set up the system. The students here are stupid. The magnet system siphons off all the smart kids and leaves all the academic trash for us in the neighborhood schools. C.C.: (…) I noticed that you never ask questions in your class, and students never raise their hand to ask questions. Why is that?

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Mr. Jacobs: I told you, the students are stupid. I don’t ask questions because they don’t want to be embarrassed. They don’t ask questions because they’re not interested. *** C.C.: Tell me Ms. Hetenger, what is the best part of teaching at West Side High? Ms. Hetenger (math teacher): Oh, I would have to say it’s the students. C.C.: All of the students. That is the best part of being here at West Side? Ms. Hetenger: No, not all of the students (laughs). The ESL and other foreign students, that is the best part of being here. C.C.: Why is that so? Ms. Hetenger: Because they are interested in learning. Let’s take the Vietnamese for example, they have lost everything (in Vietnam) and they appreciate coming to school and really work hard and learn. I wish the American kids were more like them. C.C.: What do you think makes the difference? Ms. Hetenger: Hum, I don’t think it’s just one thing. It’s many things. Their background teaches respect for education and teachers. I think that they have a really good support system. Mr. Lee really stays on them. I think their families and their friends all contribute to their learning and making sure that they do their work and help them keep their motivation up. To compare them, Americans and the Vietnamese, lets say, I would have to say that the American kids, they don’t really give a damn. Just two days ago I actually got into an argument

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth with one of my American students and she threatened to slap me. Now, who wants to put up with this kind of bullshit, given everything else you have to put up with around here? *** C.C.: Tell me, what is the best thing about working at West Side High? Mr. Fox (science teacher): Oh, without a doubt it’s the students, the foreign students especially. C. C.: Tell me, why is that? Mr. Fox: Because they are more serious about leaning and studying. Its not like with the American students. Sometimes I feel like I’m a dentist and not a biology teacher, you know, its like pulling teeth to get the students to learn and do their work. C.C.: And why do you think it is different with the foreign students? I suspect you meant that it was like pulling teeth with the American students? Mr. Fox: They (foreign students) really want to learn; they really appreciate the opportunity to learn. It’s not like it’s a given in many of their countries to get an education. For some, they would never get an education, and if they did, there would be nowhere to use it, you know what I mean? And the Asian students, they are really serious about going to school and learning. I think every last one goes on to college. Now wouldn’t that be great if we could say that about all the kids? C.C.: All the Asian students are really good students, Mr. Fox? Mr. Fox: No, not all, but I would say most. The Vietnamese are probably my best students. The Laotians and the Cambodians don’t do so well. I’ve been told that they didn’t

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really have an education system in place in these two countries. So maybe they don’t appreciate education as much. But the Vietnamese surely do. They work hard and their teacher, Mr. Lee, he makes sure that they work hard. Isn’t that the group that you are studying? Although every teacher did not find every Vietnamese student to be brilliant, every teacher I spoke with, 20 in total, found the Vietnamese to be polite, hard working, and most of all, appreciative of the opportunity to go to school. American students, by contrast, were viewed as unappreciative of education and generally disinterested, if not impolite and sometimes confrontational, as discussed by Ms. Hetenger. In one case, American students at West Side High were regarded as stupid. By comparison Ann Locke Davidson, et al.’s ESL students in Making and Molding Identities (1996) were viewed as being marginalized and trivialized by virtue of their ESL status in an otherwise middle class school. At West Side High, the native speaking, or American population was poor and transient, and exhibited the full range of problems typical of an inner city student population, creating low expectations on the part of the teachers and administrators. As Mrs. McNeil remarked in her interview, “You have to give students some initiative, a reason for doing better, to raise above their circumstances. The American students, the African Americans, in particular, are not getting that here.” Mrs. Bradberry, in her interview, pointed out, “The whole atmosphere here is oppressive.” Students intuitively understand that they are the discards of the magnet system. On the other hand, many ESL students—the Vietnamese in particular—arrived from an oppressive situation where education and its articulation into a well paying job was unlikely; therefore, they were very appreciative of the education they received at West Side High. Furthermore, they had nothing else to compare it to here in the United States, although the Vietnamese clearly understood that education here was not as rigorous as what they were accustomed to in Vietnam. Here again, Ogbu’s (1991) dual consciousness of a voluntary minority population comes into play. While education in Vietnam may have been better, it was generally unavailable to most of West Side High’s Vietnamese students, and even if it were available, it would not have

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articulated into any opportunities in Vietnam. The opportunity to go to school at West Side High would at least prepare them for jobs or higher education. During the course of my fieldwork at West Side High, I was aware that some of the Vietnamese students were older than the average American student in the same grade. My initial inquiries as to why was answered with the response that many of the Vietnamese had dropped out due to economic necessity, or arrived in the United States with incomplete school records or no records at all. Some students, therefore, picked up their schooling right where they left off, or were placed in a grade level based on their ability. For the most part, this is accurate. However, after one of my interviews with a Vietnamese teacher’s aide, I was informed in a personal communication that some of the older students had completed the Vietnamese equivalent of high school, or the baccalaureate degree, which includes an additional year of study equivalent to the freshman year of college in the United States. The point here is that the Vietnamese were frequently cited as West Side High’s academic success story. Many of the most recent valedictorians of West Side High were Vietnamese. If it is true that some of the Vietnamese had already completed high school or a grade higher than they were placed, how fair was this? Although I was unable to verify this with hard evidence—that is, the opportunity to see records that clearly indicated that some of the Vietnamese were already high school graduates—at least one administrator and two teachers verified this point in personal communication. No one wanted to go on record with this information. In my opinion, this placed the Vietnamese at an unfair advantage over other students at West Side High, and further positioned them as achievers. The following data from an interview with an assistant to one of the vice principals explores the above points. C.C.: I’ve heard in one of my interviews that some of the Vietnamese have already finished their baccalaureate degree in Vietnam? Mr. Dipiro: Craig, I really don’t want to go on record with this information. (…) (B)ut I can tell you this, it is true that some of the Vietnamese, I’m not sure how many, have already

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completed their degrees in their homeland. That is why some of them (the Vietnamese) are so much older than the other students. (…) And maybe, better students. C.C.: Normally, if a student was older, and had not completed their high school studies, wouldn’t they be placed in an equivalency program or in an adult education program; or if a student needed language skills they would be placed in a language program, let’s say at the International Institute, or somewhere with other adults? Mr. Dipiro: Normally that would be the case, yes. C.C.: Why, then, did that not happen here with the Vietnamese? Mr. Dipiro: I believe that did not happen here because Mr. Jackson (the principal) needed something to raise the school’s stats and keep the state out of the school. The fact that at least some of the Vietnamese were already accomplished graduates raises some interesting points. After a brief discussion on this matter, Mr. Lee conceded that as many as 13 of 52 Vietnamese had acquired their baccalaureate degree in Vietnam, but had no American cultural skills or English language skills. As I stated in the above interview, normally, older students would be sent to a high school equivalency program or to an adult learning center to acquire language skills or earn a high school equivalency diploma. In the case of the Vietnamese, most lacked adequate English language skills and none had a working knowledge of American culture. At least some language skills could be learned at the local International Institute and some of the culture could be learned in local Catholic Charities programs, but not in a real, controlled environment like a high school. Clearly, West Side High was the district’s ESL high school, and by far, better equipped to handle large numbers of students. By placing the Vietnamese in West Side High, the Vietnamese had the advantage of one of the best ESL staffs in the city, and the school, by extension, had the benefits of an academically advanced student body that it

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desperately needed to balance its poor record. Normally, adding large numbers of students to an already stressed high school would not be advantageous, but the Vietnamese were seen to be an exception. The Vietnamese were partially isolated from the rest of the general student body with a homeroom of their own, a Vietnamese teacher and Vietnamese teacher’s aides, and ESL classes. They also had the additional advantage of having some advanced students that could act as mentors and as very powerful examples for the less accomplished students, helping to consolidate them and maintain an identity focused around achievement. Although I am speculating here, I believe that Mr. Lee was very aware of the advantages that the Vietnamese brought to West Side High, and was able to marshal this into some additional advantages for the Vietnamese students. His insistence that many Vietnamese students attend the more advanced courses, regardless of their ability, is one possibility. These privileges were not missed by other students (see chapters 5 and 6) or, as we see below, the administrators and teachers. The following interview excerpts explore this point: C.C.: Mrs. Santiago, you mentioned earlier that there were many Vietnamese that were earning top grades, why do you think that is the case? Mrs. Santiago: (…) Well, you know that we (Puerto Ricans) can go back and forth to the island, so we always feel a connection there. And, since the economy of Puerto Rico isn’t as bad as Vietnam, we don’t have to leave the island, I believe. We are not really persecuted, you know. So, you know, I see their circumstances as very different; they, they have to leave. To get the thing that they want to achieve. So, they, they tend to really, to view this as a way to staying here and getting what they want. So, they work extra hard for that. C.C.: So, academically speaking, when you look at the records of Vietnamese students, are they doing better than American students in terms of grades?

Inside Wes Side High School Mrs. Santiago: Okay, well ah, if you take a look at the first twenty students, the Vietnamese are there. But you should know that there are some Puerto Ricans there and a few Russians there too. The difference is many times the Vietnamese, some of the Vietnamese kids tend to take, like physics, you know, or other related courses, and those are harder. But, so I guess that is what I’m saying. C.C.: So, the Vietnamese students, as far as you can tell, they are taking more advanced and difficult classes than most of the other students? Mrs. Santiago: Uh, maybe, maybe. Like I said, you know, probably because they see it as a way to learn more, be more competitive. Their teachers, their Vietnamese teachers, the ones that work with them, they are very direct with them, and it seems to be, like, that these kids listen more to their adult teacher than the other kids. So, Mr. Chee or Hee or Lee, or what is his name, he is their teacher, and he is very direct with the kids and they listen to him. C.C.: How would this be different from, let’s say, the Puerto Rican Students? Mrs. Santiago: We, see, okay, I don’t really know. Like, myself, I have taken upon myself—and the other bilingual teacher, like Ana Fuentez—to be as directive as we can with the Hispanic kids. You know, push and push and push and push as much as we can. The other teachers in the school, the non-Hispanic teachers in the school, they perceive things differently. You know, its like, “Well, you are on you own, you know, you should know your responsibilities.” And if they take the advice, okay; but if not, then they (the Hispanic students) don’t. It’s like that.

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Mrs. Brown, one of the few African American staff, states: C.C.: Mrs. Brown, tell me about the teachers here at West Side High. Mrs. Brown: Well, I really don’t like most of them. As a matter of fact, I really hate them. The teachers here don’t care about all the students. They are here, as far as I can see, to just get a paycheck. The vast majority of them are white and are not concerned about the area or the kids. We have a 30 percent African American population here but only two teachers are African American. There are no distinctions between the minorities—Black, Hispanic, they’re all the same as far as the white teachers are concerned. I think the African American kids would do better if they had Black teachers just like the Vietnamese do. The teachers are different with the American kids than the Asians, particularly the Vietnamese. They take more time with the Asian kids. Basically, the school and the teachers are racist. How do you convince someone to work if their parents and their neighbors don’t work? Some of these kids, you wonder, how do they get to school at all? I say to myself, if I had to go through what some of these kids go through, I wouldn’t be sitting in this chair. People who live and work in bleak neighborhoods never escape. Let’s take you, for example, where do you live? C.C.: Around the corner. Mrs. Brown: Ah huh, and were you born and raised here? C.C.: No, but I have lived around the corner for 17 years. Mrs. Brown: Well, you have moved there by choice. You see something that they (the white teachers) can’t see, the cosmopolitaness of it all. But most people can’t see that. They don’t ever get a chance to see the fancy shops on Elmwood. I would, for instance, tell the students they would have two hundred dollars at the end of the year if they get a B, or three

Inside Wes Side High School hundred if they get an A. I have boys here that have three kids already and they aren’t seniors yet. They’re grandparents at 30 and, of course, these kids are not taking responsibility for these kids. They are staying with the grandparents. C.C.: You mentioned earlier in the interview that you saw distinctions in how student groups were treated. So, you see a distinction between Asians as well? Mrs. Brown: The Vietnamese seem to be the top dog and the Laotians the bottom dog. They clashed for a very long time. They are now just learning to tolerate one another. I don’t know what the circumstances are in their homeland that contributed to all this. C.C.: What about academics? Mrs. Brown: The Vietnamese always demand the most academically advanced classes, even if they are not prepared to take them. For instance, they will demand, and I do mean demand, algebra rather than beginning math. The Russians are the same way. The American kids are not like this at all. The Vietnamese all have the same aspirations. Regardless of their abilities, they all want to be professionals. Sometimes I feel they would be willing to do you bodily harm if you don’t put them in the classes they want. C. C.: Why do you think this is so? Mrs. Brown: Because I think they, or the ones that we get, are the ones that were the most clever or the most aggressive. They are the ones that go away. As far as I can see, any ethnic group has the usual spread of people with abilities: those that do well and those that do not. But these are the ones that are aggressive and the ones that managed to get out, and they know how to get what they need.

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Teachers and administrators were clearly demoralized by the circumstances surrounding West Side High, which included the threat of intervention by the state, poor funding as a neighborhood school in a magnet system (despite much need), and the rigors of teaching an inner city student population. Teachers, in particular, were searching for the moral rewards that come with a job well done, but found such rewards difficult to attain under the conditions they were operating. The rewards of a cooperative and hard working student population were met, to some extent, by the ESL students, and the Vietnamese in particular. I am speculating here that in a magnet school with a more diversified student body in terms of class make-up, the Vietnamese would not necessarily have been as highly regarded by the faculty and staff and would have had a more difficult time being the school’s success story. The academic achievement and perceived privileges of the Vietnamese were resented by the Latino and African American staff and faculty. The vast majority of teachers and administrators were white, despite the fact that most students were American minorities. Minority staff and faculty believed that the white, dominant faculty did not care about the minority students. This easily could have created severe destabilization within the institution if the staff and faculty were more balanced in terms of race and ethnicity. But because the minority administration and faculty were so poorly represented, they believed there was little they could do to change things. They, too, felt the same pressures as the whites, but felt the additional burden of safeguarding the interests of a large minority student body with far fewer people to do so.

Summary In this chapter, I have examined the factors in West Side High which contribute to the identity formation of West Side High’s Vietnamese students. I have argued that various conditions particular to West Side High set the stage to consolidate the Vietnamese towards an orientation of achievement and a relative position of privilege. Further, the Vietnamese use West Side High School partially as a site for rigorous learning, but primarily as a site for language and culture learning and skills acquisition.

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West Side High is a neighborhood school in a magnet system. As such, according to teacher and administrator conversations, it receives less funding. It is also has the city’s only English as a Second Language (ESL) program at the high school level. Because of its location on the lower West Side, home to a dense population of the city’s poor and non-English-speaking population, West Side High’s student population reflects all of the problems of an inner city school. The combination of poor and transient students, and a high concentration of ESL students creates a situation where West Side High routinely scores low on Regents standard exams, is always under the threat of state review, and has relentless bad press. West Side High administrators and faculty find themselves constantly justifying their work, creating an atmosphere of tension and overall demoralization. Similar to Weis’ Freeway, West Side High teachers maintain a contradictory attitude toward school knowledge; that is, they adhere to the form of knowledge rather than the content. The influx of large numbers of Vietnamese into West Side High created both challenges and opportunities for the Vietnamese and the school. A Southeast Asian homeroom was created with a Vietnamese teacher and several aides, which consolidated the Vietnamese as a group and allowed for the reinforcement of the Vietnamese values of collective learning, hard work, and appreciation of education, essentially moving the Vietnamese towards an orientation of achievement and the other Southeast Asians toward an orientation of exclusion. The lower academic standards of the school and inclusion of older and more academically accomplished Vietnamese students allowed the Vietnamese to use West Side High primarily not as a site for high level academic learning, but rather, as a site to learn English and American culture in a relatively safe and controlled environment before moving on to higher education or the job market. By extension, the routinely hard working Vietnamese provided West Side High with a student population that helped raise the academic outcomes of the school, thereby assisting the administration in keeping the school out of state review and providing the faculty with a student population that is polite, respectful, and appreciative of education. By contrast, many administrators and faculty viewed American students as less appreciative and cooperative, positioning the Vietnamese as West Side

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High School’s academic success story. While there is much room for divisiveness in West Side High, the minority faculty and administrators found the predominantly white faculty to be unresponsive to other minority needs and were angry about the attention given to the Vietnamese. The particular circumstances surrounding West Side High did much to provide opportunities for the Vietnamese that otherwise may not have been available in a magnet school with a more varied student body in terms of class background and academic ability. I recognize that the picture I present of classroom teaching at West Side High is, in fact, rather grim; yet the Vietnamese students are very enthusiastic. Beyond providing entre into the American tertiary education system and providing much needed and appreciated acculturation, West Side High, I believe, stands for something much more in Vietnamese youth’s lives. West Side High administrators and teachers, for the most part, appreciate the Vietnamese, something that was clearly not the case in Vietnam. Secondly, West Side High symbolizes the beginning of their new lives and their new freedoms. This is the start of reclaiming lost opportunities and the time to lay plans for the future.

CHAPTER 5

West Side High Vietnamese Males

Khon ngoan, doi dap nguoi ngoai! Ga cung mot me cho hoai da nhau… If you are clever, go and argue with outsiders! Chicks of the same hen don’t turn on one another…16 In this chapter I will present both interview and observation data which examine the identity formation of Vietnamese males at West Side High School. Various aspects of their identity formation are similar to previous ethnographies of high school males, but depart from those profiles in a number of important ways. The profiles available in Sociology of Education literature have focused primarily on white, working class youth whose identities were formed in relation to the dynamic between capital and labor, as well as the various social movements that have arisen from rapidly changing British or American economies (Willis, 1977; Weis, 1990). By contrast, the Vietnamese are immigrants who have left their home country to seek a better life through resettlement in the United States. They, of course, do not have a long historical relationship with the United States, and are regarded in the literature by Caplan (1989) as model minorities. The literature available on Asians is, historically, often aggregate performance studies which do not examine the varying degrees of success between groups, or the identity formation of any particular group. Though very little else is to be found, performance literature, especially that which has taken a comparative approach (Weis, 1985; Ogbu, 1978, 1991; Gibson, 1988, 1991), is helpful in analyzing the larger context of the emerging identity of Vietnamese males as voluntary minorities. I will argue that the identity profile of Vietnamese males in West Side High emerges from a set of circumstances based on their particular 121

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refugee experiences and the development of their that emerges in relation to African American and Latino students at West Side High. It should be noted again that this identity emerges in an environment that is characterized by a low enrollment of white students and a high enrollment of African American and Latino students.

Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic: Vietnamese Males Creating a Pro-school Identity Ethnographies examining the identity formation of males within the institution of school, such as Willis’ (1977) lads, Everhart’s (1983) students in a junior high school, or Weis’ (1990) Freeway males, have centered on the white working class, and have had long established historical relationships to social economic institutions. In all three cases, the males were antagonistic towards authority and disengaged from the form and content of schooling, either directly or indirectly. The identity studies that have focused on white, working class students have assisted my understanding of the process and structure of identity formation, and therefore, cannot be overlooked when examining the identity formation of the Vietnamese males of West Side High. I have also found helpful those works which examine the immigrant/refugee experience. The Vietnamese, however, are neither white, nor historically working class in the same way as white youth, and do not have a long-term relationship with the United States. This literature, therefore, is not able to account for the identity of Vietnamese youth. To understand their identity, I find Ogbu’s (1989) theory of voluntary versus involuntary performance framework to be very helpful. As Ogbu contends: …(I)mmigrant minorities do better in school than nonimmigrants, even though the former do not share the language and culture of the dominant group and even though, like nonimmigrants, they face barriers in adult opportunity structure, which is reinforced by two cross-cultural observations. One is that in some instances the minority groups who are doing well in school are the ones more different from the dominant group in culture and language. …The second reinforcing observation

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is that a minority group which does poorly in school in its country of origin, or where it has an involuntary status, appears to do much better when its members emigrate to another country, where its culture and language are even more different from the language and culture of the dominant group of the host society (as cited in Weis, 1985, pp. 181-2). The profile that Ogbu (1989) has outlined quite accurately describes the Vietnamese of West Side High. For example, because the Vietnamese are minorities but have elected to come to the United States, they lack a long-term relationship, which marginalizes them from societal benefits. In effect, the Vietnamese and their parents have no perception or internalization of institutionalized racism to inhibit them from performing well. Because they have left oppressive conditions in Vietnam, they are better positioned to take advantage of American education than, as is the case at West Side High, African Americans or Puerto Ricans. The latter groups have long historical relationships to the United States that are founded in slavery and colonialism. Because of this history and institutionalized racism, African Americans have been placed at the very bottom of a caste system, further contributing to their unsuccessful participation in the process of schooling. Puerto Ricans have a long colonial relationship with the United States, as well as a difference in language and culture. The issue of Vietnamese voluntary status, however, can be contested. The nature of their departure from Vietnam and their status as refugees, some scholars argue, has qualified them for involuntary status (Gibson, 1988; Ogbu, 1989, 1991). For example, Gibson (1988) states that: The situation of guest workers, undocumented workers, and refugees, differs significantly from those of voluntary immigrants, and the degree to which their adaptation patterns are similar merits further comparative analysis. (Gibson, 1988, p. 33) As is the case for voluntary minorities, such as Cuban and Central American refugees, Gibson (1988) does agree that a comparison of the

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performance data indicates that the Vietnamese have a high degree of success. For the purposes of this study, I argue that the Vietnamese of West Side High are voluntary minorities. This is based on their personal assessments as recounted in their narratives and presented later in this section. The Vietnamese males interviewed for this study were either juniors or seniors, and stated a median age of 20, which was two to three years older than is the norm for the grades they attended. This was clearly due to the amount of time they had lost in the expatriation process. The average length of residency in the United States was three years. All of the males, except one, reported having originated from South Vietnam. Half explained that they had come from rural backgrounds, while the other half described themselves as having come from urban backgrounds. Vietnamese males also reported being Buddhist, Roman Catholic, or Taoist. Like many of the oral histories of Vietnamese refugees, over half of the West Side High males recounted horrendous stories of departures from Vietnam on overcrowded boats and being subjected to Thai pirates, sea sickness, food and water deprivation, as well as varied stays in processing camps in the Philippines, Malaysia, and/or Hong Kong. These were the stories of the males who had left Vietnam prior to the improved diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States in the late 1990s. The remainder of the males reported much easier departures from Vietnam in airplanes and through normal diplomatic/counselor procedures. The Vietnamese males’ narratives suggest that this is a group that spanned much of the Vietnamese class structure. Some reported having an agricultural or a semi-skilled background, while others claimed family ties to the Vietnamese government. After arriving with their families in the United States, Vietnamese males reported living alone, or with nuclear and extended families. Some Vietnamese males reported living alone on government assistance, or with their families on government assistance. Some students also reported having fathers who were semi-skilled and working in areas such as clothing manufacturing, or who had skilled employment in areas such as electronics. Two males reported living in female-headed households, one with a mother who worked as an unskilled laborer, and one who lived on government assistance. One Vietnamese male, the exception to

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the group, narrated that both his mother and father worked as dietician in a local hospital. One male reported that his father had just acquired a corner store in a very economically depressed community. None of their family backgrounds in any way reflected their previous socioeconomic status in Vietnam. After reviewing Caplan’s (1989) performance data on the Vietnamese, I initially suspected that Vietnamese academic success might be linked to class background. As noted in chapter 3, from 1975 until 1981, those Vietnamese arriving in the United States were the most able to leave because of a high-ranking relationship with either the South Vietnamese government or the United States government. The others, who immediately followed, could do so because of their ability to pay. The lower middle class, semi-skilled and unskilled laborers, and those engaged in the agricultural sector, came after. Most data on Southeast Asian student academic success were collected in the mid to late 1980s, and reflected many of the Vietnamese students who had arrived in the first and second wave emigrations to the United States. Vietnamese students at West Side High were the later arrivals, from the period of the early to mid-1990s. I further suspected that as my study and other studies were conducted, the data would reflect a drop in Vietnamese academic success, and a corresponding identity that was less likely to accommodate school culture than among the previous groups of Vietnamese. In other words, I suspected that Vietnamese high school identity would bear a relationship to the lower class backgrounds reflected in Vietnamese immigrant trends. Many (Gibson, 1988; Hirschman & Wong, 1981) have raised similar concerns regarding the reproduction of class status among Asian immigrants: The statistical evidence regarding the school success of immigrant groups must be interpreted with care. Many of the more recently arrived Asian immigrants are highly educated, affluent professionals, and the fact that their children do well academically may simply be further evidence of how school helps to reproduce class status from one generation to the next. (Gibson, 1988, p.6)

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My analysis of the backgrounds of West Side High’s Vietnamese males does not reflect a strong relationship between class background and achievement, or between class background and a pro-school identity. The Vietnamese males’ collective desire to achieve success at West Side High was only slightly lower than that reported by Caplan (see chapter 3), but overall, higher than any other group at West Side High. Achievement in this analysis is based upon grades. Although grades are a socially constructed means of measuring achievement, it is currently the only indicator available. The socioeconomic status backgrounds of the West Side High Vietnamese males were varied, but their narratives illustrate remarkably similar attitudes toward school, future planning, and race issues. I began my interview on school attitudes with the question, “Why did you come to the United States?” In each case, the Vietnamese males felt the option to continue their education had been denied them in Vietnam due to the lack of available spaces in schools there. Those spaces were reserved for North Vietnamese children whose families were affiliated with the communist party. In addition, lack of wealth also would have prevented some from attending secondary school.17 Education in Vietnam has historically been linked to success, as well as being highly prized culturally for the heuristic values associated with Confucianism and Buddhism. In Vietnam, a well-educated person is respected and honored. When asked what their reasons for coming to the United States were, every male stated they had come for freedom. When I asked what that meant to them, they responded that it gave them “choice,” which was lacking in their native Vietnam. Choice, in student terms, meant the ability to pursue an education if that is what they wanted, both on the secondary and tertiary levels. This response also referred to their ability to determine their future jobs, and therefore, their expected life outcomes. C.C.: Tell me, why did you come to the United States? Bao: For freedom.18 C.C.: What does that mean to you?

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Bao: It means I can go to school and pursue my dreams. C.C.: Couldn’t you do that in Vietnam? Bao: No, because it’s communist. I don’t have the same chances there as I have here. *** C.C.: Why did you and your parents come to the United States? Nguyen: We came for freedom. C.C.: What does that mean for you? Nguyen: It means that I can go to school and my parents don’t have to worry about what my future will be. *** C.C.: Why are you going to (West Side High)? Luc: In my country, I didn’t have the conditions to go to the university. The community does not want people who have parents who were part of the Southern Republic. They expect that (only from) people who have worked in the communist community. I came here mostly because I wanted to go to school…I am able to get ahead and be somebody. Vietnamese male narrations linked education to both social mobility and social status. Historically, the Vietnamese have held education in high esteem because of the influence of Taoism and Buddhism. Later, under French colonial rule, education was linked to an elite status and, to some extent, racial stratification. Again, under communism, school became the domain of those government elites associated with the communist party. Awareness of the link between education, social mobility, and status is found in remarks such as “I

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may pursue my dreams,” and “I am able to get ahead and be somebody.” In the United States, where “freedom” exists, education then maintains its link to social mobility and the acquisition of status. The ability to pursue education and, by extension, the ability to be socially mobile and acquire status provides Vietnamese males with the foundation to formulate an identity that essentially accommodates school form and content. Vietnamese male acceptance of school form and content is further enhanced by a dual framework of reference between schooling in Vietnam and at West Side High. The Vietnamese were able to compare the education they were receiving at West Side High to the education they received in Vietnam. In most instances, the Vietnamese males preferred their American education. Despite Vietnamese males’ criticisms of American education, they appreciated the freedom and more liberal attitudes. It is interesting that they appreciated the very things they critiqued as weaknesses. By contrast, the posture that white, working class males take toward school culture, as evident from the Sociology of Education literature, is very different from that of the Vietnamese males of West Side High. The Vietnamese were respectful of, and accommodating to, school authority figures. Vietnamese males were rarely late for classes and never skipped them. They rarely engaged in distracting activities in the classroom, and actively studied and payed attention. In school, I never witnessed a Vietnamese male incite an altercation with other students, or directly challenge the authority of a teacher or administrator. Unlike Willis’ (1977) lads, there was never an issue between Vietnamese males and administrators over the dress code. Students at West Side High generally had considerable latitude in what they chose to wear. During the course of a year’s study, I witnessed only two females—a Latina and an African American—taken to task by school authorities for wearing inappropriately revealing attire. The Vietnamese were generally conservatively dressed with clean, pressed clothing that often took on a “preppie” appearance that was very different from the “hip-hop” clothing styles preferred by most student groups at the school. It is important to note that nearing the end of my research at West Side High, two of the Vietnamese males were beginning to appropriate the hip-hop style of dress as part of their peer assimilation process.

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American students—either minority or majority—when compared to foreign students, have no dual frame of reference with which to compare their education. Having a dual frame of reference permits the Vietnamese to regard favorably the American education they are receiving. This point is also acknowledged by other scholars (Ogbu, 1989; Ogbu & Gibson, 1991). The majority of Vietnamese males also expressed a specific appreciation of West Side High. While they remarked on the opportunity to continue their education, most Vietnamese males expressed an appreciation for having the chance to acquire the language skills needed to live in American society. They also appreciated having access to support services that the school provided, such as books, paper, lunch, field trips, and the ability to use these services to move on. Not one Vietnamese male commented on academics or the specific quality of education at West Side High, other than to infer that it was poor. C.C.: What are some of the things that you like about going to school here (at West Side High)? Lam: At (West Side High) I like to go to my classes. In (West Side High) I can learn English…I can learn English. And some teachers, I can go to them for help. They are the good teachers. *** C.C.: Do you like going to (West Side High)? Kay: Yes, I like being a student here, because here I can go to learn English, and there are many people here to help me to understand the difference between English and Vietnamese. *** C.C.: Tell me about school here. Do you like going to school here? Duc: Yes, I love it here.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth C.C.: Can you tell me why? What is it that you love so much? Duc: The best is the teachers. They are much better here than in my country. Going to school here is a lot of fun, more than in my country… It’s a lot of fun (here). C.C.: Can you tell me about that? Duc: The teachers are very hard in my country. It’s so easy here. Most of the teachers in my country…they…are very hard. They (do) not let you do anything if they don’t want to. You know, they are very hard. The teachers here are funny. They are a lot better. You can go on a field trip or, do you know, stuff like that. There are enough book(s) to study. You have enough to (write on). But in my country it’s not like that. We don’t have lunch either. *** C.C.: Tell me, what do you like best about going to (West Side High)? Kim: The best thing that I like is that they have a lot of bilingual education to help me live here and to get a chance to go to college. *** C.C.: Tell me, what are some of the things that you like about going to school here? Twan: I like to go to school here because they got a lot of materials for the students, you know. They support enough material for the students, you know. And we see that there is like a book that you can find in the library, and some thing like that, because in Vietnam they have, you know, they are poor, you know. They are a poor country. They don’t have supplies, none of that.

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Two Vietnamese males, who had lived in the United States the longest, were exceptions to the Vietnamese expression of overall appreciation for West Side High. C.C: Do you like (West Side High)? Chang: No. I’ve been in three schools since I left Vietnam; one in Canada, and another in (Clarkville, a suburb of Nickel City). This one is the worst. *** Bao: I don’t like it here because none of the students, except the Vietnamese, study. The classes aren’t good and most of the teachers, the Americans, are not responsible. Like Weis’ Freeway males, the Vietnamese males viewed education in utilitarian terms. By that, I mean that they saw it as a means to get the basic skills needed to move on to college and acquire skills to negotiate American culture. The teachers and the administrators of West Side High were aware of the appreciation that the Vietnamese held for education. I am sure, however, that what they did not know was that the Vietnamese were mostly appreciative of the support services, rather than the education itself. Services that the Vietnamese males referred to in their narratives were not available to students in Vietnam, and would surely to evoke a sense of appreciation from those that were unaccustomed to them. Although the purpose of this research was not to explore the identities of the African American or Latino students at West Side High, I am speculating that American students of color (or any student) would came to expect these services perhaps as entitlement, and did not regard them as directly important to their academic success or school identity. Again, American students do not have a dual framework through which to assess their educational opportunities. Vietnamese male narrations were not devoid of specific references to West Side High. They also expressed a general appreciation for the teachers and the administrators of West Side High, as was revealed in the above excerpts. The level of expressed appreciation was most

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profound for the Vietnamese teacher and Vietnamese aides, who assisted them with cultural issues and language difficulties. The American teachers were most appreciated for their lack of strictness and the degree of levity they permitted in the classroom. One student went further and stated: I like it here. Like when you go to class in my country, you have to sit quietly and listen to the teacher. We have no fun. You just go to class and study in my country. But now we can also have a voice. Like when you want to say something, or you want to express your idea, you can. And you can have fun with your friends. Here again, Vietnamese males expressed appreciation for the lack of teacher control. I also found it especially interesting that one student remarked that teachers permitted students to “have a voice,” allowing for individual expression and agency—something which was denied to them in their Vietnamese education. Two students generally did not like the teachers, but expressed appreciation for the Vietnamese teacher, Mr. Lee. The following is an example from one student: C.C.: Tell me how you like it here. Kim: Well, I don’t like it, but I have to stay. I must say that I like the Vietnamese teacher. He can help me do the work or something. If I go to another school, I don’t have a Vietnamese teacher. That’s why I go to (West Side High). C.C.: How do you feel about your teachers? Kim: My teachers…I see some is O.K., but some, like, you know, they just think that they have no responsibilities with anything, you know. Though living in the United States for only a short period of time, Kim regarded his education at West Side High as inferior. His narration further suggested that although it was better than in Vietnam, he would have been going to college anyway. Very little was said about the

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administrators in the narrations of the Vietnamese males. Students simply stated that the administrators were “O.K.” or “good.” No amount of probing elicited much more. The only evidence of their feelings about the administrators was from the following remark: Twan: Well, I guess the best thing that I can say about the administrators is that they let me come here. You know that I am a little over age to go to high school, but they let me come. So for that I am thankful. Vietnamese males were grateful to teachers for being given a more relaxed and open atmosphere in the classroom, and for being given the opportunity to “have a voice,” which was denied them in their school experiences in Vietnam. The only truly positive feelings were expressed for the Vietnamese teacher who assisted in negotiating language and social situations. Comments about teachers did not refer to teaching excellence. Like teachers, administrators were liked for their passive involvement rather than their active one. Most interesting in the Vietnamese males’ narrations were their overall neutral feelings towards teachers and administrators. Although I was unable to find anything on the attitudes of Vietnamese or immigrant students toward teachers and administrators in the Sociology of Education literature, Vietnamese males’ neutrality was quite different from the boys in Weis’ (1990) study, who viewed institutional authority as oppressive and domineering. As Weis states: “Previous studies of white, working class boys suggest that opposition to authority and school meanings is deeply embedded within cultural formation…” (Weis, 1990, p.17). Antagonistic posturing by white, working class youth towards institutional authority is understood to be part of the culture of working class youth in a capitalist economy. Among recent Vietnamese refugees, no such acquisition of working class culture (or limited American culture in general) has yet occurred. (In the case of minorities, as discussed by Ogbu (1989), the Vietnamese have not had a long term relationship with the American school system, or experience with a social system that may exclude them.) Rather, Vietnamese males appreciate the opportunity to continue their education (which offers free materials and supplies) and appreciate

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teachers and administrators who are more relaxed and less authoritarian than those in Vietnam. All of the Vietnamese males stated that they were taking classes such as calculus, physics, and chemistry in addition to English as a Second Language, history, and social studies. These classes constitute the science or college preparatory track of West Side High. On average, the Vietnamese males reported maintaining a B to B plus average. Their grades were later verified by Mr. Lee, who maintained records of their grades in his room. No male reported a grade less than a C in any subject. Two of the males reported most of their grades in the 90s, or A range. Compared to the other students at the school, this group of Vietnamese males was predominantly in the academic track and consistently achieved higher grades. For example, Ms. Johnson, the only African American guidance counselor at West Side High, remarked: All of the Asians—especially the Vietnamese—request, even demand, that they take courses such as math and science. As a counselor, I have all the students’ IQ scores. It’s not that they are any smarter than anyone else in (West Side High); it’s just that they are more aggressive. They just will not take no for an answer. The academically “aggressive” nature of Vietnamese students arose in many informal discussions with American students, and with all of the teachers of color. Teachers and counselors alike remarked on the strict study habits of the Vietnamese. Studying and succeeding was regarded as very important. C.C.: Is there something that I haven’t asked you that you would like to tell me? Duc: This is a very hard question for me. What is important to me is to study hard and…to get the good English so that I can go and find a good job. ***

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C.C.: So tell me what is very important to you? Nguyen: To study hard, that is all that is important. *** C.C.: Tell me, what do you do in your spare time? Khan: In my spare time, I study, that is what I have to do. It is worth noting that some of the requests for math and science courses were likely linked to Vietnamese males’ inabilities to speak English well. All of these courses were based on abstraction, which required fewer English language skills than social studies, history, or even art. Furthermore, social studies and history may have required some debate and argument, which would have been much more difficult for someone beginning to learn English, or one who may have been too shy to attempt involved discussions. Chung (1992) asserts that the choice of math and science courses by Chinese college students is directly linked to practicality. That is, such courses provide entry into highly paid and prestigious employment that provides upward social mobility. Chung’s subjects, the “Main Street Gang,” selectively spoke English to achieve their academic goals, preferring to speak Chinese with their peers in social interactions and at home. English was spoken primarily in classrooms and with American students and faculty when required. This selective accommodation to language was viewed as a result of the Main Street Gang’s perceived racism of Americans towards them, their desire to maintain a Chinese ethnic identity, and their understanding that their academic choices required less English to succeed. Here, among the Vietnamese of West Side High School, I found strong evidence for this position. That is, Vietnamese students’ choice of math and science courses was linked to practicality. Math and science courses are mandatory for college entrance and are requirements in valued fields such as computer science, medicine, etc. At the same time, it permits students to avoid language intensive courses such as history and social science.

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In Vietnam, courses such as social studies and world history, etc., are rarely offered at the high school level and are less highly prized than science and math. The learning style and teaching approach most prevalent in Vietnam, moreover, is based on rote memorization, with little or no discussion between teachers and students. It is likely that this more familiar style of learning would be sought by Vietnamese students. One student remarked: “Math, in my country in high school, is very important. They don’t have social studies and the like. They have math and chemistry and physics.” When I asked the Vietnamese males how they perceived American and Vietnamese students to be different, they emphasized a difference in study habits as the most obvious. C.C.: Do you think that American students study as well as the Vietnamese students? Khan: You know, the teachers teach alright, but the students in your country, they don’t really study very well. They don’t seem to be that interested. They seem that they are lazy and they don’t want to grow up. C.C.: You think that they are lazy? Khan: Yes. Maybe, I think, they study hard in college. Vietnamese males were very reluctant to criticize other Vietnamese. All indicated that the Vietnamese were very serious students and hard workers. It was only after I had spent months at West Side High that some Vietnamese males reluctantly admitted to me that not all Vietnamese were strong academically. At least three males were having trouble in biology and chemistry. However, this was managed by Mr. Lee in the homeroom with his consistent monitoring of the Vietnamese students’ grades. Anyone who did poorly, or appeared to be in trouble, was immediately set up with a peer tutor, as well as given additional assistance from the teacher at Mr. Lee’s request. I am attributing this reluctance to admit to academic difficulty to the Vietnamese attitude of not shaming or insulting another individual. I am also speculating that the Vietnamese, to some extent, internalized the “model minority” stereotype, and did not want an outsider to form

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bad opinions of Vietnamese students. I further suspect that were it not for Mr. Lee’s relentless review of Vietnamese academic performance, some students would not have performed nearly so well. Obviously, good academic performance is the optimum outcome of schooling, but it also placed intense pressure on the Vietnamese to do well, even if they were not intellectually up to the task. Like the lads (Willis, 1977) and Freeway males (Weis, 1990), the school identity of Vietnamese males emerged in opposition to others at the school. In the case of Vietnamese males at West Side High School, the others were African Americans and Latinos, who the Vietnamese regarded as confrontational, disruptive, and “not serious about studying.” This response was particularly evident when I asked what they perceived to be the differences between Vietnamese students and American students. As I will show later in this chapter, the Vietnamese in West Side High used the term “Americans” when they were specifically referring to Blacks and Latinos. C.C.: Do you see any differences between Vietnamese students and American students? Kim: Yeah, I see that there is a big difference that Vietnamese students, they come here—most of them—and they study hard. The Americans, they never study. I want to ask you something. Why the American, they always party more than they study in school? *** C.C.: Do you see any differences between American and Vietnamese students? Khan: Yes, I see. Usually, the Americans, they come to school and, you know, like they play. It’s not a playground. Like it’s not a school. They check into school and play, hang around with somebody in the hallway…I see more of this in this school, but I guess I don’t know that much about the other schools.

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth C.C.: Is this the case only with American students? Khan: Yes, I suppose with some of the Vietnamese, too. *** C.C.: Do you see any difference between Vietnamese students and American students? Nguyen: Like I said, Vietnamese students go to school, and they have a study attitude. They are always serious for studying. C.C.: And the American students? Nguyen: (Laughs) I think they need more seriousness. It’s easier. When you get to class, you can joke and laugh loud, and sometimes that’s the case with my American friends. They are not serious because they have too much fun, and they laugh too much.

The Vietnamese always regarded themselves as serious students but regarded most Americans as not so.19 This was one aspect of student life that permitted the Vietnamese to create a “them versus us identity.” Vietnamese identity emerged in relationship to others, as was the case with Willis’ (1977) “lads” and “ear ‘oles” and Weis’ (1985, 1990) Freeway males and African Americans. In all three cases, the particular male identity under consideration emerged with a sense of superiority. In the case of the Vietnamese, their identity was based on their value of education rather than their disengagement from abstract labor. As Weis posits: Identity does not take its shape and form in any linear fashion. It is forged in a dialectical relation with that of constructed others and its shape and form will change as the “other” changes and vice versa. (Weis, 1990, p. 16)

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Vietnamese males were proud of their industrious attitude towards school and often assumed a superior attitude when discussing this aspect of difference. They stressed a consistent, “no fooling around” stance for all of the Vietnamese. While I found it to be true from my observations that the Vietnamese were far more engaged in studying than all other student groups at West Side High, it was also true that a number of Vietnamese males regularly acted out by laughing and talking loudly in the hallways before classes began. On several occasions, Vietnamese males were involved in minor classroom disruptions along with the rest of the class. Oct. 6, ESL Teacher is writing a lesson on the blackboard. One of the Latino students throws his book across the room to another Latino student. Kim, a Vietnamese student, catches it and throws it back. There is now a lot of laughing and chatter. The Latino student misses it; papers fly everywhere. There is general laughter and bantering in the room. The teacher turns from the board and begins to admonish the class. The Latino students are singled out. Though the one Latino student expresses that Kim was involved, the teacher ignores this. Nov. 19, History Class Students are entering the room. The teacher is involved in writing dates and events on the blackboard. Two Vietnamese boys are involved in a pushing session. It continues until a desk is slammed into the radiator. The teacher turns and demands that everyone calm down. No one else was involved. The Vietnamese boys take their seats without confrontation. The Vietnamese did acknowledge that they were not always in perfect order, as was evident from Kim’s narration, but only when pressed for specific examples. Often, the teachers and the administrators overlooked any disorderly conduct in which Vietnamese males were involved. To be fair, I must state that the Vietnamese were far less involved in disorderly conduct than any other group of students I observed at West Side High.

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Further evidence of Vietnamese males’ dedication to studying was seen in their management of free time or unstructured time at school. Free time was typically spent learning English or catching up on unfinished homework assignments. C.C.: Do you participate in after school activities? Bao: Yea, after school, I stay after school for additional class and tutoring. They have school after class. Like they have class after school for students who need more work in languages. C.C.: And you stay for that? Do you have any social activities after school? Bao: No. After that, I just go home and do my homework. C.C.: Tell me why you don’t participate in after school activities like athletics or clubs. Did you choose not to? Bao: The first thing is that I need more time to improve my English, you know. And the second thing is that, you know, like I don’t know which group is the one to join, which one is important. It is important for me to improve my English and that I can study. *** C.C.: Do you have any after school activities or socializing? Twan: No, because after school I have always use my hours, my spare time for studying at home. *** C.C.: Do you have after school activities that you’re involved in like sports or clubs or anything?

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Vu: No, no, I don’t. I don’t have time for this. I must spend my time to study and to learn English. This is what is most important for me. *** C.C.: What do you do on the weekend? Chang: On the weekend, I usually on the weekend on Friday, I go to the library and after that I go home. And sometimes I go to stay with my friend. And sometimes I stay home and watch TV. And sometimes I go to the swimming pool, but mostly I study. Such remarks were evident throughout Vietnamese male narratives. School was not just something they did from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Rather, their entire life was committed to studying hard to get ahead. Similar attitudes toward studying have been documented by Gibson (1988) in regard to Sikh student culture, and non-native born Central Americans studied by Suarez-Orozco (Ogbu & Gibson, 1991). Vietnamese male narrations went on to reveal that their ability to socialize with Americans was impaired by their lack of confidence in speaking English, and their concern that Americans would not understand them or their culture. They did wish to meet white Americans “who can teach us something good, something important,” but did not know how to make the contacts. Time that was not spent studying was spent with other Vietnamese just sitting around, bowling, or going to the movies. Most Vietnamese males’ free time was spent with members of their extended families or other Vietnamese males from the neighborhood. Although the Vietnamese expressed interest in meeting white Americans, they were very disinterested in meeting African Americans or Latinos because they believed that Blacks and Latinos had nothing worthwhile to share with them. This was in conflict with, as I will discuss later, some Vietnamese males assuming various aspects of inner city hip-hop culture, such as clothes, mannerisms, and speech patterns, to acquire cool capital to rid themselves of their nerd stereotype. General

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disinterest in African Americans and Latinos made making friends in the broader school population difficult, since the majority of students at West Side High were students of color.

Engendering Racism: Everybody Learns Their Place The narrations of Vietnamese males were filled with references to racial issues and constituted my most extensive data set. Many questions I posed were intended to elicit responses regarding school form or content. They were responded to with concerns for the discordant nature of race relationships at West Side High and in their communities, especially as it impacted on the Vietnamese. For example, the following excerpts were taken from a point in the narrations where I expected to hear Vietnamese males’ concerns with better teaching methods or administrative efficiencies. Problems concerning school efficiencies were instead regarded as a result of the resistant attitudes of Blacks and Latinos towards school form and content, as well as ethnic tensions. It was further noted that African Americans and Latinos conducted themselves in a similarly disorderly manner in their communities as well. This appeared to engender in the Vietnamese males an overall negative feeling toward these two ethnic groups, both inside and outside of school. C.C.: Can you tell me if there is anything that you don’t like about going to school here at (West Side High)? Bao: Yeah, because at (West Side High) they have a lot of bad people, a lot of bad student, you know. Sometimes they make me crazy, you know, sometime. When I am talking to the Vietnamese boys they are picking (on me) and saying something real bad to me. That’s why I don’t like this school. They call me gook or something bad, like swear word. C.C.: What are some of the differences you see between American students and Vietnamese students? Bao: American students is good, but the Spanish and the Blacks, they are really bad. ***

West Side High Vietnamese Males C.C.: So do you like living here? Nguyen: Yeah. C.C.: Is there something that you don’t like? Nguyen: The thing that I don’t like, you know, I don’t like the Black people. I mean that they are gangsters or something, you know. I see a lot of alcoholism and stuff like that. And you know, sometimes I get off from school a couple of weeks ago, when I walk on the street, and some guy call me and ask me do I want some drug. Some drug! And I say I don’t know or understand. I did understand what he said, but I got their phone number, you know. I go down to the library to study, they try to take money from me. I say that I got no money, you know. Sorry. *** C.C.: Do you take time to socialize with your friends? Chang: Yes, with my Vietnamese and (white) American friends. C.C.: Do you have Black and Latino friends also? Chang: No, because they don’t like my people and maybe think my people don’t like them, too. Because, you know, some (white) American, they hate the Black people, too. Some I suppose are good, but some are very bad. I feel this way because of where I live before on West Side Street. C.C.: I live there now. Why didn’t you like West Side Street? Chang: Yeah, West Side Street, you know, there are a lot of Spanish people, and now I live on Corner Street. There’s all Black people. They walk around all in the streets, stand on the corner drinking beer. They play rough. It’s like they do like

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth drinking beer. They know what they do. They do everything that is bad. One month, about six months ago, my friend call me to go off to the bowling, when we are finished, and it’s time to go home, and about three Black people come to rob me. *** C.C.: Is there anything that you don’t like about (West Side High)? Twan: Yeah, there are lots of things that I don’t like, like all the fighting. Some of them (Blacks and Latinos) try to mess with me. C.C.: Why do you think that is? Twan: I don’t know, that’s…I don’t know. Yes, they try, but I don’t really like it.

Nickel City itself is an ethnically divided city. Almost all neighborhoods are classified according to the dominant group that resides there. Only recently, in the last three years, has the city’s major street, which divides the West Side from the East Side, stopped being an invisible barrier separating the predominantly Black and poor East Side from the more affluent and ethnically mixed West Side. Tensions between racially segregated neighborhoods and communities have been exacerbated in Nickel City over the last 15 years by the decline of blue-collar employment and the lack of service sector employment to replace those lost jobs. One outcome has been an increase in the level of poverty in African American and Latino communities, leading to wide-scale drug addiction and violent crime. In response to this, one Vietnamese male will be going to college for Police Science. Duc: I want myself to look like a good person, to try and help keep the drug dealers out of the way. I want me to become a policeman, and keep all the trouble away from the street.

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Down on the street, just like when I look out of the door like in the East Side, it’s crazy out there, and I don’t like it. Inter-ethnic tensions are nothing new in pluralistic societies, and continue in Nickel City, fueled, in part, by the changing economy. In response, whites, who are also faring less well economically, are participating in virulent border patrolling via block clubs and citizen action groups (Fine and Weis, 1998). I was not surprised to find that West Side High, over the last five years, had experienced a severe increase in student violence, as well as drug and alcohol abuse. The Vietnamese, unfortunately, arrived in Nickel City at a time when the city was least able to manage an increase in poor ethnic/racial populations. Black and Latino students, who were negotiating difficult communities, were only too aware of their own pessimistic life chances, and resented a new racial minority group that appeared to be doing better than they were. The following excerpts, taken from informal conversations with two African American males, help to highlight involuntary minority perceptions. Michael: You know, they come here and they think that they’re better than everybody else. In school, they’re gettin’ all the grades and act all siditty (snobby) and shit. In my neighborhood, a big family of them moved in and opened up a corner store. How come a brother ain’t opening up a store and getting a play? When you go in and want to buy something, they’re all suspicious and shit, checking you out and following you around, talk to you all snotty and shit. *** James: I just don’t like the motha-fuckas. They look…I don’t know…different and act different. They’re here and actin’ like they runnin’ the whole motha-fuckin’ place. I ain’t with it. Suspicion between the two groups has led to a certain amount of abuse directed toward the Vietnamese. Throughout my field work, through talking to students, I learned that it was common for American

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students to refer to anyone from an Asian country as “Chinese.” The following narrations recount individual experiences: C.C.: How are your relationships with American students? Duc: I think that most of them don’t like the Chinese people or the Vietnamese people. C.C.: Why do you think that is? Duc: Because sometimes I’m walking by the mall, or I walk in the mall, some of them, you know, they look at me, and you know, and they say, “you stupid something.” I don’t know, but I am saying is that some of them walk by me and talk bad about me. I heard about that. C.C.: What do they say? Duc: You know, they say some bad thing about Chinese people, like Chink or Gook, or something like that. C.C.: How do you feel when people talk to you like that? Duc: I feel bad, but I…that all right. I don’t care about that. I don’t really care about that. *** C.C.: Have you personally had any bad experience with African Americans or Latinos? Chang: Yes, with bad experience. When, one time when I go home from school, there were three of—I don’t know if they were white or Puerto Rican—I think they were Puerto Rican, but they reach near me and they use a pole and something like that, and they really punch me. They pushed me on the ground and they beat me.

West Side High Vietnamese Males C.C.: Have there been other experiences as well? Chang: Sometimes they say bad words to me. C.C.: For instance, what do they say? Chang: I never say bad words, so… *** C.C.: Is there anything else that you don’t like about (West Side High)? Khan: Yeah, (there) is something else. I don’t think so but… when I take the bus home, the people play around and throw their stuff around, and I don’t like it. And they pull my hair, like this (Khan gestures as if someone is violently pulling his hair)… They try and make fun of me, like in my first year, because I don’t speak. I doesn’t speak very well, you know. But this year, I like this year. I think they can’t play with me or go crazy with me, you know, because I can talk with them. Like the people, the Black people and the Spanish people, always mess with me. They always talk and mess with the other (Vietnamese) people, you know, that don’t understand. Like when I just came here, I didn’t understand nothing; I don’t speak English. That why the people make mess with me, and make fun of me, but not now, right, because I can talk now. I can tell them what to do, like leave me alone or some stuff like that. You know, so that I think that they don’t mess with me no more… *** C.C.: You say that you have had some problems. Can you explain a little? Thu: Yeah, because they, Blacks and Latinos, always make me look like they have a problem. Like the American people,

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth the white people, they never do that to me. But sometimes— not all the time, you know—but the Black people or the Spanish people, you know, they do it (Thu indicates that someone is punching him and pulling his hair). You know, when you are walking in the hallway, they see and they say things like Vietnamese people are stupid and they say really bad word to me. C.C.: Is there anything else you would like to tell me? Thu: Yea, and last year, I got to fighting with the Spanish people. They are standing in the room in biology, and they pull and pull on my hand like they break it, and they say something to the teacher that I don’t know. And the Spanish people, he say, “You are a stupid son of a bitch,” and he come he want to fight with me. He came and hit me. C.C.: He actually came and hit you? Thu: Yeah, and he hit me, and that’s why I hit him back *** C.C.: You say that you don’t feel as if people treat you nicely. Can you explain? Kim: Some, they treat me good, but some they treat me, I think they don’t treat me good. C.C.: Why do you think that? Kim: Because, from my feelings, the way that they treat me, it isn’t good. You know, one time—really a couple of times… C.C.: Can you tell me what they do? Kim: For example, when, you know, sometimes I go to downtown and some people, they…I may have come to ask

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them what time is it, sir, and they just ignore me. They go away. And they, sometimes I walk across them they just spit at me. As described by the males interviewed, lunch period and going home on the bus were two times during the day when the Vietnamese were particularly vulnerable to abuse. Vu: The worst time for me is at lunch. There the students say bad thing, hit me and throw food at the table. *** Duc: I really hate lunch and going home on the bus. At lunch, they throw food and dishes at us. *** Chang: Sometimes I go to Mr. Lee’s room instead of lunch because the student, they are very bad then. They throw food; it’s very bad. Gibson (1988) also notes that lunch and the bus ride home were the times when the Sikh students were most abused. Lunchtime, because it constituted a relatively “free space” in the school, was also noted as being a place for racist remarks by Freeway males (Weis, 1990). During the course of my research at West Side High, I mostly noticed minor incidents between Vietnamese and American students. It later occurred to me that there was less likelihood of a truly abusive incident while I was sitting with the Vietnamese students, since I was an unknown adult accompanying them at the table. However, there was one lunchtime outburst that I observed which particularly stands out: November 17, 12:00 p.m., Lunch Period As I stand at the doorway to the cafeteria talking to a faculty member, I hear a lot of yelling and screaming. I turn just in time to see a Black male fling a plate of spaghetti across a

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth table. It flies, ricocheting off the formica service and splats Mai, a Vietnamese girl, with a mess of red goop. She looks down. Her clean, white blouse is completely covered and appears ruined. Thu, a male, stands and screams, “Why do you always do this stuff to us? Look what you(’ve) done!” Willie, a kid I’ve seen act out in class before, begins to do a little dance. It’s a stiff dance, a la Michael Jackson, that robotically moves towards the Vietnamese table. As he moves closer, he begins to clap in syncopated rhythm. Other students begin to accompany him. Unconsciously, I begin to tap my feet as well. For a second, I watched, mesmerized by his lithe movements. I wanted him to go on forever. The dance came to an abrupt halt and dramatic finale when Willie turns his butt up at Mai and Thu, violently slapping it. The cafeteria rings out with laughter. I look at Mai. She is standing there red, with a look of complete humiliation on her face. I became horrified. My heart went out to Mai and Thu. I thought, why isn’t there a fucking adult around to do something. Then I remembered I was an adult, and I had passively participated.20

It is clear from these narrations that Vietnamese males perceive and experience racism both in school and in society. They have limited experiences with American society and are unable to understand the historical and economic reasons why African Americans and Latinos maintain a culture which resists school form and content and develops counter-cultures in relation to standard American culture and society as a whole.21 On the other hand, African Americans, as evident from the brief aforementioned narrations, I would speculate, perceive the Vietnamese to act superior and exclusionary in a similar fashion as has historically been associated with whites. The situation becomes further exacerbated because the Vietnamese have a culture and language very different from that with which African Americans and Latinos are familiar. The Vietnamese, because of their distinctive racial appearance, are also relegated to a caste-like status, not only by the dominant group, but by American minorities as well.

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The Sociology of Education literature on identity has strong examples of racism. The lads (Willis, 1977) direct strong, negative feelings towards the “Pakis” (Pakistanis). Likewise, the Freeway males exhibit racist attitudes towards Blacks (Weis, 1990). Gibson (1988) also details the severe racism of Vallysiders towards the Sikhs. The case of the African Americans, Latinos, and Vietnamese departs from these examples in an obvious significant way: In West Side High, the mutual racism was between two minority groups. However, white racism did not completely escape Vietnamese critique. One Vietnamese male had the following to say: C.C.: How is everyone getting along in (West Side High)? Vu: Oh, I think they got different ways; the way they study. The white people, the Americans, I think that they are usually studying. And they think that they are more important than others. You know, like Black people, I mean. C.C.: Are you saying that you have noticed that white people think they are more important? Vu: Yeah, and some Black people, you know, they really study and try hard. I have one Black friend; we study together. He is a good person. Although Vietnamese students held the overall opinion that African Americans and Latinos were disorderly and impolite, near the end of my research, I observed several of the Vietnamese, especially the boys, adopt what I refer to as inner city cultural dress and conduct: style often associated with Black youth culture. Like African American students, the Vietnamese were wearing hip-hop clothing, carrying around “boom boxes” after class, and rhyming in iambic pentameter as performed in “rap” music style. On one unplanned observation while riding a city bus, I observed one of my student narrators rapping with the white girls on love and romance in a heavy Vietnamese accent and referring to everyone he recognized entering the bus as “homeboy” and “homegirl” or “cuz.”

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An important consideration is that discrimination experienced by the Vietnamese was not just peculiar to Nickel City. In their examination of second generation Vietnamese, Hein (1995) and Zhou and Bankston (1998) have documented racial discrimination in Philadelphia and Versailles Village, New Orleans, respectively. Although the Vietnamese males examined here were essentially first generation, there is something of value to explore. Second Generation Literature has posited that many second generation youth are experiencing downward social mobility because of their identification with counter-culture as discussed in this section. However, the Nickel City community is new and has a strong sense of traditional Vietnamese cultural values. This, along with the Vietnamese’ general privileging by teachers and administrators may act as a block to counter cultural identification. As such, identification with the culture of the teachers and the administrators worked to their benefit leading to academic success. However, a sustained relationship with American culture and overall discrimination by American society may, in fact, lead to counter cultural identity in the future, and hence, downward assimilation.

Planning for the Future Every Vietnamese male I interviewed had plans to attend a four-year institution of higher education. With the exception of one, who wanted to major in police science, all of the other Vietnamese males were interested in highly intellectual types of majors, such as political science, computer science, biology, or chemistry. Although I was not surprised to hear that the seniors who had these plans were already accepted into a four-year school, I was surprised that four juniors had already applied to a number of institutions of higher learning, one of whom received a tentative acceptance. While all of the seniors had applied to many colleges and universities both in- and out-of-state, I was surprised to find that they all had elected to attend local institutions, the majority of them choosing the local state college and one, the local university. Three males had already made plans to continue their education beyond undergraduate study. This was especially the case for those who expressed intentions to pursue careers in medicine and law.

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Going to college was regarded as a benefit of living in the United States, one that would have been denied them if they continued to live in Vietnam. Many of the Vietnamese males recounted that the low financial status of their families in Vietnam and their inability to get ahead was as a result of the political circumstances surrounding the communist party members and overall poverty in Vietnam. They did not regard their circumstances to be the result of personal or family inabilities. College, like education in general, was viewed as a means to social and economic advancement. Their current low economic status in the United States was regarded as a result of immigrating to a new country and having a lack of English proficiency. C.C.: What do you plan to do when you leave (West Side High)? Duc: I plan to go on to college here in (Nickel City). C.C.: Was continuing on to college a difficult decision for you to make? Duc: No, not at all. I have to if I plan to make anything of myself. It’s important for me to continue and have a good life. *** C.C.: Tell me why it is important for you to go to college. Chang: Well, I guess this is not a hard question. What is important for me is to study hard to do that, to me, study to get the good English so that I can go out and find a good job. Then I can have a nice family. *** C.C.: Why did you decide to go on to college? Twan: Because, I think that going just to high school is not enough. If I want to make it, I have to go to college. I want to have a bright future. I want to have a family, a house, and maybe a business of my own someday. ***

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth C.C.: So you say that you are going to college? Nguyen: Yes. Yes, you know, that it has always been my dream and the dream of my family for us (the children) to go to college. I don’t think that I would have that chance in Vietnam, but here I have it, so I cannot not go.

Embedded in their narrations, Vietnamese males regarded going to college as a prerequisite to having a family. Vietnamese males emphatically refused to consider marriage or children until after they had graduated from college and were able to provide a decent standard of living for their families. Some stated that the idea of having a family or children had never crossed their minds. It was something that they would consider only after they had completed all of their schooling. C.C.: Do you plan to get married? Vu: No! C.C.: Never? Vu: I don’t think about that because I am young and I am going to school. And to have a future for me, I must go to school. C.C.: What about children? Vu: (Laughs) No. I like them very much, but I don’t think that I want my own. C.C.: What age do you think is a good age for a young man to get married? Vu: It is never a good time for a young man to get married. *** C.C.: Tell me what you think you want to do five years from now. Chang: Five years from now…I think that I will graduate from college.

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C.C.: What do you think your personal life will look like? Chang: Well, of course I don’t know yet, but I would like to have a good job and go to work. And after that, maybe sometime I will go to visit Vietnam. C.C.: Do you want to have children? Chang: Yes, sometimes but I don’t have a plan for that, you know. Just now, I think about studying. *** C.C.: May we talk about your future personal life? Do you plan to get married? Bao: Yeah, you know, after I have a house and a job and I have everything, yeah. C.C.: Do you think that you want to have children? Bao: No, no, never. No, no! *** C.C.: In terms of your personal life, when you grow up, do you want a family? Do you want to get married and have children? Twan: Yeah, sure. Yes, I do, but I think that will be when I am 25, like when I have a job, graduated from school. Then I think that I will want to get married after that. Children, yea, I want that too, but not until I have my life together. One hundred percent of the Vietnamese males graduating from West Side High during the 1997-98 academic year planned to attend college or the university. Given that the Vietnamese male population was so small at the time of my research, this may seem unremarkable.

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However, during the 18-year period from 1979 to 1998, the percentage of Vietnamese males who had continued on to college was a remarkable 97 percent. This compares with 37 percent of all other males at West Side High during the same time period. All of the Vietnamese males chose to go to a four-year institution and were admitted into these institutions. By contrast, 25 percent of all other males at West Side High had chosen to be admitted into a two-year college. Vietnamese males also expressed a uniform interest in professional fields. Only 16 percent of all other males at the school selected para-professional fields such as lab technician or computer programming.22 Unlike Willis’ (1977) lads—who held manual labor in high regard and considered intellectual pursuits effete—Vietnamese males incorporated the pursuit of academic excellence into their sense of masculinity and sought to improve their life chances by continuing on to college. Weis’ (1990) Freeway males, by contrast, understood the need to continue their education in light of a vanishing blue-collar sector. However, Freeway males “appeared to be moving toward a contradictory relationship with official school knowledge and culture fed…by the institution itself” (p. 25).23 Vietnamese males, aware of the fact that they have had no history of an American class background or family employment tradition in the United States, viewed education as the only means to create a financial niche for themselves. In his narration, Twan states, “I think that going to just high school is not enough. If I want to make it, I have to go on to college.” Vietnamese males also exhibited a remarkable sense of middle class values. Not one male considered marriage or creating a family as viable until he had completed college or found a job. Embedded in their narrations was the notion that to do otherwise would compromise a comfortable future. Completely absent from Vietnamese male narrations was an identity based on male/female relations, or an identity based on “others” invading their borders in this regard. New to this country and unaware of any connection they might have had to U.S. Civil Rights movements, there was seemingly no backlash towards feminism, nor towards affirmative action emerging in young, Vietnamese male identity. As explored in the next chapter, this was arguably the case because of distinct gender norms and behaviors embedded within

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Vietnamese culture. Rarely did I see other males interacting with Vietnamese females. The few times it did occur, Vietnamese females demonstrated no interest.

Summary In this chapter, I have argued that Vietnamese males have constructed an identity that is essentially pro-school. This identity is possible because of what I term the collective refugee experience ethos, which essentially accommodates school form and culture. It is unclear if Ogbu would regard the Vietnamese as voluntary minorities. If he did, he would refer to this ethos as a folk model of culture (Ogbu & Gibson, 1991). Like voluntary minorities, the Vietnamese have moved to the United States for “economic well-being, overall opportunities, and greater political freedom” (p. 8). Although all minorities experienced some form of discrimination at West Side High, and in society in general—African Americans and Latinos as racial and cultural minorities, and Vietnamese as “model minorities”—the Vietnamese tended to interpret discrimination against them as being a result of their recent immigration and lack of proficiency in the English language. This created in the Vietnamese an ethos which appreciated the benefits of schooling and trusted administrators and teachers, while maintaining an acquiescent nature. This dynamic blocked counter-culture identification discussed and explored in Second Generation Literature, and, in fact, may have worked in favor of first generation Vietnamese academic success and overall upward mobility. Zhou and Bankston, quoting from Portes and Rumbaut (2001), remark that, “More significantly, the sociologists Alejandro Portes and Dag Mac Leod, using National Educational Longitudinal Survey data, reported that the negative effect of disadvantaged group membership among immigrant children was reinforced rather than reduced in suburban schools, but that the positive effect of advantaged group membership remained significant even in inner city schools (Zhou and Bankston, 1998). The pro-school ethos of Vietnamese males was further enhanced by a dual frame of reference. Their memories of school in Vietnam tended to make them view American education in a favorable light, despite some students’ ability

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to perceive education at West Side High as inferior. By contrast, African American and native-born Latino students had no such dual frame of reference with which to compare their education experience. Vietnamese male characterizations of African Americans and Latinos as disruptive, lazy, and unwilling to take advantage of opportunities inside and outside of school exacerbated and further factionalized race relations at West Side High. African American and Latino students, I am speculating, viewed their situation, both inside and outside of school, to be oppressive and permanent, creating a school culture of resistance. The African American and Latino school culture resistance-matrix mirrored that of their communities and, thus, would have been regarded as something to maintain and be proud of rather than eliminated in order to accommodate school form and culture. African Americans and Latinos demonstrated resentment towards the Vietnamese, who were seen by them as privileged and opportunistic. In spite of Vietnamese characterizations of African Americans and Latinos as disruptive, some Vietnamese males adopted, as part of their peer assimilation process, what I refer to as an “inner city youth culture,” without perceiving a conflict. The pro-school ethos of Vietnamese males extended to their strong desire to continue their education. During the academic years 19961997 and 1997-1998, 100 percent of Vietnamese males applied to and were accepted into four-year institutions of higher learning. Their strategy to “make it” and become financially secure precluded marriage and family building until after they had completed college and had obtained a job. Unlike previous ethnographies of white, working class males (Willis, 1977; Weis, 1990), Vietnamese males did not construct an identity around male/female relations.

CHAPTER 6

West Side High Vietnamese Females

“I need for Americans, the American people to know why we are here.” Kim, Vietnamese student In the previous chapter I presented interview and observation data on West Side High Vietnamese males. In this chapter I will present both interview and observation data on West Side High Vietnamese females, and analyze their emerging identity. Although I do not believe that female identity emerges in response to male identity, I have found that there are some unavoidable comparisons. I do not, however, make a point/counterpoint analysis. As Weis states, to do so would “…be allowing, and indeed encouraging, the identity of males to be dominant by asking the question, ‘how do females compare with males?’” (1990, p. 54). In this chapter, I focus primarily on those issues and views that address the emerging identity of Vietnamese females. It is necessary to revisit some themes from the previous chapter, as the emerging Vietnamese student identity contains analogous points for both females and males. This, as the data suggest, is linked to the struggles of ethnicity and the processes of immigration. However, there are differences in the ways Vietnamese females and males prioritize and frame their issues and concerns. The role or the act of immigration situates both the male and female identity formation and social critique in a similar location, centralizing this experience in Vietnamese identity. Conversely, the lack of such a shared experience places gender for American males and females as central along with race and class. Not surprisingly, Vietnamese females narrated responses that were similar to the males’ responses on school matters. This was especially so with regard to Vietnamese female interest in achievement, and their 159

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pursuit of education. Again, like males, females appreciated their teachers, particularly the Vietnamese teachers and aides. Administrators were viewed by Vietnamese females as sympathetic to the needs of Vietnamese students and their desire to acquire an education. Administrators were also seen as having facilitated the admittance of Vietnamese to West Side High. On the subject of American students, Vietnamese females had critiques that were similar to those of Vietnamese males, perceiving American students to be lazy and disrespectful. Vietnamese females also remarked on the harassment they endured (real or perceived) from American students, who they believed did not like them. These females critiqued school from a location which centralized their experiences as both immigrants and, specifically, as Vietnamese. However, these issues are where the similarities end. In the above ways, the emerging identity of Vietnamese females, like that of the males, supports the theoretical constructs of Ogbu and Gibson (1991). Because of a dual reference framework, Vietnamese females had a positive attitude towards school, and generally performed better in school than non-immigrant, American minorities with long established historical relationships to the United States, such as African Americans and Puerto Ricans. The Vietnamese drive for academic achievement was, as noted in the previous chapter, not unique to the Vietnamese in the United States. A similar drive towards achievement and academic attainment has been noted among other immigrant groups in the United States, such as the Punjabis of California (Gibson, 1988), and has been noted in other countries where there is massive immigration by a particular group. North African women in France have been found to be similarly driven (Raissiguier, 1994). The emphasis on education as a means to achieve economic and social advancement is found, overall, to be part of immigrant trajectories (Charlot, et al., 1988). The existing literature on immigrants rarely separates the identity formation of females from males. For that reason, it is necessary to explore additional literature in order to analyze the emerging identity of females. The data on Vietnamese high school females collected at West Side High suggest that their identity, while fluid, was less developed than that of Vietnamese high school males. Presented with work/employment-oriented curricula, they were faced with

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emancipating idioms that took them outside of the domestic sphere. Some Vietnamese females responded to the new opportunities, understanding that they could work and attend college to ensure a comfortable lifestyle upon graduation from college without total dependence on males and their families. Others were not sure what they would do after high school, but recognized that a job or career was an important option that would permit them to contribute towards an economic goal. While Vietnamese females moved toward achieving more independence by entering the public sphere, they were are simultaneously burdened with having to adhere to more traditional, patriarchal Vietnamese values that placed primacy on private and domestic functions for women. As the data suggest, some Vietnamese females participate in a traditional “ideology of romance,” while at the same time moving towards a more liberating identity that includes a career. In this sense, Vietnamese females’ emerging identity is located between McRobbie’s (1978) working class girls, and Weis’ Freeway females (1990), situating them in a location similar to Raissiguier’s (1994) North African females. The traditional versus non-traditional dichotomy is, in essence, the location of conflict that Vietnamese females are negotiating.

Background All Vietnamese female students interviewed for this study were either juniors or seniors. On average, Vietnamese females reported having resided in the United States for four years, with the majority clustering in the three-year range. The backgrounds of West Side High Vietnamese females differed slightly from those of the males. The average age of West Side High Vietnamese females was 19, ranging from 15 to 22 years old. Most females reported coming from twoparent, nuclear families, with an average of four siblings each. The majority of females narrated having a father who was once a soldier in the South Vietnamese army and who, after the North Vietnamese takeover, was sent to a “re-education camp,” then later freed after an average of five years incarceration. Adult males returning from reeducation camps found only menial or low-paying, semi-skilled labor. In the interim, and sometimes upon the release of their fathers, their

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mothers typically sold merchandise on the street or in the markets to maintain a household income. Of the total cohort, three females reported having parents who had middle class jobs in Vietnam; two whose parents were teachers, and the third whose father had been an officer with the South Vietnamese army. Two of these students reported having fathers who had been sent to re-education camps. In the case of the teacher, it is most likely that he had held this position prior to his conscription into the army. It is unlikely that the communist government of Vietnam would have allowed a South Vietnamese with a history of American associations or official ties to the South Vietnamese government to teach at a communist, Vietnamese government school. The majority of the females did not know what their family status had been prior to the conscription of their fathers into the army. All of the West Side High Vietnamese females who were interviewed narrated that their educations had either been halted or interrupted in Vietnam during the incarceration of their fathers. This was as a result of reduced household incomes caused by the absence of their fathers, or as a result of their fathers’ diminished ability to find adequate employment upon their release. Their families, then, needed to augment their fathers’ incomes by sending their daughters to hawk merchandise on the streets or in the markets. Vietnamese males did not report an interruption of their education as a result of reduced family income, nor did the majority report having to supplement their family’s income. Rather, they continued their education as family finances permitted. The majority of females reported having a very low family income and a generally difficult life in Vietnam. By contrast, the males spoke little on this subject. It may be the case that males are more privileged in Vietnamese culture and family life in general, and were, therefore, blind to this apparent discrepancy. In the beginning of my observations and interviews, I attributed the more advanced ages of the Vietnamese at West Side High to be a result of their halted or disrupted educations in Vietnam. However, this was not so in every case. Several of the females were actually high school graduates (or the Vietnamese equivalent). Two had already completed their freshman year at college in Vietnam. Over half of the females had successfully completed at least one grade higher than their placement at West Side High. Essentially, they attended West Side High to learn

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English (ESL) and to situate themselves in an institution where they could learn American customs. The advanced education of the Vietnamese students also explained, in part, their high achievement and overall maturity. Even those Vietnamese students who were appropriately placed would receive some additional indirect benefit from their association with older, more advanced Vietnamese students.

Constructing an Identity Vietnamese female background interview data did contain some political analysis of the Vietnam War and its impact on them and their families. Although Vietnamese males articulated similar family disruptions, they were not as clear in their political analysis of the war, if, indeed, they presented any analysis at all. The following two interview segments are representative of Vietnamese female political analysis: Phum: It was difficult for our families for this reason, we could not do what we wanted in Vietnam because (of) political problem(s). After the war ended, Americans went back to the United States. I lived in Vietnam, and so my brothers and sisters (did as well). You know that the communist system treated (us) differently and somewhat bad because they think that I am like American people. So I am actually, I must say, that we were very poor. My family was, however, a very good family and we were happy…I think that American people now understand that there were some of us that served the American people before. We are Vietnamese people, and now we are suffering because we served for the American side. But after the war was ended, the communist system took over the entire country. That is why they don’t like us who served for the American side. *** Grace: Before the days of our so-called liberation (Grace’s emphasis), our liberation day, the days that the communists

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth came from the North, my father was an officer in the Southern army…. He was put in jail, and after he was released again, he became a worker at a sugar cane factory in the firing (section) of the plant. After South Vietnam fell to the communists, those of us who fought along side the Americans had nothing. The Americans, they just went home.24

Like the males, Vietnamese females listed “freedom” as the most important reason why they and their families had come to the United States. Freedom was defined as freedom from censorship, the ability to make a decent living, and the right to follow their dreams in terms of going to school and getting a good job. In addition, Vietnamese females stated that leaving Vietnam was a necessity to realize their desire for opportunities. These are all things that would have been denied them in communist Vietnam because of their families’ prior backgrounds and their association with the South Vietnamese government. Here in Nickel City, half of the West Side High females narrated that their parents were in school learning English as a second language, and that they also relied on government assistance. All of the females lived on the West Side of Nickel City, within reasonable walking distance of school. C.C.: Why did you and your family come here to the United States? Joy: I had to; we wanted to. We needed a new life. We needed to come to a new country. We had some friends over here, so we just did what we had to do to come here. We needed food, clothes, and things like beds, just basic things. We had nothing in Vietnam, nothing. *** C.C.: Why do you think you and your family came here to the States?

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Phum: In Vietnam we were seriously lacking in materials (material things), but here we got everything, and we can go to school. *** C.C.: Why did you and your parents come to the United States? Tran: We had to. We had no choice. We had no life in Vietnam. Here we have everything. We have T.V., lots of clothes, a car, beds, and enough food to eat. While it is clear that Vietnamese females ranked the opportunity to pursue an education high on their list of reasons for coming to the United States (this point is more clearly articulated by Vietnamese females later in this chapter), it was not the singular most important reason. Rather, they were equally concerned about those issues most closely linked to the household, such as food, beds, clothing, etc. “(A)nd (then) we can go to school,” said Phum, placing the domestic realm as a priority. In Vietnam, during the absence of their husbands/fathers/brothers, women were required to earn money and make major decisions. Many Vietnamese women continue to contribute to their family income here, even after the father has returned. However, males intend to re-establish their role as head of the family and primary wage earner. This has put Vietnamese females in the rather interesting situation of having to relinquish personal and economic freedom acquired indirectly because of the Vietnam War. Certainly the disruption of cultural norms resulting from war and other social upheavals would have had similar effects in any society. However, not all wars end with major population from Asia fleeing to the West. In the United States, Vietnamese females are negotiating an identity within Vietnamese culture by pursuing an education, while simultaneously attempting to maintain their traditional role in the domestic order. Additionally, the interviews of Vietnamese females differed from that of the males with regard to their concern that Americans have an understanding of why they and their families had come to the United

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States in the first place. In all cases, the “message to Americans” was offered unsolicited by me, and was narrated either at the beginning of the interviews when we discussed their backgrounds, or at the end when I asked if there was anything else they wanted to tell me. C.C.: Is there anything that you would like to tell me so that I can better understand who you are? Is there something that is important to you? Joy: A lot of American people who wants to know, who has wondered how many Vietnamese people came to the U.S. But they don’t know that there are some new groups and new program(s). Before people come by boat; they came by sea, but now (there are) some American government programs, new government programs to bring Vietnamese and Amerasians and their families, or someone that has served the American side before coming here to the U.S. The American government made it possible for them to come to the U.S. so that they can have political freedom. I want people to know that, because I think that they don’t know that, and if they know that, then maybe they wouldn’t feel so bad about us being here. *** C.C.: Is there anything else that you would like to tell me? Phoo: I know, and all the other people, they know that in America, in the U.S., somehow everyone know(s) that they will have a good opportunity to, for the kids to go to school. They want to have a better future. It is very difficult in Vietnam for the poor class, you know. And like also, like for example, if you have served for America (in Vietnam), you are a guest of the Vietnamese people. Now Americans have come back here (to the United States) and (we) must stay over there, then the North Vietnamese, they send you to jail. After, you might go home and you cannot find a job. Your children will also find it very hard to get to school. It will be very hard

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for everyone. It will be hard to get to college because of the political problems. That is the question that Americans don’t ask when they want to know why we are here. That is why they (the U.S. government) opened the programs. Of course, we are very happy to come here. There are a lot of (Vietnamese) children here because there will be a better future for them. *** C.C.: What made you and your family decide to come to the United States? Mei: Well, things were very hard for us in Vietnam. My father served for the South Vietnamese army under the Americans. They (the communists) treated us very bad, like if we were American people, not Vietnamese people, after the war. The American (government) made programs for us to come to the United States. We fought for freedom, but we were given the worse treatment. Sometimes I feel that the American people, they don’t like us because we are here. But I want you to know that we are here because we cannot live in Vietnam, and the American government made programs for us. We fought for America. Although I tried to get the women to explain why they felt it was necessary to tell Americans why they came, they only repeated that it was necessary for Americans to understand their situation. My observation data, at least partially, explains this. Observation data indicate that Vietnamese females were more likely to attempt interaction and bonding with American female students. The males, on the other hand, rarely extended themselves to American males, preferring the company of only other Vietnamese males. For the females, interacting with Americans created a more politically charged space where class, race, ethnicity, and gender intersected:

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth October 15, Study Hall Ling, a Vietnamese female with whom I attended class, is sitting at the back of the room with four girls, all of whom are American. The homeroom teacher is called to the office, and says she will be right back. She instructs everyone to continue studying. As soon as she leaves, the class begins to talk quietly. The group of girls sitting nearby also begins talking about the amount of homework a particular social studies teacher has given them. At one point, the subject of conversation shifts to the number of new students that have come to West Side High this year and have joined the junior class, and that several of them are Vietnamese. Jane turns to Ling and asks, “Why are there so many of you coming to America?” Ling responds, “We don’t have a life in Vietnam.” Beverly, the only Black female says, “Yeah, that’s why my dad can’t get a job.” Ling doesn’t respond. November 27, Cafeteria I am sitting at a lunch table with about six Vietnamese females and one Vietnamese male. Two American females pass by the table with their food trays. One says to the other in a loud voice, clearly intending for all of us to hear, “Damn! Look at all these Chinese motherfuckers! They taking over the place. Why don’t they stay where they belong?” Mei looks at me and says: “You see what I was telling you? We are not treated well by American students. They don’t understand; they don’t understand why we have come here. We had no choice. Maybe, if I can, I will go back to Vietnam.” March 3, Outside the School Building After Recess Two Vietnamese females are just outside the door socializing with three American female students. I am familiar with one who lives down the street from me. I’m fixing my book bag and only partially paying attention to the interaction. All five are talking about a homework assignment. Essentially, one of the American students is asking one of the Vietnamese females for suggestions. At one point in the conversation, one

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of the Vietnamese females says something to the other in Vietnamese. The second Vietnamese female responds, also in Vietnamese. Dorothy, an African American female, puts her arms and hands up, almost in Joy’s face, and begins opening and closing her hands rapidly, as if miming a blinking light. “Why are all of you always talking that buga-buga bullshit? Why don’t you speak American?” Joy, one of the Vietnamese females, becomes visibly angry and begins to imitate the same hand motion, and says, “When you first came to the United States, you were talking that buga-buga bullshit too!” A few more words are exchanged, and the group breaks up. The Vietnamese females go one way, and the Americans go in another direction, the same way as I am headed. Halfway down the block, I call to one female with whom I am familiar and ask, “Why did you treat those two Vietnamese girls so rudely?” Jane responds: “Because! They are always talking that Chinese shit. They’re in America now. Why don’t they talk in American? It makes me feel paranoid or something, ‘cause I think they are talking ‘bout me. If they want to talk in that shit, why don’t they just go back to where they came from?” As a consequence of their attempts to interact with American females, Vietnamese females open themselves up to more rejection and criticism than males do, and thus provide the means for more scrutiny by American students, which compels Vietnamese females to explain why they are in the United States. Embedded in their discussions on “why I (we) came to the United States” was their concern that Americans unfairly viewed the Vietnamese as just another group taking advantage of the system and taking jobs away from Americans. Also embedded in their narrations was the sense that the United States had opened its borders to them because it was just and fair, something that, unfortunately, Americans didn’t understand. Overall, I found that Vietnamese females managed some acquaintanceships with American females in school, but I did not observe any truly bonded relationships and no relationships with

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American females outside of school. Yet, as the data suggest, Vietnamese females continued to reach out to American females despite being regularly rebuffed and despite having less time for both academic work and domestic work. I am speculating that this was the case because Vietnamese females were more concerned than Vietnamese males with having Americans understand why they came to the United States. Thus by forming relationships with American females (it would have been impossible for Vietnamese females to attempt this with American males without suggesting a romantic interest), they had the opportunity to explain why the Vietnamese were here in the United States, and perhaps lessen the general animosity displayed by some American students. Tensions between Vietnamese males and American students— especially African Americans and Latinos—were strongly and well articulated in males’ narrations when posed with the question: “Is there something that you dislike about school?” By contrast, the females were more general in their critiques when speaking about American society, overall, and when asked the question: “Tell me what it is like for you to live in the United States?” There were many similarities in both Vietnamese female and male narrations on the subject. The male view was extensively reviewed in the previous chapter; however, the sheer volume of data in this area warranted some discussion with the females. Joy: Sometimes I have problems with the behavior of young kids. Young people here in the school, I don’t know very much about other schools, so I am talking only about here. I mean, especially here. We (the Vietnamese) don’t disrespect the teachers and the older people like the kids do here, you know, so that we have more respect. Right? C.C.: Can you tell me a little more about the problems with student behavior? Joy: Oh, not everyone, but many students just, they are not very nice in the class. They are making noise, they’re sleeping, or they don’t listen in class. They are making noise, some situation, like even yelling at the teacher, or something like

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that. We could not do anything like this in Vietnam. We have no freedom to do that. Similar critiques surfaced when Vietnamese females were asked about the differences between American and Vietnamese students. While Vietnamese males often complained about harassment by American males—especially African American and Hispanic males— Vietnamese females were more likely to remark on classroom disruptions, and how Americans, with total abandon, impede the learning process for other students. C.C.: Tell me about your experiences with American students. Ming: The American students are able to learn well because the language of the school is English, but sometimes they are lazy. C.C.: Can you tell me more? Ming: The Black students, sometimes they don’t want to learn, but they bother the other students that do want to learn. C.C.: How so? Ming: They swear, they make fun, they walk around in the classroom and bother everyone. *** C.C.: Tell me about your experiences and perceptions about American students. Grace: They are no good. C.C.: Tell me why. Grace: Because the students go to school, but really, what the boys and girls do is they kid around. They spend too much

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth time kidding around. This makes it more difficult for students who want to study. C.C.: Vietnamese students don’t do that? Grace: No. *** C.C.: Tell me about your experiences with American students. Tran: I feel that they don’t get along well with the teachers, and sometimes they don’t listen to the teacher. The teacher is teaching, but they don’t hear. And some, they are fighting in the school. C.C.: I see. How do American students feel, do you think, about Vietnamese students? Tran: Well, I don’t know. They…when we sit to eat lunch, and they do things, they bother us. It’s difficult to explain. For example, at lunch they took my chair when I am going up to the lunch, and I lost, ah…gloves and other clothes. When I go to the line, I put my clothes on the table, and come back, my things are gone. I don’t ever find them again. *** C.C.: Tell me, is there something about (West Side High) that you don’t like? Rose: You know, there are some things that with people you can’t change. It’s hard, like here at (West Side High). You know that here we have at least 25 different languages, so a lot of students, you know, we, I feel that the African students or the Spanish students, they don’t like us because, they just don’t like us. Like in the class, in my English and math, sometimes the teacher, they speak very fast, I could not take my notes. So I turned around and I asked someone if I may

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borrow their notes, and they say, “No!” They treat me like that. You know, like… C.C.: Why do you think that is? Rose: I don’t really know. That I feel there are many students here, many different students, and I think that they don’t like them, or each other very much, I think. I don’t understand…but, you know that has happened to me and my other friends as well. We talk to each other and we find out that everyone has the same type problem. I want to say that there are some Americans that are very nice, but there are some students in my class, they don’t even let me borrow their notes. It makes me feel bad when someone treats me like that. Would you feel the same way? C.C.: Yes, I would feel very bad too. I would feel like they don’t like me, or that there was something wrong with me. Rose: I think that they are old enough to understand, but I feel that they just don’t know. According to these females, many American students did not have respect for adults, teachers, school rules, or those people from other countries, such as Vietnam. However, several of the females took a more optimistic view of Vietnamese/American student relations. C.C.: What differences do you see between American and Vietnamese students? Jing: You know, we are all the same. Vietnamese, Black, Spanish, white, we are all the same. There are some good in all groups, and there are some bad. C.C.: Are you saying that there are some bad Vietnamese too? Jing: Of course! ***

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth C.C.: How do you feel about American students? Joy: You know that I like them a lot, but some of them not so good; but there are some that are good and some that are bad. Yeah…with the Vietnamese, it’s the same thing. I have a lot of friends in School 42, when I was in junior high, and I had some white friends and Black friends. Yeah, I think that there’s no difference.

The seriousness with which Southeast Asian students study has been well documented (Caplan, 1989, 1991; Zhou and Bankston, 1998; Portes and Rumbaut, 2001). Again, as Ogbu and Gibson (1991) have stated, immigrant students believe that attending school is more of a privilege than a right. It is not surprising, then, that the Vietnamese females, like the males, criticized American students for engaging in behavior that the Vietnamese viewed as disruptive and disrespectful. Further, studies of immigrant students (Gibson, 1988; Goldstein, 1987a; Hein, 1995) have documented the overall harassment that they encounter from American students. The most frequent occurrences of harassment are during the most unstructured periods of the day, such as lunchtime, the changing of classes, or entering and departing the school building. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report (1988), in fact, states: Nearly every SEA (Southeast Asian) youth interviewed complained of experiencing problems and tensions with other youth, especially Black youth. Naturally, there were exceptions…. This discrimination has taken more aggressive forms than simple name-calling and taunting, and has resulted in some serious and unfortunate incidents, such as the stabbing and severe beatings of several Southeast Asian teens…. This attitude is, of course, very destructive and creates obstacles to getting an education, but lays the foundation for the continued future of racism between Asians and Blacks…. Frequently, these attacks occur in the cafeteria and on buses (p. 27). There are some occurrences—such as the one described by Tran, who lost her seat in the lunchroom and had her clothing stolen—that

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were as likely related to racism or student harassment as they might have been to general teenage impoliteness or, as in the case of the stolen clothing, the overall poverty of the student body at West Side High. In any case, what is more important is that the Vietnamese students perceived that they were being singled out and harassed. Overall, Vietnamese females, like the males, place a great deal of importance on education—studying hard and acquiring enough education to get a job. The attitude of Vietnamese females towards teachers and administrators was again, like the males, that most teachers were good and helpful. They had special regard for the Vietnamese teachers and aides. Administrators were not well known by the Vietnamese female students, but were understood to be “good,” and they were thought to be advocates for the rights of the Vietnamese students to attend school (for more information on Vietnamese attitudes toward education and faculty, see chapter 4). When asked what they would change if they could change anything, the Vietnamese females— unlike the males, who did not make suggestions—advocated for additional opportunities to study and an extended school day. One female stated, “I would stop all the problems that American students give us.” While the males expressed friendships almost exclusively with Vietnamese males (outside their families), Vietnamese females at least attempted socializing with a broader range of people. Vietnamese females stated that their most frequent social opportunities were shopping or going to the mall with family, attending occasional family weddings, going out to the movies, or taking walks to the park with Vietnamese neighbors. The friendships that Vietnamese females had with people outside their families were most often linked to group study, but sometimes included other social things like chatting or shopping. Like the males, some Vietnamese females expressed an interest in having American friends, but felt Americans were not interested in knowing them. Vietnamese females also intimated that they would like to have more in-depth or bonded relationships with Americans. As previously stated, I believe this was the case because it would provide Vietnamese females with an opportunity to explain why they were here, and perhaps at least partially mitigate some of the tensions between these groups. While I cannot fully explain why this was the case, I found Vietnamese females to be more flexible in almost

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all circumstances during the course of this research. This, I believe, was because Vietnamese females were more open to change and possibly had more to gain from change, while Vietnamese males had something to lose if the traditional male/female structures were altered. In addition to the aforementioned opportunities to socialize, I also observed, in more informal ways, a number of other places. Community-wide celebrations, such as Tet, always had a youth dance after the dinner and speeches. Here, Vietnamese youth would mingle and dance to popular Vietnamese music provided by a young Vietnamese male DJ. Sometimes, the community brought in a live band that was especially popular with both adults and teens, playing the ubiquitous one/two, one/two fast-paced Asian rock rhythms. Groups of Vietnamese females would dance among themselves while young males stood around enjoying the music or watching a particular girl. An inter-generational group of men generally would move to a section in the back of the room where they would converse or play card games. Sometimes men would hang outside the building smoking and talking while intermittently complaining of the cold February temperatures and wind as they tried to disappear deeper into their winter coats. The women were always busy cleaning and straightening up, and after they were finished, would sit at tables together, generally in the front of the room near the band and dance floor. After about a half hour or fortyfive minutes, there would be some male and female couples dancing, but always under the casual yet watchful eyes of the adult females. There were also a number of Vietnamese restaurants around town. One in particular, The Saigon Place, near West Side High and not too far from the 18th Street community, was a popular hangout spot and eating establishment. Here, small groups of Vietnamese adults congregated to eat and socialize. The front room had the kitchen area and some tables lined up along the windows. In the back was the dining area, which also had a jukebox with all the latest Vietnamese recording artists, along with some traditional favorites. During the week, after school let out, a few Vietnamese teens with book bags could be seen drinking a soda before returning home. The girls always sat at one table and the boys another. Occasionally, the males and females would talk to each other across the tables. If they lingered too long, a grandmotherly cook would come out from the kitchen and shoo them on in a good-natured way. The Saigon Place was also a favorite spot for

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family birthday parties and other celebrations. On weekends, young adults were regularly seen eating and hanging out, perhaps before a movie or going out shopping. At various times throughout the day, a collection of young, tough looking Vietnamese men, always attired in the latest urban styles, could be seen talking and drinking. Sometimes, one or two men left, only to be replaced by others. There were also a number of corner stores owned by Vietnamese entrepreneurs throughout the West Side that carried Vietnamese and other Asian food specialties. Particularly in the warmer weather, young Vietnamese males would “hang out” on the corner, and in the winter, inside near the counter, usually conversing with friends. I know of at least one West Side High Vietnamese female that frequently “had to go to the store” around the same time of day, just to see her romantic interest—to say hello, or simply to be seen. On the East Side, the new Buddhist Center had weekend socializing, especially on Sunday. The temple acted as a community center with various activities, including a group dinner and the opportunity to become engaged in activities centered around different age groups. Unfortunately, I have no data from this organization, as the Buddhist Center was only several weeks old in the summer of 1999.

Changing Times, Changing Roles While it is clear that the Vietnamese males experience contradictions between Vietnamese culture and American values, as expressed in school norms and in larger social arenas, Vietnamese females negotiate a bigger burden. It is not merely an issue of clothing choices, permission to stay out late, making new friends, and asserting their individuality or independence, as is the case with Vietnamese males. A Vietnamese woman’s loyalty to her family and overall “wholesomeness” is questioned if she exercises too much independence with regard to her choice of friends, dates, or if she acts too American. Personal communications with various Vietnamese adult males asserted that the non-traditional role of women in the workplace, for example, was viewed as a temporary disruption that resulted from the war and communist takeover of South Vietnam. Vietnamese males anticipated that traditional gender roles would be re-established once they had

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become settled in the United States.25 In the United States, not only does society encourage female independence (at least theoretically), but American schools are now offering females a broader range of options in curricula and school culture than is traditionally available to females in Vietnam. Conflict occurs for Vietnamese females when they desire to move towards independence while simultaneously seeking to remain as fully accepted and integrated members of the Vietnamese community. In the United States, it is not that unusual for a Vietnamese woman (in this case, the mother of one Vietnamese student at West Side High) to be working in a two-income wage-earner household to make ends meet. In other situations, both husband and wife may be working for a particular end, such as creating a family business like a restaurant or neighborhood grocery store. I find that it is not quite the same as with the middle class American families, where the male and female are often pursuing independent careers or responding to the pressures of a changing economy in order to maintain a particular lifestyle. (This will be examined in chapter 7. However, it is a fact that Vietnamese females often work to eventually help establish and support a family-owned business.) West Side High is educating Vietnamese females, like other females, to pursue their goals. Like the Vietnamese males—each of whom narrated their intention to attend a four-year institution and then pursue a professional career—some of the Vietnamese females also expressed desires to attend college and pursue careers such as teaching and nursing. Some, though, were undecided or unsure of their capabilities. Although it would have been interesting to find correlations, it was unclear from the narrations if Vietnamese females’ career choices were related to their mothers’ employment, either here or in Vietnam. A review of the homeroom teacher’s records revealed that, like the males, Vietnamese females maintained high grades in the upper 80s to 90s range. Yet, the females often were not as certain as the males about their qualifications for a good job, or whether they would ultimately be able to attend college. C.C.: What do you think you will be doing in the future? Mei: I think that I will be working at something, maybe some kind of teacher.

West Side High Vietnamese Females *** C.C.: What are your future plans? Phoo: My future plans are to go to be an artist and an art teacher. C.C.: Are you going on to college? Phoo: No. No, I don’t think so. I really don’t think that I can go on to college. C.C.: Why is that? Phoo: I don’t think that I am good enough. *** C.C.: What are your future plans? Tran: I think that I am going to go to school, I think for nursing. C.C.: What school are you going to? Tran: Oh…I think that I’m going to college. C.C.: What college are you going to attend?26 Tran: I don’t really know; I am completely undecided. *** C.C.: What are your future plans? Joy: Go to college. C.C.: Where will you be going?

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Joy: I think maybe State Teachers, or St. Mary’s. C.C.: What are you going to take? Joy: I think it might be nursing, but I’m not sure.

One Vietnamese female was very clear about her goals. Unlike the majority of the Vietnamese females I interviewed, she intended to pursue an upper middle class, professional position: C.C.: Tell me about your educational plans. Are you going to college? Rose: Yes. I plan to be a doctor, specifically a psychiatrist or a psychologist. C.C.: In five years from now, what will you be doing? Rose: Well, for all this, I’m sure to be in graduate school here at the State University. I should note that Rose was the most fluent in English among the Vietnamese females with whom I spoke, and the only one who asserted her independence by asking questions in class, for instance. In general, the ambivalence the other Vietnamese females expressed regarding their futures was linked to concerns about their limited command of English and unsuccessful interactions with Americans. Oddly, Vietnamese females attempted more contact with Americans, at least inside school, but were more uncertain of their language and culture skills and less certain if they could be successful outside of the Vietnamese community. Definitely, Vietnamese females were more home- and family-bound than males. Furthermore, unlike the males, females were expected to perform domestic chores and stay at home. C.C.: Do you participate in after school activities? Jing: No. I can’t. I have to get back home to do some things.

West Side High Vietnamese Females C.C.: What sort of things do you mean? Jing: You know, like cooking, cleaning; I have to help my little brothers and sisters. *** C.C.: Does your family have any expectations of you? You know, do they want you to do anything in particular? Mei: All they want is for me to stay in the house. I do laundry, clean the house, things like that. C.C.: You have brothers and sisters, right? Mei: Yes. C.C.: Do they also help with the home chores? Mei: Well, my other sisters are too small. I have only one brother, and as you know, Vietnamese boys are not supposed to do girls’ jobs. *** C.C.: What are some of the things that you do at home? Phoo: …I help my mother do some things like cooking and cleaning, and you know. *** C.C.: Do you see any differences between Vietnamese students and American students? Ming: Yes. I think that there are many big differences. The Vietnamese students, they work very hard and they take more time to study because they have to help their parents do something at home…

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At no time did Vietnamese females express any resentment for having to do household chores, or suggest that it took time away from things that they preferred to be doing. Instead, like Tran, they expressed that it was regarded as an expected and accepted norm. Totally absent from the narrations of the Vietnamese females was any resentment towards the males, who did not do any household chores. Nor did it seem that the Vietnamese females expected that they should be resentful. In this sense, Vietnamese females followed traditional Vietnamese values without conflict or question. I do not believe that Vietnamese females’ non-rejection of traditional roles is tantamount to a complete acceptance of a male dominated society, the domestic code, and all that this entails, as traditionally has been the case with Western women in their struggles toward liberation. Instead of making judgments about Vietnamese culture, I turn to a brief point made by Joy to help frame this issue: C.C.: Do you ever feel bad that your brothers do not have to do home chores too? Joy: No. Vietnamese boys don’t do house work. C.C.: Would you ever like that to change? Joy: No, not really. You know, it gives us some time for us to talk about things and, you know, be together without the men around. While Western women have moved in a direction of equality as far as distribution of domestic labor and the elimination of “male only” social clubs and schools, etc., I am speculating that Vietnamese women, given their specific circumstances and culture, do not see wholesale liberation—in the Western sense—as totally beneficial. As Joy suggests, in the realm of domestic labor, Vietnamese women have created a space free of gender tensions, where they can bond and, perhaps, re-envision themselves. More research on this point would further broaden our understanding of how gender and ethnicity intersect. The seemingly overall acceptance of traditional roles for women by Vietnamese females should not necessarily be understood as

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a wholesale agreement by them to patriarchal cultural values. It is clear that in the more traditional Vietnamese culture, women who assert total independence risk alienation from the group, thus making their lives more difficult overall. Similarly, Raissiguier (1994) has found this to be the case with Algerian females as well: Some of these young women’s willingness to work within a set of precise expectations cannot simply be seen as mere acceptance of “traditional” roles, but must also be read as a subtle understanding that romance and sexual freedom is not the be-all and end-all of women’s lives, and that seemingly freer (Western) patriarchal structures are not necessarily always working to the advantage of women (p. 179). Like the males, the subject of marriage did not come up in the narrations of Vietnamese females until I specifically raised the issue. Though it is tempting to speculate that West Side High Vietnamese females, like Weis’ (1990) Freeway females, were moving toward a more liberating ideology in regards to marriage and family life, Chung (1991) remarks otherwise. Asian females did not move towards a more liberating ideology and had a more difficult time balancing a career and personal life. Weis’ Freeway females freely and openly discussed marriage and viewed marrying too early as an impediment to achieving career and educational goals. Vietnamese females, while desiring broader opportunities in their lives, did not view marriage as an impediment and appeared not to view marriage, careers, and a broader social life as competing interests. Americans and Western Europeans maintain the concept of the integrated personality, or self, with less defined distinctions between the public and private self, though they may, in fact, find their public and private lives difficult to reconcile. The Asian personality makes a clear distinction between both the public and private self, thus separating the issue of school or employment (the public self) from that of family life (the private self), but does not necessarily regard them as competing realms.27 The same dichotomy between the public and private self was found in Algerian women living in France (Raissiguier, 1994). Traditionally, Vietnamese couples have arranged marriages, and often marry quite young. In the last 30 years, teenage marriages have

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been rare, with parents now preferring to have their children delay marriage until they are at least in their mid 20s. Here, in the United States, it is clear from the interviews conducted at West Side High that marriages are no longer arranged and that young people are now able to choose whom they wish to marry, provided that they choose to marry another Vietnamese. From the point of view of the Vietnamese students, this is hardly a problem. With the exception of one Vietnamese female narrator, the majority of Vietnamese females expressed interest only in Vietnamese males as boyfriends or husbands. When asked why, the responses were uniform. They expressed the view that only another Vietnamese could really understand them, and with a Vietnamese husband, Vietnamese traditions would remain intact. The third reason they offered was their perceived inability to communicate well in English. All but one of the Vietnamese females was concerned that they did not speak English well enough to be understood by Americans. In the previous chapter, Vietnamese males never spoke of Vietnamese females, other than to state that they would prefer to date and marry them exclusively. Although romance was not specifically discussed, I feel confident that Vietnamese males assumed that it was the duty of Vietnamese women to marry Vietnamese males and have a family, thereby fulfilling general social obligations to the culture and to the community. I also do not question whether Vietnamese males found Vietnamese females to be romantic or attractive because Vietnamese males controlled the decorating in the Vietnamese homeroom. There, they frequently placed and replaced images of coy looking young Vietnamese women in traditional clothing around the room to demonstrate appreciation of Vietnamese culture and to feel at home. Interestingly, pictures of attractive or coy looking Vietnamese men were never placed around the room as decorations. I have to speculate here that the classroom was regarded as public space, and therefore the male realm; to display males in a similar manner would lessen, or at least undermine, the importance of the male in society. Also, females were not supposed to regard men in an objectified manner. Like the females, the issue of marriage and creating a family of one’s own never came up in discussions with Vietnamese males until I broached the subject. (The fact that neither males nor females would broach the subject of marriage and family life further substantiates Chung’s (1992) assertion of Asian public and private

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personae.) This is in sharp contrast to Weis’ (1990) Freeway males, whose identity formation centralized marriage and family. I am convinced, at least partly, that this is the case because family life and marriage are a given for Vietnamese males. As with Freeway females, marriage and the creation of a family was never independently discussed by Vietnamese females until I raised the topic. Increasingly, the role of the white American male has been under siege. It is not surprising, then, that white American males would try to reassert their primacy through their role in the family (Fine and Weis, 1998). Vietnamese male roles, however, are not yet challenged. Vietnamese males, it appears, are trying to recreate traditional Vietnamese social patterns and relationships here in the United States. Most of the females expressed a strong interest in matrimony, yet stated it was something about which they had not given a great deal of thought. When I asked Vietnamese females at what age they thought it would be ideal to get married, they responded 25 years old. It was apparently more important to get an education and find a job before getting married. The majority of females expressed an interest in someday having children, with the ideal number being three. At least one female narrator commented that it was traditional for Vietnamese to have large families, with as many as 10 children. However, she also noted that this was the reason many Vietnamese were poor. She, as well as other female narrators, had no interest in having such a large family. They observed that in a society based on capital accumulation, large families were linked to poverty and marginalization. Regarding the issue of marriage, West Side High Vietnamese females fall somewhere between McRobbie’s (1978) girls, who created an ideology of romance around the notion of marriage, and Weis’ (1990) Freeway females, who valued self-reliance. That is, Vietnamese females articulated the need to be educated and acquire employment, yet they romanticized the notion of courtship and marriage at one and the same time. While getting a job was important to them, maintaining loyalty to the family by getting married and having children was equally important. The concept of arranged marriages is not alien to Vietnamese females. It was clear from the interviews with Vietnamese females they did not seek to supplant Vietnamese values with American ones. Likewise, while many of the females stated interest in

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seeking employment, such as nursing and teaching, this should not be interpreted as a mere horizontal feminine ghettoization of employment. Rather, it marks a step in the direction of some personal and professional realization within a prescribed set of cultural norms. Most of the Vietnamese females I interviewed planned to get married, but they were determined to do so only after achieving some personal stabilization through education and employment. C.C.: Do you have plans to get married? Ling: Yes, I do. I don’t want my parents to worry about that. C.C.: At what age would be a good time to get married for you? Ling: For me, I don’t know. I know that it will be after I finish college and get a job. That will be the time for me to get married. C.C.: Would you consider marrying someone that is not Vietnamese? Ling: I don’t know. It depends on a lot of things, really. It depends on a lot of things, but I think that I would really prefer to marry a Vietnamese boy. You know that it would be much easier like that. And Vietnamese boys, they are so handsome and romantic, I think more romantic than American boys. C.C.: Would you like to have children? Ling: Yes, I would, but I don’t know how many. My parents, they have eight. I know that I wouldn’t want that many. *** C.C.: Rose, tell me, do you have any plans to get married and have a bunch of kids?

West Side High Vietnamese Females Rose: Yes. Yes, I’m sure that I do. C.C.: Would you consider marrying a man that is not Vietnamese? Rose: No, I never thought about that. Anybody that…or who I consider nice, I would consider marrying him. C.C.: Do you think that you would like to have children? Rose: I don’t like to have a lot of children, just one or two. Because, let me tell you, because of many children, you know, having many children, this is the reason why Vietnamese people are so poor. They have a lot (of children). Take my grandmother, she has 14 children. Yes, 14. This really gives people a hard time. This is too many children. This is my experience. C.C.: What would you consider to be a good age for you to get married? Rose: Oh, for a Vietnamese…well, they usually get married very young. I mean, we get married very young, like 14. But now, it’s the same as Americans. Now it’s different. It has changed so that you can get married whenever you want, but not too young like before. Before in Vietnam, like, ah…I am a girl and I am close to my father, and then your father come and say, “Let my son come and marry with your daughter.” You know, something like that, and we get married even though we don’t know each other. And then we are growing up; we get married and we never talk to each other before. *** C.C.: Do you have plans to get married and have children?

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Phum: Well, I guess that I don’t know yet. Children…yes, I guess I would like to have children. I think that I would like to have three. C.C.: What do you think is a good age for you to get married? Phum: Oh…I think about 25. C.C.: When you decide to get married, would you consider a non-Asian boyfriend? Phum: I think that I want to just get married to a Vietnamese boy because we understand each other (and) because we know how to speak English and how to speak Vietnamese, and we do not have to explain the customs. And Vietnamese boys are very romantic. *** C.C.: Would you like to marry and have children in the future? Joy: Yes, I will get married in the future. I think that I would like to have just two children. C.C.: What would be a good age for you to get married? Joy: I think about 25. C.C.: When you decide to get married, would you consider dating non-Asian men as well? Joy: I think that I will only consider marrying a Vietnamese boy because that way we can keep our traditions and they can understand me much better. It would be difficult with someone who can’t speak the language. You know that we have a traditional culture. The Vietnamese boys, they also are very romantic.

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The narrations of Vietnamese females, in many ways, are very practical. They want to marry in the future, but not when they are too young. They intend to first get an education, and then a job. No female narrated a desire to have a large traditional family. Interestingly, many of the Vietnamese females said they wanted to marry Vietnamese men because they are “more romantic” than American males. This scripting of Vietnamese male partners suggests that these females are somewhat idealizing marriage. On the other hand, Vietnamese males are more romantic in a traditional sense. A young, love smitten Vietnamese male may, for example, spontaneously break into a love song while walking down the street with his girlfriend, regularly present her with flowers and gifts, pledge his undying love, or appear at her bedroom window at night and sing love ballads to her, only to be shooed away by an everwatchful adult. One Vietnamese female remarked, “Like with Americans you know, I don’t want to be called a bitch or a ho’ (whore).” At the same time, as was the case with Rose, Vietnamese females have linked large families—which are traditional in Vietnam— to poverty in the United States, or at least an obstruction to upward social mobility and economic stabilization of the individual, family and community. Essentially, education and employment appear to be viewed as a means of gaining some individual control in the domestic sphere. However, the general ambivalence of Vietnamese females toward accepting Western values of female liberation may also be viewed as a subtle understanding that the success of the individual in immigrant societies is linked to the overall success of the group and its advancement. Such interdependence—due to a desire to succeed, language needs, and the overall comfort level of the individual—is not so unlike the traditional values of Vietnamese culture, which require that the individual not stray too far from the group. Interdependency, then, creates social locations where the individual becomes accountable to the group in very tangible, rather than abstract, ways and provides fewer opportunities for anonymity in action or to withdraw into the vagaries of subjective prerogative. The advantages are the security of group cohesion and, in some ways, the group provides a floor beyond which the individual cannot fall. Unfortunately, such a system also provides a ceiling above which the individual cannot rise without becoming alienated from the entire group. An institution, such as a school, becomes a site for collective

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discipline, cohesion, and reinforcement while providing for group mobility, rather than a site only for individual development and personal attainment.

Summary In this chapter, I have analyzed observation and interview data of Vietnamese females attending West Side High School. On the issue of education, both males and females articulated similar responses, placing education high in the rank order of reasons for coming to the United States. Likewise, Vietnamese females appreciated both school teachers and administrators, especially the Vietnamese teacher and aides. Vietnamese females, like the males, also narrated an appreciation for secondary benefits such as free lunches and books. The highranking of these secondary issues and an appreciation of teachers and administrators is related to, as Ogbu and Gibson (1991) posit, an immigrant’s dual reference framework. It also suggests the location of experience where gender and ethnicity intersect for immigrant males and females. Similar to the males, Vietnamese females expressed experiences of abuse from American students, and a general dislike of American student behavior, which they perceived as lazy and disrespectful. This, as well, is linked to the collective immigrant experience. However, Vietnamese females differed in their rank ordering of priorities, placing domestic issues before school. Unlike the males, the narrations of Vietnamese females contained a political analysis of the Vietnam War. I believe that females expressed a political analysis because they in fact did interact, or at least attempt to interact, with Americans more frequently than did the males. They were therefore confronted more directly with American biases against them. Females were concerned that Americans understand the reasons why they came to the United States, and wanted Americans to see these reasons as legitimate. Their more developed political analysis was linked through the data to Vietnamese females’ willingness to socialize with American students in school. Their attempts at socializing also created a more politically charged space, which sometimes opened Vietnamese females to criticism from American students.

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Vietnamese females maintained grade point averages in the B plus to A minus range, similar to that of the males. Females, however, were less likely to narrate their definite intentions to pursue higher education. When they did talk about employment, they frequently cited traditional jobs in teaching or nursing as their preference. Their general lack of security was linked to their lack of English proficiency. Using my narrations as a measurement, I would say that the females spoke English at least as well as the males, sometimes even better, but they were less confident with their language skills. In part, Vietnamese females may have thought less about college than Vietnamese males because their families may have been unwilling, for a variety of reasons, to spend money to send them there. I am also speculating that the Vietnamese females may have had less time to think about higher education because of the additional domestic work, and may have been counseled less in this direction at home because of parental expectations that they would primarily remain home and raise a family. On issues of household chores, Vietnamese females narrated doing most of the domestic work, while males had few, if any, domestic chores. Rather than resenting the domestic labor, Vietnamese females did not complain. The data suggests that unlike Western females, who are moving toward a critique of male dominance, Vietnamese females continue the traditional division of labor. By doing so, they have created a space free of gender tension, and a place for female control and bonding. Like the males, Vietnamese females did not raise the topic of marriage or creating a family until I broached the subject. Although this might suggest that they chose to align themselves with more liberating notions of romance, marriage, and the importance of individual achievement, the data analysis suggests that the private/public dichotomy of the Vietnamese personae clearly delineated between two spheres, viewing marriage and family as private. When broached specifically on these subjects, Vietnamese females stated a preference for someday marrying Vietnamese males, with the entire cohort someday intending to marry. The ideal age most often cited for marriage was 25. Most Vietnamese females narrated their intention to have children, but varied from the traditional norm of having large families, preferring an average of only three children. The Vietnamese females did express romanticized ideas about future marriage partners.

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Analysis of the data posits that Vietnamese females negotiate a larger burden in terms of formulating their identity, balancing traditional expectations with more liberating American values and options. Their identity formation, though still fluid, lay somewhere between McRobbie’s (1978) girls and Weis’ (1990) Freeway females, in a location that is the same as that of Raissiguier’s (1994) Algerian females living in France.

CHAPTER 7

Family Matters: The Contribution of Parents, Friends and Community

“As a people, you know, its our responsibility to look after one another.” Joy, Vietnamese student In the previous two chapters I have examined the gendered identities of Vietnamese males and females. In this chapter I will explore the ways in which parents, families, and community contribute to Vietnamese high school students’ construction of identity. I will argue that the unique circumstances of a refugee population, Vietnamese culture, and individual family socio-economic history strongly contribute to the forging of Vietnamese high school student identity by encouraging achievement and economic independence against a city-scape of reified urban culture. I have found the theoretical constructs of Boyte and Evans’ (1992) “free space” and Ogbu’s (1989) dual reference framework to be helpful in analyzing these data. Depending on the group, an immigrant “free space” may be constructed as a cultural/conceptual space held together by a biography of oppression, a yearning for freedom, and/or a commitment to the collective rearing of youth. Such spaces arise out of diasporic pain and strength—constitutive experiences of an immigrant/refugee community—like the cultural stretches of Blackness theorized by Paul Gilroy (1993), or even more recently, the Black West Indian immigrants in Brooklyn, New York theorized by Mary Waters (1999). The Vietnamese immigrant/refugee cultural spaces lifted up here for analysis are recognized, at once, as diasporic, and (re)produced quite locally in this country in homes and ceremonial rituals. Moving across geographic locations and institutional confines, Vietnamese, like Africans in Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic, Modernity and Double 193

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Consciousness (1993), harbor a double consciousness, striving to be both American and Vietnamese, or as is the case with Africans of the diaspora, both Black and European. The not-so-far distant future may see a more transnational identity whereby immigrants may spend more time visiting their countries of origin. A double consciousness may aid future generations in maintaining those cultural traits that initially led to personal and collective success in America, rather than becoming identified with the poor and disenfranchised in large, inner city neighborhoods. The space I explore in this chapter floats; it is both more elusive and less bound by specific geographic locations or tangible places such as churches or schools. In the case of the Vietnamese community of Nickel City, cultural practices travel across generations and sites, carried with profound respect, operating primarily out of the collective and individual spirit, refusing to be colonized or swallowed. Here I explore how this floating cultural space, carried by Vietnamese immigrant families and community, contributes powerfully to Vietnamese high school students’ construction of academic and cultural identity. The home, as private sphere, and community ceremonies, as public sphere, combine to shape student attitudes toward education and the community’s collective desire to ensure that Vietnamese youth remain faithful to traditional Vietnamese values. Specifically, in this chapter I explore three themes: home and public gatherings as locations of support, community and parental attitudes toward school and the desire to achieve financial independence, and community and family concerns to maintain Vietnamese cultural identity and cohesion. Today, the Vietnamese community remains a mobile one, disappearing from one section of the city and reappearing in another, or expanding an established location. As of the writing of this chapter, the Vietnamese community has virtually disappeared from the northern section of the city, but has increased in number on the West Side, as well as recreated itself on the Upper East Side near African Americans and Poles. Both localities are considered poor and working class. Personal communications with Vietnamese families suggest that recent arrivals often relocate to less expensive locations in order to save for home ownership or establish a business in the future.

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In many ways, exploring the relationship of family, friends and community to the construction of Vietnamese student identity was the most difficult aspect of this study. Because it was not the major focus of this research, it was also the least explored. However, the impact of the Vietnamese community and family influence on student identity was enormous, and couldn’t be ignored. Initially, parents were guarded and frequently avoided responding directly to any of my questions. At least two parents later confided they were concerned that I might be a FBI or CIA agent. Many of the parents were unable to speak English, and often provided truncated responses to the best of their ability. A few were more fluent in English and provided rich accounts of their expectations, experiences, and family histories. The Vietnamese community has leveled over the last three years, and remains stable with approximately 3,000 individuals. The community is unlikely to increase through external immigration due to the elimination of the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s political refugee status for Vietnamese refugees in 1996, and the reestablishment of political relations between the United States and Vietnam. There are still many families that continue to reunite with family members from Vietnam. Conversations with members of the Vietnamese community indicate that increases in the Vietnamese community continue, but at a much slower pace. Increase is due to the return of Vietnamese who left the city in the late 1980s and early 1990s for warmer destinations or larger Asian communities. The reasons most cited for their return are the belief that the Nickel City area is easier to become established in, is less dangerous, and friendly overall. There are also some Vietnamese that are relocating themselves here because of a friendlier environment. In terms of socio-economic status, the families with whom I became acquainted would be considered poor or working class, with household incomes subsidized by government grants or through minimum wage jobs. Although the group of Vietnamese families described here were never as affluent as the first wave refugees from Vietnam, all of them narrated comfortable lives with hopes for a better future in Vietnam before the communist takeover of the South. Each family passed along a high regard and respect for education and the benefits that it would bring.

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On parental attitudes on work and education in the United States, Lois Weis in Working Class Without Work (1990) comments “It has been alleged in the literature that working-class parents perpetuate their own class status through what they expose their children to in terms of books, culture and so forth. In other words, one of the reasons why working-class students remain working-class rather than climb the class structure is because their parents do not encourage them not to remain working-class” ( p. 150). This is clearly a reproductionist position, as classically described by Bowles and Gintis (1976). According to this argument, parents essentially prepare their children for positions comparable to their own on matters of values. Kohn states that, “parents of lower status children value obedience, neatness and honesty in their children, while higherstatus parents emphasize curiosity, self-control, consideration and happiness” (as cited by Bowles and Gintis, 1976). However, reproductionist theory does not explore what parents do in the absence of traditional employment, as is the case in Working Class Without Work (1990), or, as in the present case, where refugee parents had experienced a reversal of family fortunes, had their aspirations cut short, and/or had a traditional culture which was different from the dominant values of American society. As I will explore, while Vietnamese parents emphasize various aspects of working class values such as respect, politeness, and adherence to traditional concepts of obedience, they also emphasize higher education and upward mobility. All of these values, I believe, are firmly rooted in Confucist and Taoist belief systems, and are not related to the Vietnamese relationship to Western working class values. The vigorous pursuit of education by the Vietnamese may be further explained by Ogbu’s (1987) theoretical dual reference framework, which provides a useful theoretical tool to understand and interpret these data. Although the Vietnamese had a history with the United States because of the Vietnam War, they did not have sustained historical contact with American social values prior to their arrival here as refugees. As such, Vietnamese parents and community members remember their social displacement in Vietnam and their lost opportunities. They are very aware of the possibilities of advancement in the U.S., and the advantages of education as a vehicle for reestablishing prior socio-economic status or attaining a better status than

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they previously had in Vietnam under the communist government. Historically, the Vietnamese traditional methods of social advancement were replaced under the influence of French colonialism. Communism then replaced the French system with college entry predicated on party membership. This effectively eliminated almost all South Vietnamese from entering the tertiary education system and acquiring middle or upper employment positions. Kibria (1993) comments in Family Tightrope that for her narrators, the communist takeover of the education system was one of the most traumatic experiences. Under the French, education played a key role in upward social mobility for the Vietnamese. Under a rigorous set of exams, Vietnamese children were educationally tracked, which permitted (or blocked) entrance into the university, and thus, entry into the French colonial administration. The pattern of using education as a means to acquire status and upward social mobility continued in South Vietnam until the communist takeover.

Private Spheres: Locations of Educational Value Reinforcement When asked, “why did you come to the United States?” students and parents alike responded, “for freedom.” Freedom was almost exclusively defined as the right to achieve, attain, and acquire an education through hard work, thus becoming whatever they wanted. Poor Vietnamese families stressed education in their children and maintained strict control over them, as one journal entry of an average school day evening revealed in the following text. The Vietnamese collective commitment to self-betterment through education is also explored in a speaker’s remarks at a public celebration of Tet later on in the text. Over the course of several years, I became acquainted with 5 families well enough to be invited to spend some time in their home, and was occasionally asked to stay for dinner. Through these initial 5 families, I became acquainted with an additional 5 families who also had children at West Side High, for a total of 10 families in all.28 From the parent’s narrations, I found 9 of the 10 families had middle class lives in Vietnam with traditional middle class employment

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for both men and women. Traditional middle class employment for women was defined as secretarial work, or perhaps teaching. Only one family lived in a rural farming community before the takeover of the South by the North. Each family reported a total reversal of family income with the communist nationalization of all property and business, along with Vietnamese government separation of family members from one another. In some cases, there was geographic displacement in Vietnam as well. Seven of the families immigrated to the United States as a group, but some often waited years in Vietnam for the return of a family member, generally the father, who was usually incarcerated in re-education camps. Three families reunited here in the United States, with some or all members spending time in countries of first asylum. Now situated, each family struggled to regain some of its lost status by working and saving, as well as by encouraging the children to work hard at school. The following description of an evening with the Nguyen family recounts an experience typical of the families I visited during the course of this research. In the private domain of the home, in the living room and during the family dinner, I witnessed a great deal of what might be called “value work.” Private and profoundly conceptual spaces, domestic sites are frequently unexplored by ethnographers, partly because of the difficulty in accessing this sphere, and partly because of the tremendous emphasis placed on large institutional settings such as schools. In the living rooms, kitchens, or at the dinner tables, family experiences and expectations are told and retold, shaping the identity of Vietnamese youth. Often, the private sphere of individual families merges with those of Vietnamese neighbors and friends, creating a collective accountability affecting every individual, and moving the private sphere of families’ expectations into shared psychological space with the community. These psychological spaces are forged in moments of time in the family’s shared daily lives, where expectations profoundly shape Vietnamese youth’s emerging identity. Along with the Vietnamese culture and the shared experiences of the larger Vietnamese community, these spaces of dinner table conversations, neighborhood gossip, and shared enacted expectations have tremendous impact on identity production. All of the families I interviewed and observed lived

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in the same West Side neighborhood, forming a tightly knit community which supported one another in all ways. September 27 It’s about 3:15 p.m. Mr. Nguyen is sitting on the porch with Dao, the youngest of the Nguyen family, a pre-school age girl, and two Vietnamese teenagers, one from upstairs and one from next door. Mr. Nguyen sees us coming down the street and calls out a greeting to Kay (Mr. Nguyen’s son, the student I am following this day) and me in Vietnamese, and another greeting in English for me. The boys yell a greeting to Kim, the neighbor boy, but the other is perplexed by my presence and asks Mr. Nguyen a question. He responds in Vietnamese. We go up the porch stairs and sit on two kitchen chairs; both boys shake my hand and say they are pleased to meet me. Mr. Nguyen has been laid off from a local factory job for the past six months and takes care of Dao while his wife attends English classes at Catholic Charities and does an assortment of household related tasks outside of the home. The family is sustained by Catholic Charities and government grants. The six of us remain on the porch talking. The neighbor boys are interested in what I am doing and ask a lot of questions. They are very impressed with the fact that I am doing a doctorate but don’t quite understand the point of my study. Mr. Nguyen is bothered by the hip-hop clothes Sam, the neighbor boy, is wearing, and begins to lecture him on the importance of keeping his Vietnamese culture. Mr. Nguyen begins by first asking where he got the clothes that he was wearing. Sam responds that he got them from the mall. Mr. Nguyen is clearly annoyed by this remark and then says, “I see. But where did you get the money to buy these clothes?” Sam responds that he occasionally picks up some money by doing odd jobs for the neighbors, like cutting grass and raking leaves. Mr. Nguyen then asks if he gives some of his money to his mother to help with the household expenses. Sam nods in the affirmative and is now looking down at the floor. “A young man like you should be concerned only with his studies

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth and helping his family. Because your father is not here, you should be taking your place as head of the family. Your honor comes from these two things, not trying to be fashionable.” Mr. Nguyen makes a few more remarks about how these baggy clothes make him look roguish and sloppy. Shortly after, Sam leaves. Mr. Nguyen confides in me that the two neighbor boys had been seen by members of the community to act disrespectfully towards various adults. He is also concerned that some of the Vietnamese teens are absorbing too much American culture. After about a half an hour, Mrs. Nguyen is seen coming down the street with their two girls, Xinh and Mei; the youngest attends elementary school nearby and the other, a teen, goes to school at West Side High. Mei, the oldest in the family, is responsible for picking Xinh up from school every day. They both walk to Catholic Charities to meet their mother and accompany her to do some grocery shopping before returning home. On their arrival, greetings are exchanged, and Mrs. Nguyen heads inside and begins delegating responsibilities. Everyone, including the boy from upstairs and myself, now head inside. The apartment is sparsely, but adequately furnished with donations from Catholic Charities and gifts from other Vietnamese families that have been here longer and acquired new things. Mr. Nguyen explains that the Vietnamese community meets twice during the month in a downtown hotel owned by one of the community’s most prominent members in order to discuss how the community is doing, who is new in town, whether they need anything, or need any help. This is how, he explains, the family acquired so much stuff. There are three things rather prominent in the apartment: A Buddhist shrine to the ancestors on the mantel, a large new color T.V., and a large, good quality stereo. The stereo and T.V. were purchases made when Mr. Nguyen, he says, was still working at the factory. In the living room the boys entertain themselves by playing checkers, while Mr. Nguyen and I watch T.V., talking intermittently about his family’s life in Vietnam. A half hour

Family Matters into playing checkers, Mr. Nguyen asks the boys if they have any homework, to which they respond “yes.” Mr. Nguyen then instructs them to begin it “now.” They start with English lessons. I am frequently asked to explain something or provide the proper pronunciation to a word or a phrase. Mr. Nguyen also joins in the pronunciation tutorial. After an hour or so of English, Mrs. Nguyen announces that it is time for dinner. During the meal, everyone speaks to each other primarily in Vietnamese but occasionally in English for my benefit. A large part of the conversation centers on the children’s education. Sometimes a comment is made that cold weather is coming and no one knows how they are going to handle it. Mrs. Nguyen asks all the children at the table how they are doing in school. Everyone answers “good.” Then she asks if everyone is finished with their homework. Two children said they were not. “Right after dinner, you have to finish it.” Everyone nods yes. Sung (Mr. Nguyen’s upstairs neighbor) comments one of her sons is not doing so well in social studies. This comment elicits disapproving sounds from the adults. Mr. Nguyen remarks that perhaps it is his English; he seems to do well in other subjects. Perhaps, it is discussed, he should especially work harder on English and the rest would come. Mr. Nguyen suggests that Sung have a conversation with Mr. Lee (the Vietnamese teacher) at West Side High and get his opinion. “Mr. Lee should be doing his job.” If he isn’t, Mr. Nguyen observes, it is important that the matter is brought to his attention. Mrs. Nguyen remarks that maybe Sung’s son isn’t doing as bad as she thinks and that she would get a better understanding once she speaks with Mr. Lee. Sung also comments that the older boy is now making applications to college and that each college requires a processing fee that she doesn’t have. At this point Mr. Nguyen asks me if there is anything that can be done about this, as it would be a shame if one of Sung’s boys couldn’t go to school because he didn’t have the fee. I was surprised at this, and comment that surely this must be a problem that West Side High encounters often. I know a couple of programs at the university that will waive

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth the fee in the event of financial hardship. I promise to call the next day and get the information to them. A half hour later, the women are finished with the dinner clean up. Xinh joins the boys with their homework. Sung and Mrs. Nguyen remain talking together in the kitchen. The older high school children routinely work together on all of their homework assignments. The smaller elementary school children do the same. Xinh is particularly adept at math and acts as the tutor for all the kids. Kim, who is also adept in math, really enjoys learning English and takes the lead there. After the older children finish their work, they spend some time with the younger three to assist them with theirs. Mr. Nguyen and I sit talking, while intermittently responding to various questions everyone has about their work. At one point, Xinh reaches a difficult impasse with their calculus work and asks me for help, but I am unable to give her the assistance she needs. She then sends one of the boys from upstairs to go around the corner to retrieve Joy, another Vietnamese, who was well known for her competence in math. Ten minutes later, Joy arrives. A long conversation begins with much instruction. One hour later the math problems are solved and everyone’s homework is done to the satisfaction of Mr. Nguyen.

While much can be said about the above data, my comments will be contained to those issues of concern to this study. The Vietnamese I studied, like the Nguyens, frequently helped each other as much as possible, creating a tight network of relationships similar to a large extended family. The fathers, when present, were always the head of the household, though not always the primary breadwinner. Vietnamese children were consistently very obedient; I never saw a Vietnamese child talk back to his or her parents or question parental or adult authority or decisions in the presence of adults, although I have observed Vietnamese children and high school students act very independently when out of adult view. Overall, Vietnamese children were respectful to all adults, regardless of the relationship. Mr. Nguyen’s comments on his young neighbor’s hip-hop clothing were typical of parental or adult intervention with Vietnamese adolescents.

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Mr. Nguyen blamed the lack of an adult male figure in the neighboring household as the principal reason for these teenage males’ bad behavior. Parents and community members were consistently concerned that Vietnamese youth were acquiring, in their opinion, bad American customs and ways. However, older Vietnamese often consulted and deferred to the opinion of the eldest high school student on issues of language and American customs. Adult concerns over Vietnamese youth straying from traditional ways were a constant source of tension. Presently, Vietnamese collective values are very pervasive. They are forged in the community and the home from traditional values and the shared experience of immigration. Anywhere—on the street, in school, or at community functions—Vietnamese values are reinforced where two or more Vietnamese gather. While an individual may feel, at one time or another, that his or her personal choice is minimized, or even overridden by collective values and subsequent value enforcement, nearly everyone accepts this. Only an occasional disgruntled voice is heard, often relenting with a shrug of the shoulder or a comment that “this is the way it is.” Only on two occasions have I been aware of individuals that were completely ostracized from the community: two Vietnamese males described by the Vietnamese community to be very effeminate and who live together somewhere on the West Side, and a Vietnamese man in his early twenties who assimilated into American culture and is viewed as a disgrace for doing so. Community members refused to discuss anything about them. It appears that to act too independently risks total alienation from the Vietnamese community. For example, Mr. Nguyen’s comments on his young neighbor’s hip-hop clothing were typical of parental or adult intervention with Vietnamese adolescents. Mr. Nguyen sees the lack of an adult male figure in the neighboring household as the cause of their “bad behavior.” “Bad ways” referred to the Vietnamese perception that American children spend too much time watching T.V. and are too independent and disrespectful of adults and authority figures. African Americans and Latino youths were frequently singled out as examples of such undesirable behavior. It was customary for children and teens to always defer to adults; however, older Vietnamese often consulted and deferred to the opinion of the eldest high school students on issues of language and American

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customs. On many visits, adults were concerned over Vietnamese youth straying from traditional Vietnamese culture, which was clearly a source of tension between teens and adults. Freedom then became a double-edged sword. On the one hand, coming to the United States provided economic, educational, and some social opportunities, but also provided the grounds for traditional Vietnamese obedience towards elders to be challenged. The need for teens to “fit in” to American culture, especially in dressing habits and general assertion of independence, concerned Vietnamese adults. An additional source of conflict, and sometimes tension, was the gender relations within the families. Again, a yearning for freedom was a double-edged sword. Vietnamese males consistently tried to assert and reclaim their traditional dominant role, which relegated wives and daughters to a secondary position. At the same time, Vietnamese adolescent females were encouraged to strive for education, often in very professional fields, and to assert themselves in ways which may have made them equal to men. Females were expected to balance traditional gender expectations with contradictory school messages of increased equality between the sexes and female independence. While many Vietnamese women with whom I spoke, students and adults alike, understood this conflict, many of them were themselves reluctant to even discuss changes in traditional gender relationships. I was unable to explore to what extent, if any, gender tensions were discussed between mothers and daughters or males and females. Adult females and students agreed that I had located an area that was a “problem.” Most women remarked that they did not know what to do about this conflict, but commented on the larger issues of survival. Two women explained that “for men to be the head of the Vietnamese household was traditional and is the way it should be.” In the home, Vietnamese females contributed to the unequal distribution of household tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, by participating in and enforcing gender segregated spaces. The kitchen was always the domain of the females, along with all of the traditional work. The living room was almost always masculine space. Even little children were not permitted to transgress established gender space for longer than was necessary. Most often, it was the women who rigorously enforced gender segregated spaces. Interestingly, gender was not an issue on matters of learning or even career choice. Here, women contest the cultural

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dictates on gender even as they are nurtured, supportively, within this cultural space. Both males and females regularly learned together. The student with the best knowledge of a subject took the lead to teach the other children, regardless of gender. The importance of studying and doing homework was evident in every household I visited and transcended otherwise strict, gendered definitions and expectations. Parents always joined the students in learning and contributed to this learning in the role of tutor to the best of their ability. If the subject was outside the ability of the parent, an older sibling or neighbor was called in to assist. Homework and studying were regarded as the children’s moral responsibility in the same way the adults were responsible for providing living necessities to the family. Household study groups were a constant in all the Vietnamese households I visited. They often included children from other families nearby. All recent studies on Vietnamese communities support this finding. Kibria (1993) comments that: It was not only in their conception of the goals or ends of education that Vietnamese Americans approached education as a collective family affair. This familial orientation was also expressed and promoted by the manner in which homework and other academic activities tended to be organized in Vietnamese American households. Researchers have noted how studying is organized in Vietnamese refugee households as a collective rather than individual task or activity, with children sitting down together to study and assist one another with school related problems. Rumbaut and Ima further describe the Vietnamese refugee family as a mini-school system, with older siblings playing a major role in mentoring and tutoring their younger brothers and sisters. (p. 155) Through personal communications and observations, I found, like Kibria (1993), the educational stakes were quite high and implied important consequences. Not only did success or failure have important implications for the individual, but it had far-reaching implications that affected the Vietnamese family and the community in general.

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Public Spheres: Collective Responsibility and Accountability The Vietnamese community overall exhibited high degrees of interdependence and collective responsibility that extended beyond the community networking found to be commonplace among the urban poor and working class (Stack, 1974; Collins, 1991). This was especially visible in the collective responsibility all adults took for Vietnamese youth and the responsibility the youth took for younger members of the community in terms of discipline and education. In the previous section, we saw that Joy was expected by every adult to tutor the Nguyen children regardless of her personal plans for the evening. While every Vietnamese adult did not personally know every Vietnamese family or individual in the city, the adults were generally familiar with everyone and collectively acknowledged their responsibility to encourage education among all children and to discipline a youngster that was seen to be out of line, as was the case with Mr. Nguyen and the neighbor’s children. In no case of community discipline have I seen issue taken by the actual parents. On at least two occasions, I was witness to minor corporal punishment delegated by a non-family member. Again, no negative feedback was delivered to the disciplinarian; rather, other adults close by joined the disciplinary action by commenting upon and supporting the punishment. In the 18th Street community, Vietnamese families were very well acquainted with one another and acted in a way more typical of a large extended family. The following brief notes from a Tet celebration further suggests the collective responsibility the Vietnamese community takes for encouraging educational attainment for all its youth. New Years Celebration at the Lexington Hotel: The Year of the Ox The ballroom of the Lex is filled to capacity. About 400 members of the Vietnamese community are present. The hotel supplied most of the food which is traditional Vietnamese cuisine. The hotel fare is supplemented by a great deal of potlatch contributions from the partygoers. This is an extremely noisy and celebrated affair. There are many young families present with all their children and their entire

Family Matters extended families. Occasionally a small child has broken away from his or her parents’ table and is seen doing something that is regarded as impolite or improper. Just moments ago, a small boy, about 6 or 7 years old, was seen picking directly from a bowl of something at the buffet table with his fingers. In midconversation, a young woman, perhaps in her early thirties, spots the kid picking through the bowl and immediately jumps up and dashes to the table and yanks the kid away. This act is followed by a severe scolding in Vietnamese and a slight slap on the hand. He is turned around and then gently spanked on the hind quarters. As he passes several tables, other women join in the admonitions. The small scene is witnessed by Mrs. Kong sitting next to me. Shaking her head, she leans over and whispers to me in English that the boy’s mother is always engaged in something other than what she should be doing. Her first duty is to see that her children are properly disciplined. Just as expected, she points out, Quong (the boy’s mother) is chatting with some young women in the corner. Mrs. Kong further explains that this is becoming a regular thing and that a group of women from the community are going to have a talk with her. The focus of the evening is a speaker who talks about the state of the local Vietnamese community and the accomplishments of the past year. The final note is a fairly long message to the Vietnamese youth. He reminds them of the Vietnamese struggle and how their parents have suffered to provide them with the things they need, and the difficulties encountered to keep the families together against all odds. He reminds them to be thankful for the opportunity to live in a free country and especially the opportunity to go to school and to learn. He reminds them of their duty to study, do their homework, be respectful to their elders, honor their parents, and keep Vietnamese culture. The speech is ended with thanks and a further reminder to the youth that it is their moral obligation to do well in school and go to college because it will be their responsibility to care for their parents in their golden years and provide the same support for their children in the future.

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As the above observation suggests, the Vietnamese community uses public functions to focus on traditional culture. The group’s interdependence and traditional culture fosters collective morality as exemplified in the scolding of the child eating from a common bowl or a Vietnamese adult disciplining a neighbor on his clothes and demanding respect for Vietnamese culture and his elders. Further, the community collectively emphasizes getting an education and achievement at all public events. This collective emphasis is supported in the home by the parents, siblings and neighbors. As we have seen in chapter 4, the Vietnamese teacher and assistants, too, support the value of education through rigid discipline and high expectations for all Vietnamese students to do well. Even nonVietnamese teachers support the expectation of Vietnamese success in school by generally viewing them as the only serious students in the school and the “only bright spot” in a school full of disappointments and lackluster performance. The emphasis on Vietnamese traditional culture, especially Confucist and Taoist beliefs, along with the necessity of interdependence, have jointly contributed to the expectation that Vietnamese children have a moral obligation first to their families and then to their communities. This effectively has placed the primary emphasis on collective morality and obligation, and sublimating individual subjectivities, especially those contrary to the group and its success. Vietnamese youth shuttle among psychological spaces of expectations that are evident in dinner conversations, household conversations, public celebrations, schools, and home based study groups. The cultural spaces of importance are not simply physical, but are perhaps better seen as embodied in the hearts and minds of community leaders. This space of high morals and educational expectations serves to both comfort and contain individuals. In conversations with Vietnamese community members, I have learned that the local Vietnamese community has very few interactions with the police. The few that have occurred are regarded by the Vietnamese community as a result of the estrangement of the individual from the group. Bankston, (as cited in Seller and Weis, 1997), too, found that the collective responsibility of the community is to manage problems within the group rather than rely on outside assistance, thus creating a remarkably homogenous ethic. American society, which places tremendous

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emphasis on the individual, and by extension, encourages little or no intervention in matters of unsociable behavior by its citizenry, relies heavily on state surveillance and intervention to manage breaches of its collective values. The Vietnamese community, on the other hand, manages social order through rigid social or collective expectations. Sometimes social pressure is quite high, difficult, and uncomfortable. As one West Side High School Vietnamese student pointed out: Americans stay out of other people’s business. It’s not like that in the Vietnamese community. Everybody is involved in everyone else’s business. If you make a mistake or do something that parents or neighbors disapprove of, it is terrible. Sometimes the pressure is really terrible. Our families and neighbors and friends keep everyone and things in order. Me, I don’t know, its different with the Vietnamese, you know. Maybe this way is better; I don’t know. The following journal entry grapples with the above point. Felix, a West Side High junior and a resident of the 18th Street community was seen walking after school. Mr. Sung, an elderly Vietnamese man who disapproved of the youth’s clothes and general demeanor, stopped Felix and lectured him on how to be Vietnamese. May 27 This afternoon, while returning home from the supermarket, I ran into Mr. Sung who was taking one of his slow exercise walks around the block, typically with his arms crossed behind his back. I have often seen Vietnamese elders or grandparents sitting on porches or looking out of windows, just observing the activities in the neighborhood. I am now wondering if these seemingly innocuous pastimes are really ways to keep informed about individuals and protect their families. Today, I stopped for a few minutes to talk with Mr. Sung about nothing in particular. After about 5 minutes into the conversation, I spotted Felix, a Vietnamese teen, walking down Normal Street, coming toward us. As he got closer, he saw us and crossed the street, hoping that neither Mr. Sung nor I would see him. However, Mr. Sung’s keen eyes caught a glimpse of

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Felix, immediately calling him over. Felix approached slowly with his head cast down. Mr. Sung, in a stern, voice began lecturing Felix in Vietnamese. This went on for at least 10 minutes. Occasionally, Felix would quickly look at me and return his head in the downcast position. After Mr. Sung was finished, Felix made an obligatory good bye to us. Both Mr. Sung and I continued to watch Felix as he quickly crossed the street and went on his way. Mr. Sung, then speaking in English, began to complain about Felix. He stated that his household was without an adult male. Felix’ mother, Mrs. The, continued to try to get Mr. The into the country, but the family had been here for 3 years without him. Felix was a concern to the community because he was increasingly acting very independently and was now keeping regular company with a group of American boys that were not “serious.” Felix was known to keep late hours and was studying less. Furthermore, he was now beginning to wear clothing that was unacceptable. Mr. Sung’s lecture, as he explained to me, centered on how he wanted Felix to know that people were watching him and were concerned. He told him that these clothes suggested that he was becoming like the people with whom he was keeping company. These American teens, Mr. Sung observed, were not respectful of adults and were not serious about school. It worried him that some Vietnamese teenagers were beginning to acquire American customs that were not considered appropriate, and, if the Vietnamese adults were not careful, they were going to lose these children, as he thought was the case with Felix. I remarked that while Felix was dressing in typical American clothes, I found him to be especially polite and commented on how respectful he acted in our presence. Mr. Sung immediately dismissed this comment by saying, “Today the clothes, who knows what tomorrow.”

During several years of observations, I have witnessed countless incidents similar to the one just described. These spaces of Vietnamese expectations can appear to be informal and spontaneous, crossing both the public and private spheres at one and the same time. A public

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context such as a street provides an opportunity for an elder to chastise a Vietnamese teen on his appearance. Such interactions were common, and created heightened moments where adults reinforced community values with lessons on how to be Vietnamese. Doing so created an extremely tight community where traditional Vietnamese ethics, values, and customs were rigidly reinforced, sometimes creating tension, and making Vietnamese youth occasionally uncomfortable.

Community and Family Attitudes Towards West Side High Although Vietnamese parents rarely became involved in school matters or groups such as the PTA, as previously stated in chapter 4, they were always involved in their children’s education at home, and were always knowledgeable about their whereabouts. Without exception, each household I observed emphasized the importance of getting an education and getting ahead. Parents believed that the primary responsibility to educate children was the school’s, and their responsibility and that of the community was to be supportive. The community and home support received by Vietnamese students did not go unnoticed by the American teachers. Ms. Grace, a West Side High vice principal, made the following remark during a personal communication: Vietnamese parents rarely get involved in the school. They don’t come to meetings or functions, but it is clear to everyone here that the children get a lot of encouragement and support from home and from the (Vietnamese) community. They (parents) will, of course, come to school if a teacher were to ask them to come and discuss something. But that is rarely the case, because they all work hard, and there is rarely a discipline problem. Vietnamese parents rarely criticized anything about West Side High, but instead narrated great appreciation for their children’s opportunity to attend school and prepare for higher education. The “privilege” to attend school was often linked to the Vietnamese

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perception of freedom. When parents did complain, it was generally about their perception that Americans lacked an appreciation of school. Vietnamese parents viewed Americans as taking education for granted. Therefore, American children or their parents did not view education as something to be valued. The following comment from a Vietnamese parent explores this point: Mr. Nguyen: If Americans did not have free public school education, and if they had to pay for it or did not have the money to pay for it, they would be more respectful of it. If you don’t have to struggle for something, you don’t understand its value. Every Vietnamese parent interviewed perceived that schools did not engage in enough discipline, instilling respect in adolescents, or demanding students to be grateful for the opportunity to go to school. West Side High Vietnamese parents, like the leaders of the Vietnamese community, narrated that schools should have the right to engage in corporal punishment and teach children courses in ethics. The following data are exemplary of 20 after school visits to 10 Vietnamese families, and conversations with community leaders conducted over two years. The major themes expressed by parents and community leaders were remarkably consistent. C.C.: Tell me why you and your family came to the United States? Mr. Nguyen: We came to the United States for freedom. C.C.: Can you explain that a little more? Mr. Nguyen: I will try. When the communists from the North came, they confiscated all our property and our business. The Communists also took over the education system. This means that we work for the government and we couldn’t even make a decent living. Our children could not go to school because I was not a member of the party. So, there was no way to ever improve our situation. Here in America, even though I know

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that we don’t have anything, at least our children can go to school and get an education. Then they can improve our future situation. C.C.: How do you feel about you children’s education at West Side High? Mr. Nguyen: Well, I am very thankful for West Side High. Mr. Jackson (the school principal) has been very good to Vietnamese children and very supportive of them. C.C.: Is there anything that you would change about West Side High if you could? Mr. Nguyen: No, I think that the children are learning English and working very hard at their studies. Mr. Lee (the Vietnamese homeroom teacher) is really good. Only, I think that the school should teach all the children to have more respect for their teachers and elders. The American students, they don’t have respect for the teachers and I don’t think that they appreciate going to school. The school should have the right to punish the students if they are disrespectful or they don’t do their work. They should give the teachers the right to really discipline the children. *** C.C.: So tell me Mr. Cao, are you familiar with any Vietnamese parents that have children attending West Side High? Mr. Cao: Yes, many, there are many Vietnamese students that go there. It is one of the only places where they can get bilingual education. C.C.: Have you heard anything about how parents feel about their son’s or daughter’s education there?

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Mr. Cao: You know that all the Vietnamese are very grateful for the education system here in the United States. The bilingual education has been very helpful. It gives the Vietnamese students an opportunity to learn English and prepare themselves for college. All their books and many of their supplies are free. Without this, many Vietnamese parents, maybe all of them, could not afford to send their children to school. C.C.: Is there anything that you would change about West Side High or American schools in general if you could? Mr. Cao: Yes. Yes there is. I don’t think that the schools teach respect. This is very important. I don’t just mean for Vietnamese children, but for all the children. American children in general do not have respect. The Vietnamese people, we try very hard to have our children keep respect. But many Americans, they don’t have respect. Teachers and principals should have the right to discipline the students. C.C.: Doesn’t West Side High have a system of detention or even expulsion if necessary? Mr. Cao: Yes they do, but I mean that the teachers and the principals should have the right to beat the students if they do not obey or do not show respect. American law does not permit this. I think that this is a mistake and…if the students do not get proper discipline at home, then the teachers should be allowed to give it. I think that Americans are not doing as well as the Vietnamese students. This is because they are not taught to be grateful for school and they have no respect for their teachers. *** C.C.: We’ve talked about so many things; tell me, how do you feel about West Side High? I mean, do you and your husband like the school?

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Mrs. Douc: Oh yes. My husband and I are very pleased with West Side. The teachers and staff are very good to Vietnamese students. Joy and Duc are doing very well. Joy will be graduating this year. Her grades are very good so we are sure that she will be able to go to college. I hope that she will be able to go to one of the colleges here in (Nickel City). C.C.: Is there anything that you would change about West Side High if you could? Mrs. Douc: Well, no, not very much. I think the bilingual education classes were very good. It gives the students the background they need to go to college. Maybe the only thing I would change is to give the teachers the right to discipline the students better. I think that this is very important. In Vietnam, teachers are given a great deal of respect. In Vietnam, the teachers have the right to beat the children if they are not doing the right things, like being silent when they need to, or not doing their work. Even the parents, we wouldn’t question the authority of a teacher. Here, I don’t think that teachers get much respect, and the students, the American students, they don’t appreciate school. Here you have everything. The school, they give you the books, some supplies, even they give the students some food to eat. The American students, they don’t appreciate this. They should be taught to appreciate this. This is important. *** C.C.: Mr. Cuong, I know that you have been teaching here for a number of years. What would you change if you could? What would you do differently here at West Side High? Mr. Cuong: Well, I really like it here (at West Side High). I think that it really makes the difference (to) Vietnamese students. C.C.: How so?

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Mr. Cuong: Many of the Vietnamese students, they come here and they have very little English or no English at all. They learn American customs here and they learn to speak the language. Without English, they cannot go any further, so it really prepares them for the future. C.C.: Is there nothing at all that you would change if you could? Mr. Cuong: Well, I think that what this school needs is a course in ethics. I don’t mean just for Vietnamese students. I mean for all the students. I don’t want to seem critical of Americans, but I think that a course in ethics would be very good. C.C.: What do you mean by a course in ethics? Mr. Cuong: I mean that in Vietnam, all students must take courses in ethics. The courses, they are mostly Confucist in content, but they teach children some important things. C.C.: What do they teach? Mr. Cuong: Mostly, they teach students their moral and ethical obligations to their society and to their families. They teach things such as respect, to honor their teachers and leaders, to contribute to society, to honor and respect their parents and grandparents, and to take care of them when they are elderly. It also teaches responsibility to one’s husband or wife and to their children. This it what these courses teach. I know that it is not possible to teach Confucius in American schools, but it is possible to teach a course on ethics. Here in America, the students do as they please. They don’t have respect for society or their teachers or community or their parents. So how can they have respect for themselves? C.C.: Is there anything else that you would change if you could?

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Mr. Cuong: Well, I think that the teachers should have the right to punish the students if they are not acting in a responsible manner in school. A student’s obligation is to work hard at their studies, to learn, and to do their homework. If they are not doing this, then they are not prepared to be contributing members of society. Everyone has responsibility in society and to their community as well as their family. While it was not the only reason, the opportunity to send their children to school was a primary motivating factor for Vietnamese parents to immigrate to the United States. Under the current regime, prior South Vietnamese residents believed there was little hope for their families to ever be upwardly mobile or to regain their past socioeconomic status. All the parents and community leaders narrated that going to school in the United States was a privilege rather than a requirement, as did the Vietnamese high school students. Access to books, supplies, and even food was viewed as very important as well. Parents, like the students, understood that the associated costs of education could also prevent a poor or working class parent from sending their children to school, even if the education was free (in Vietnam). Also, like Vietnamese students, parents made particular mention of the West Side High School principal, who they viewed as facilitating Vietnamese entry into school. The Vietnamese homeroom teacher and the Vietnamese aides were also mentioned and viewed as noteworthy and of importance, since they acted as the intermediary between the Vietnamese and English languages, and Vietnamese and American customs. In addition, the Vietnamese staff was seen to be personally concerned and involved in the success of Vietnamese students. They were, in fact, seen as representative of the community and could be relied upon to instill Vietnamese values in Vietnamese students. The Vietnamese community and familial gratefulness for free public school education, like that of the students, can be viewed from Ogbu’s (1987) dual reference framework. That is, this education, regardless of what strengths or weaknesses it has, is certainly better than the prospect of no education at all back home in Vietnam. Unlike parents in Working Class Without Work (Weis, 1990), Vietnamese parents and the broader community did not seem to be concerned that

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the school was not preparing students for college. Rather, they were, in their opinion, getting what they needed most: cultural and language experience. The family and the community, on the other hand, were providing the impetus to continue on and go to college even if the guidance office did not. It is interesting to note that guidance counselors never came up in conversation with either parents or members of the community. This is in sharp contrast to what Weis (1990) finds with working class whites. Overall, no one remarked on the general education acquired in West Side High as being especially good. Rather, the school’s primary function was seen to impart general American cultural information, as West Side High’s function was to teach English through bilingual education as a means to function in society and to take college courses. This finding is consistent with the English tutorials given in the Vietnamese homeroom, which placed emphasis on functional phrases geared toward such practical things as shopping or asking directions (for more information on this, refer to chapter 4). Beyond this, West Side High was viewed as an interim site which prepared students to go to college or some other tertiary form of education. It was never suggested that a high school education at West Side High was an end unto itself. Although all the Vietnamese who participated in this study continuously demonstrated great appreciation for West Side High and were careful not to criticize it, the following two brief comments made by a teacher and by a parent suggest that parents and the community did not view education at West Side High to be very good overall. C.C.: So, how do you feel about the education your children are getting at West Side High? Mr. Vinh (parent): The bilingual education is very important. They are doing a great job. But…I think that education in Vietnam is better. I mean, it is at a higher level and the students feel more challenged by it. I think that this is especially true in math. ***

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C.C.: Mr. Lee, how do you feel about the education that Vietnamese students are getting here at West Side High? Mr. Lee (teacher): This is a good experience for the Vietnamese. They are learning about American customs and culture. It is also important that they are learning English where they are somewhat protected by people who care about them. (…) The fact is, though, education in Vietnam is superior. Most academic subjects taught here are at a much lower level. That is why many Vietnamese do so well, especially in the areas of math and science. Although negative comments about West Side High were hard to come by, like the above data suggest, Vietnamese parents did not view academic work at West Side High to be noteworthy. It was almost as if the work was seen as a refresher course for most students, but not challenging. West Side High was seen, rather, as a preparatory site in language and culture to be used for social needs and entrance into college. Parents and students alike viewed West Side High as a means to get into college. While parents did not dictate what profession their children would pursue, they were adamant about them going to college. When a specific profession was mentioned, it was phrased as “perhaps they will become a doctor or a lawyer.” In no interview with a Vietnamese parent did I hear that they were expecting that their children would be a shopkeeper or a secretary, etc. Each time a profession was mentioned, it was upper middle class. In one case, a parent did hope that one of the sons would continue with the family business, but it was understood that he would get an MBA and expand the business. Further, going to school was viewed as a means to get off government assistance. Each parent interviewed was gracious and appreciative of any government support that they were receiving or had received in the past. It was clearly intimated that government assistance was not an acceptable end in itself. It was, rather, a way to get started here in the United States. Education would provide the way to a more self-sufficient future. In several instances, there were references to children supporting parents in their old age. What was very clear was that parents and elders were to be highly respected. In retrospect, I should have asked if, by definition, respect also included financially

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supporting them. However, the fact that children would support parents financially was regularly suggested in their narrations. On this point, Kibria (1993) remarks that Vietnamese parents clearly view their children’s education as an investment in their own future. In fact, after gaining employment, children would be “taxed” to support their parents in old age.

Keeping a Vietnamese Identity Of great concern to most parents and community leaders was that Vietnamese children maintain their Vietnamese cultural identity and community coherence. While there appeared to be many reasons why parents and leaders expressed this concern, a consistent theme was the perception that losing Vietnamese culture was directly and proportionately linked to adoption of American cultural values, especially ones that were not compatible with traditional Vietnamese values. American children were viewed as disrespectful, unappreciative, spoiled, and indulged. Much of this was evidenced in parent and leader critiques of West Side High. Beyond this, Americans generally were seen as too individualistic, having little moral obligation to the community, leaders, or authority figures. Too much individuality was viewed as leading to chaos and created an atmosphere of disharmony and unbalance, which ultimately was bad for both the individual and the group. Like Bankston (as cited in Seller and Weis, 1997), I also find that, while most of these perceptions can be linked to traditional beliefs in Confucianism or Taoism, the fact is, Vietnamese teenagers that were not doing so well were the ones most estranged from the Vietnamese community and its values. The following data excerpts examine the above points: C.C.: Mr. Sung, what are some of the most important challenges facing the community? Mr. Sung: Well, of course, there are many. It is difficult for Vietnamese adults to speak in English…this affects the kind of employment they can receive. (…) C.C.: Is there anything that is challenging with the youth?

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Mr. Sung: The young people, you know, they get along better more quickly. They can adapt faster. But I think that, I am concerned, like many other Vietnamese parents, that our children should keep their Vietnamese culture and the language. C.C.: Can you explain more about your concern regarding the culture? Mr. Sung: Well, again, American values and Vietnamese values are very different. American children are really disrespectful and don’t seem to have enough discipline. In Vietnam, we would view this as very bad. This means that they will grow up without morality and will not be (productive) and (contributing) members of society. Such people are outcasts. (…) And no parent would want to have a child like that. People would blame the parents, you know, and they will lose honor. *** C.C.: Mr. Nguyen, what are the biggest challenges to the community? Mr. Nguyen: Well, for the grown ups, I think that we can just be glad for our freedom. The biggest challenge is with the children. C.C.: How so? Mr. Nguyen: It is very important for Vietnamese children to keep their culture. I think because that is where they will find their strength. If not, they are going to get lost. *** C.C.: You mentioned that you were concerned about Vietnamese youth, what do you mean?

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Mr. Lie: America, you know, is a big place. It’s a big place in a lot of ways. You can get lost here. We came here (the Vietnamese) so that we can find freedom to be what we can. Because in Vietnam we were limited and feared for our lives. That is why we left. I am afraid that young Vietnamese will become so attract(ed) to American culture that they forget why they came here. C.C.: Can you prevent that? Mr. Lie: I don’t know, but we can try. The young Vietnamese, they have to stay close to the culture and to the community. *** C.C.: When I asked you earlier about challenges, you mentioned the young people. What did you mean? Ms. Cuong: (…) The culture, the culture of the Vietnamese and the Americans, they are very different. Most of us, we are Buddhist or Taoist, and we also believe in Confucianism. We put much importance on respect of our elders and parents and on (social) harmony. How can they (the children) do that if they are away from their people? This is our way.

There were some teenagers that were repeatedly pointed to by parents as problems. From what I could see, they were the ones that often dressed most like American teenagers and had acquired mannerisms and habits similar to inner city youth. In two such cases, I asked the Vietnamese homeroom teachers and the aides about them, framing my question in a positive way such as, “My, but such and such has really adapted well.” This was, in both cases, received with an initial silence and followed by a shaking of the head. In one case the remark was, “You think? But his grades aren’t as good as they should be. I am afraid that he is lost. We (the aides) are trying to work on that.” In both of these cases and in several others that I was aware of, I found that these were Vietnamese children who arrived here in the

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United States without their families. All five of them were living in the equivalent of foster homes with American parents or guardians. Only one was amenable to talking about this aspect of his life and only in a personal communication. He expressed that it was important for him to fit in and that he had no expectation of ever returning to Vietnam, not even for a visit. As far as he knew, he had lost all of his family to violence in Vietnam and in the departure to the United States. Unlike the other Vietnamese teens that I interviewed, “John” appeared very tough. Beyond that, I sensed he felt very lost and afraid and intuitively understood that he no longer fit in Vietnamese society or Vietnamese immigrant culture here. Because he was neither Black nor white, his acceptance with other American teenagers was going to be limited and strained. In the halls and at lunch, I often saw him laughing and joking with Americans, but there was always something peripheral or tentative about his interactions. On at least two occasions, I found that the joke was about him. My initial reaction was to befriend him and intervene. But doing so would have risked further alienating him from his American friends and would have interfered with my goal of limiting the effect of my presence in an observation. Vietnamese parents’ and leaders’ concerns that alienation from the community would negatively impact on Vietnamese teenagers’ successes, as defined by school achievement, was, in fact, borne out by the above observations. Other studies, such as Education and Ethnicity in an Urban Village by Bankston (as cited in Seller and Weis, 1997), also on the Vietnamese community, support this claim. In this article he states: I have maintained, moreover, that the exceptional academic performance of Vietnamese American youth noted by a number of scholars is, in large part, a result of the development of communities that provide networks of supports and constraints to their young. (…) Those with stronger connections to the Vietnamese community tend to be those who are pointed out as “success stories.” Those with weak connections to the ethnic community, on the other hand, are seen by the Vietnamese community itself as the problem children, the gang members, the poor students.

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In the same article, Bankston further argues that: Ordinary least square regression results have shown that integration into the ethnic community is by far the most important factor in determining the scholastic performance of Vietnamese students. (Seller and Weis, 1997, p. 228) While Vietnamese parents and leaders clearly expressed that social and economic success and cultural maintenance were important reasons why Vietnamese students should remain close to the community, some older family members and leaders also expressed that they hope to return home to Vietnam one day. Although this was not expressed in every narration, it surfaced often enough to merit comment. In addition to parents, some students also mentioned that they hoped to return one day. Several students commented that they would like to visit Vietnam and become reconnected to lost family members in the near future or help the Vietnamese people in some way. The following data excerpts explore this point. C.C.: Tell me, why do you think it’s so important for Vietnamese students to stay so close to the Vietnamese culture and language? Don’t you think that it would be better for them to become integrated into American society? Mr. Vinh: They have to, of course, become members of American society, otherwise they will not be able to go to school or get a job. But there are many of us, you know, that we never intended to come to the United States and stay. Some people, earlier on, they thought that they were leaving a danger zone. They didn’t know that when they got on those boats, they were not coming back (to Vietnam). Me and my family, for instance, we know that we were going away, hopefully to the U.S., but one day, I would like to return to Vietnam. This situation with the communists, I don’t expect that it will go on forever. Maybe 10 years from now or 20 years from now, I will be able to go back and the communists, they will be gone.

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C.C.: Tell me why it is so important to keep the language and the culture? Ms. Sung: Well, because, maybe, we will go back someday. I hope that will be the case. *** C.C.: Tell me, what are some of your expectations for the future? Mr. Cuong: (…) Well, also you know, it is my dream to be able to return to Vietnam. America, it will always be my adopted home, and I will always be grateful for what America has done for my family, but, you know there is no place like home. I would like to return. I would like my children to return one day, at least for a visit, so that they can see where they came from. *** C.C.: What are some of your expectations for the future for yourself and your family? Mr. Nga: I would like to own a small business in the future. My wife and I, we are working hard and saving for that. I would also like both my children to go to college in the future. They must if they are going to be successful here. (…) I think, also, that I would like to go back to Vietnam, even if it is for visits. Because I miss Vietnam very much. I would like my children to know that they are Vietnamese. *** C.C.: You have said that it is very important that the youth retain the Vietnamese language and the culture, why is that so?

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Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Mr. Nguyen: Because, maybe one day, they are going to return to Vietnam. C.C.: Do you really think so? Mr. Nguyen: I don’t know for sure, but many people would like to return to Vietnam some time. I am sure that many will visit if the opportunity is there, that is, if it is safe to go back.

Vietnamese parents and leaders were not the only ones who wished to return home, even if it was just for a visit. The following comments came from students: C.C.: What do you see in the future for yourself, lets say, 5 to 10 years from now? Kay: By that time I will have hopefully finished college. I expect to go to graduate school. (…) (T)hen, I think I would like to return to Vietnam and help my people. They need so many things. I should go back to help. I’m not sure, but I think that it is my duty. *** C.C.: What do you see for yourself 5 to 10 years from now? Joy: I expect to be finished with school by then. I hope to have a job in my field. Later though, I would like to go back to Vietnam. I think that they are going to need many professionals there and what they will have to offer. C.C.: Do you mean that you plan to return for good if the opportunity presents itself? I mean, that Vietnam will become your home again? Joy: I don’t know that it will become my permanent home, I mean, maybe, I don’t know. But I can see returning to Vietnam for some years.

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C.C.: You spoke earlier of returning to Vietnam? Tell me more about that? Kim: I don’t mean that I am going to live there again, at least I don’t think so. But I want to return and visit. I want to see my aging grandparents. I want to see my friends and other people. Not everyone however, felt so nostalgic about Vietnam. The following comment came from an Amerasian student who was not interviewed for the analysis on Vietnamese males: Du: No, I don’t ever plan to go back. All I can remember is that it was a terrible place. It was very difficult for me and my mother there. I think partly because I am Amerasian. You know, Amerasian are Vietnamese who are part Asian or Vietnamese and part American. Although I was not surprised to hear that Vietnamese adults would feel very nostalgic about Vietnam and would want to return home for a visit, I was surprised to hear how many had intentions to return home if they could. It seemed to me that the brutality of the conditions they left would set a precedent for many to not want to go home, ever. On closer examination of the narrations, their desire to return was consistent with refugee literature. Refugees are forced to leave and do not leave of their own accord as do immigrants. Refugees continue to mourn the loss of their homeland. In The Vietnamese Experience in America (Rutledge, 1984), similar nostalgic feelings were reported by the Vietnamese refugees in Oklahoma City. Many clearly narrated that they never intended to leave permanently, but rather, only to get away from serious troubles temporarily. It was also suggested that many could not believe that the United States would lose a war and would pull out permanently. If many of the adults in either study harbored desires to return one day to Vietnam, it would make perfect sense that they would want their families here in the United States to speak Vietnamese and maintain their culture. It would be essential if they returned home. Further, while it was understood that it was important for everyone to

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learn English and understand American culture and customs to be successful here in the United States, it was not encouraged that everyone adapt and assimilate American customs and values. Although the Vietnamese community here in Nickel City is rather recent, it is, as of the writing of this research, 23 years old. The Vietnamese have remarkably managed to maintain a closed ethnic community nationwide and are similar to the Chinese community in that sense. This is not the case for all Asian groups. The Japanese American community, in contrast, prefers to assimilate into American culture and values (Rutledge, 1984).

Summary “Free space” is most often understood as linked to a geographic location, specifically a site. As the above data suggest, it can also be conceptual, transitory, dynamic, and spontaneous. As with Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (1993), diasporic “free space” can bridge several continents, creating a pan-Black experience and ethos. In a similar manner, the Vietnamese, like all peoples who have been faced with voluntary or involuntary international migration, create a dynamic pan-ethnic experience. This research has explored, on a community level, how immigrants/refugees have developed survival strategies linked to their ability to create what might be called “conceptual free space,” or a space of high moral and behavioral expectations, that traverses both public and private spheres. By doing so, they are able to emphasize Vietnamese cultural maintenance and language among their youth, as well as instill respect for learning and desire for success. Theoretically, these data are more compelling in light of the fact that the Vietnamese community of Nickel City is not very visible, with clusters of Vietnamese dispersed over a large geographic area. By living in Nickel City, the Vietnamese have foregone the benefits of the large traditional and safe immigrant community, and rely on “conceptual free space” as a means of maintaining cultural cohesion and safety. The Vietnamese with whom I spoke were consistently concerned that youth maintain native culture and language. While cultural maintenance was linked to morality and ethics, they were also concerned that young Vietnamese develop excellent English language

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abilities and a good grasp of American culture. It was not lost on the adults that these skills, along with education, were the keys to social and financial success in the United States. By extension, American culture was not viewed as moral or as ethical as Vietnamese culture. Parents and leaders alike stressed the importance of respect for teachers, parents, and elders. They lamented the lack of what they see saw morality among American children and did not want a similar attitude to be adopted by the Vietnamese. Connection to the Vietnamese community and culture is viewed by the Vietnamese as a means to personal and group success for refugee Vietnamese youth (Seller & Weis, 1997). Refugee and immigration literature also posits that refugee and immigrant children who are connected to their ethnic communities generally do better in school and in social situations than those who are not connected to their communities. Although there were not many examples in my study to draw from, there were some Vietnamese teens who were consistently identified as “problems.” These young men and women were more estranged from the Vietnamese community, and appeared to be more assimilated into American culture than their peers. The conceptual space created by the Vietnamese community of Nickel City is critical to the maintenance of their overall identity, but particularly important to the identity formation of the Vietnamese youth. It provides a “liminal space” from which young people can engage the challenges of American society and receive both encouragement and structure to pursue academic and financial success, thus contributing to their success in West Side High. The influence of family and community on the identity formation of Vietnamese high school students at West Side High was very important and might easily have been the most important single factor which influenced their drive for academic achievement. The family and local community worked together to create a nurturing atmosphere that was supportive and conducive to learning. A special feature of the Vietnamese family and community was their style of collective learning, which effectively used older and more accomplished students to tutor younger students along with strict parental supervision and involvement in the learning process. The Vietnamese community of 18th Street, for example, acted as an extended family; anyone could be

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called upon to assist in the solving of a problem, academic or otherwise, creating an atmosphere of single-minded purpose. The larger city-wide community further bolstered family and neighborhood groupings by reinforcing Vietnamese educational and social values at all their gatherings. Speeches by leaders and community members stressed the importance of educational attainment as a moral and ethical obligation. These social values were linked and expressed in cultural terms which evoked the moral authority of religious beliefs. Vietnamese narrations were consistent in their concerns that Vietnamese youth maintain their culture and language. The narrations were also clear that young Vietnamese have excellent English language abilities and a good grasp of American culture. It was not lost on the adults that these skills, along with education, were the keys to social and financial success in the United States. Furthermore, cultural maintenance was linked to morality and ethics. By extension, American culture was not viewed as moral or as ethical. Parents and leaders alike stressed the importance of respect for teachers, parents, and elders. They lamented the lack of similar morality among American children and did not want a similar attitude to be adopted by the Vietnamese. Teachers and community leaders suggested that American schools teach courses in ethics and morality as they did in Vietnam. Through personal communications in their homes, parents intimated that T.V. programs and music in the United States inspired the young to be too individualistic and encouraged bad behavior. Mr. Sung’s use of the terms “productive” and “contributing” is very telling. As a neighborhood school, West Side High has a disproportionately high number of students from homes on welfare. Parents and community leaders, in carefully worded language, hinted that too many Americans were prepared to let the state take care of them. Working and contributing to the family and community was not only the right thing to do but it was a moral obligation. The work ethic was clearly very important in this Vietnamese community. Not to work was dishonorable. A slacking young Vietnamese was regarded as an intolerable reflection on the parents and on the group. Tracing how culture operates across time, space, and generation, in public and private corners of young people’s daily lives, we come to appreciate the kind of cultural blanket these immigrant youth carry

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around them. Such a space creates a deep generational continuity, a sense of personal grounding, and a set of academic expectations for males and females. Never quite alone as they wander through American society, they are very much between worlds, but not in a confused or torn way. Instead, this space enables them to engage in both comfort and adventure at once. While the fault lines of cultural value clash, gender tensions undoubtedly complicate life for these young Vietnamese Americans. At the same time, though, the public and private spheres of the Vietnamese community help to keep Vietnamese youth grounded rather then conflicted. In the final chapter, I will review the important theoretical implications to arise from this research data and explore how further research will continue to shed light on Vietnamese identity formation and identity construction generally.

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CHAPTER 8

Conclusions

Autumn is fast approaching. The trees are turning colors and falling, and there is a perceptible chill in the air. Soon it will be dark. From the windows in my study, I can see Mr. Ngo continuing repairs on his porch and windows, preparing for a cold and snowy winter. Mr. Ngo, a recent arrival from Vietnam through family reunification, is finally together with his family after being separated for 7 years. His wife and children have been here for 5 years. Through a great deal of hard work and saving, Mrs. Ngo and a daughter in her early twenties have saved enough money to purchase a house on the near East Side that has been unoccupied for nearly ten years. Through the HUD program, they managed to purchase the property for only $500.00 down. The full price of the house was only $11,000.00. For an additional $1.00, Mr. Ngo, explains in very broken English, the family has also purchased the empty lot next door to garden in the summer. They will put up a cyclone fence and plant lots of vegetables. This will help greatly with the food bill. Although they arrived in mid-summer, the new Vietnamese family on the street managed to put in an impressive flower garden where overgrown weeds obscured the view of the old Victorian house. Mr. Ngo doesn’t understand why there are so many vacant houses in Nickel City. He is delighted with the property and suggests that such a house in Vietnam would be unaffordable. My neighbor, Mr. Jones, an African American, comments one day that he finds it remarkable that “(…) these Asians come here and, in a short time, manage to get their acts together.” Why, he wonders, “Black people can’t do the same?” Two weeks ago, another Vietnamese family also moved in with Mr. Ngo and his family. They will occupy the second floor. Mr. Ngo tells me that they have two teenage children. Both will go to West Side High, not far from here, for the ESL program. He asks me, “Do you know this school? I hear (it’s) good.” 233

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In this ethnography, I have examined how Vietnamese youth in one high school are constructing their identity in a mid-size, northeastern city I refer to as Nickel City. Throughout this research, I have posited that identity formation is a complex, dynamic process that is forged out of individual and collective experiences, the institutions with which they interact, and the economy. As with other recent examinations of identity formation, such as Canal Town Youth (Marusza, 2000), I find that a clearer picture emerges when these experiences are textualized in relation to the group’s history. A critical analysis of the data presented in this research supports Ogbu’s (1987) dual reference theory, which posits that voluntary minorities do better in school than non-voluntary minorities. The supportive environment that nurtures Vietnamese students—in their families, in their community, and in West Side High—is further explained by “free space” theory as refined by Fine and Weis (1998). In 1975, the United States withdrew from Saigon, South Vietnam, aborting a lengthy and devastating war intended to curtail the spread of communism in Southeast Asia (Kelly, 1977). By doing so, the United States initiated a process that would send more than one million Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians into exile from their homelands. In 25 years, the literature has identified three waves of immigration. Thousands would seek asylum in refugee camps, experiencing horrendous personal and family atrocities in various countries in and around Southeast Asia before coming to the United States. Some of these individuals and families spent years in camps while negotiating complex processing to enter the United States. Many of the original evacuees from the first wave did not realize their departure from Vietnam was permanent and that they would not return. First wave refugees were mostly well-educated, middle class Vietnamese with strong ties to the American embassy or the military. Second wave immigrants were mostly urbanites, often with small businesses. This wave also included fishermen. Many of these second wave immigrants were Hoa, or ethnic Chinese, and Catholic ethnic Vietnamese who departed because they feared reprisals from economically less advanced communist Northern Vietnamese. For years, the North Vietnamese felt excluded from the economic prosperity of the South and believed that both the Hoa and Catholics were responsible, in a large way, for the country’s division and

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Northern estrangement. The third and final wave generally consisted of less educated, often rural agricultural families and some lower and middle class Vietnamese. It was with this group that this research was mostly concerned. The history of Vietnamese narrators reveals much about their considerable efforts to create comfortable lives for themselves in their adopted home. Their common experiences, regardless of their class or religious background, forged a collective bond that would become the foundation of Vietnamese identity. Entry into the United States was often predicated on Vietnamese seeking asylum first in another country. Most refugees interviewed for this research were first in refugee camps in Thailand or Malaysia. Exiting Vietnam for second wave refugees was most often accomplished by bribery, creating a billion-dollar business for the communist Vietnamese government (Rutledge, 1984). Third wave immigrants in the late 1980s and 1990s emigrated most often through official programs, as the Vietnamese government positioned itself for recreating diplomatic relations with the United States. The Vietnamese whose life histories contributed to this work often narrated horrendous stories of being separated from family members, sometimes en route, and being packed in small, dangerous boats without adequate provisions. Many boats were subject to Thai pirates who robbed refugees of their meager belongings. Some young women narrated stories of brutality and rape. The majority of narrators in this research told long, emotional stories of being out at sea, sometimes going weeks without food or adequate water supplies, and suffering heat prostration, hunger, and sea sickness as boats searched for ports that would accept them. Upon arrival, refugees were crammed into overcrowded camps awaiting processing that sometimes took years to accomplish. During their times in the camps, Vietnamese refugees experienced long waits and uncertain futures as many waited entry into America. Here in the United States, the federal government prepared for their arrival, paying billions of dollars to voluntary agencies to assist in the settlement of arriving refugees. For Nickel City, the voluntary resettlement agency was Catholic Charities. Attempting to avoid the mistake made with Cuban refugees by concentrating them in one area and overburdening the Florida state government, the federal government spread Southeast Asians across the nation. However,

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Vietnamese refugees resettled themselves in a secondary migration in an attempt to create communities, many resettling in California. Recent data from voluntary agencies and the narrations offered here for analysis find that at least some Vietnamese who left Nickel City for larger Asian communities and warmer temperatures are returning to Nickel City because of a perceived more hospitable environment. The Vietnamese community in Nickel City, currently numbering approximately 3,000 individuals, is physically spread over much of the city, with concentrations of Vietnamese families on the West Side near West Side High and on the East Side. In the spring of 1999, the Vietnamese community created its first religious and community center on the East Side, with approximately 25 homes within the immediate vicinity of the center occupied by Vietnamese families. The opening of this center and the clustering of Vietnamese families nearby suggest the beginning of the city’s first “little Saigon.” Both city neighborhoods, the East Side and the West Side, are narrated to be the most “economical communities to live in,” and in the case of the West Side, it is the city’s most heterogeneous neighborhood, making adjustment for the Vietnamese easier. Although the Vietnamese community of Nickel City is spread over a large geographic area, the Vietnamese people form a relatively tightknit group. Service centers such as Catholic Charities, the International Institute, the newly formed Buddhist Center, and schools (predominantly West Side High) create physical locations where the Vietnamese meet. In addition, the Vietnamese community maintains group meetings at sites (such as Catholic Charities) to sustain ties with one another, assist newcomers, or attend celebrations (such as Tet) to continue Vietnamese traditions. It is during these events that large numbers of Vietnamese experience community. In these diverse locations, the Vietnamese of Nickel City forge bonds and reinforce collective values based on a common heritage and set of immigrant/refugee experiences. For the Vietnamese, education of their youth, regardless of prior socio-economic status in Vietnam, plays a major role in their lives. Through education, which has been generally denied them in Vietnam, the Vietnamese of Nickel City seek to recapture status lost due to the Vietnam War and/or create new opportunities.

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Like their national counterparts, many Vietnamese of Nickel City have experienced downward social mobility. In this study, parents reported having been unemployed for varying amounts of time. Regardless of their previous training, many were placed in blue-collar occupations such as factory work. The majority had few, if any, English language skills, and lacked the necessary experience to be placed in jobs requiring technological skills. All those who have narrated their experiences in this study reported having some form of public assistance or charity to begin their new lives in Nickel City. Like the national profile, the Vietnamese of Nickel City have moved quickly to self-reliance by entering the labor market and participating in the legal economy, though many are underemployed. Nationally, scholars such as Caplan (1989, 1991) and Goldstein (1987b) have documented that children of Vietnamese refugees are doing well in school in terms of academic achievement, especially in subjects that require little English, such as math and science. The Vietnamese of West Side High, like their national counterparts, are also doing well academically, and are excelling in classes such as math and science, which require few English language skills. However, none of the above research explains why this is the case. Like the national profile, I have found no relationship between academic success and present or prior economic status. To explain this, I have found John Ogbu’s theory of voluntary and non-voluntary minority status and dual reference framework to be helpful. According to Ogbu’s theory, voluntary minorities, such as the Vietnamese, do better in school than non-voluntary minorities, such as African Americans, because the voluntary minority can favorably compare their American educational experiences with those of their homeland. Also, they see education as an important tool for their futures. The behavioral and cultural values of Vietnamese communities support working hard in school as a step toward future success. Although the voluntary minority may experience social and institutional marginalization, they can explain this by asserting that they are foreign and may have limited English language proficiency (Ogbu, 1974, 1978, 1987, 1989). By contrast, nonvoluntary minorities such as African Americans with a long historical relationship and with an American society which excludes them, have developed a cultural identity of opposition. Although African American culture theoretically views education as important and a means to

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personal success, the historical experiences of African Americans demonstrate social and economic exclusion, generally, and in schools as well (Weis, 1985). In this research, I have argued that various factors within and outside the educational institution help to mobilize Vietnamese youth and move them towards an orientation of success. The identity production of West Side High Vietnamese youth is shaped by their collective ethnic and refugee experiences, as well as the historically based student culture of opposition predominant in much of West Side High’s student body. Most Vietnamese high school students living in Nickel City attend West Side High because it has the city’s only ESL (English as Second Language) program at a secondary level. As such, it is the most diversified school in the Nickel City system. West Side High is also a neighborhood school whose student population is mostly poor African Americans and Latinos, and who could not or did not apply to more rigorous magnet school programs or were not accepted into them. Together, these factors produce a student population that is more unstable and less academically competitive than other neighborhood or magnet schools in the system. During the course of my research, West Side High was under close scrutiny from the city and the state for maintaining one of the poorest academic performances. On the one hand, school administrators argued that the general student body’s lack of proficiency in English accounted for the school’s less-than-stellar academic performance, yet used the Vietnamese to raise its profile, as I document in chapter 4. The hard work ethic of the Vietnamese students, rooted in Vietnamese ethnic respect for education and immigrant appreciation for schooling, helped to position them as privileged in the school and assisted the administration of West Side High in keeping the school out of state review. Vietnamese students at West Side High share a homeroom with other Southeast Asian students, which include Laotians and Cambodians. However, the Vietnamese are numerically dominant, and unlike either the Laotians or Cambodians, had a Vietnamese teacher and several Vietnamese aides while the Laotians and Cambodians had one aide. The Southeast Asian homeroom was essentially divided into two spaces, one for the Vietnamese and one for the other Southeast Asians. The Vietnamese had successfully negotiated all of the support

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materials, such as computers and reference books to their side of the room, and monopolized their use, in effect marginalizing the other Southeast Asians. In fact, the Southeast Asian homeroom in West Side High was known as Mr. Lee’s room (the Vietnamese teacher), or as the Vietnamese homeroom. These practices created considerable resentment and apathy on the part of Cambodian and Laotian students and their aide. In addition, the Vietnamese homeroom was also used as a study hall by Vietnamese students. Any free time Vietnamese students had was spent in this room and used as serious study time. Vietnamese students formed study groups, assisting each other in various lessons. Also, every Vietnamese, regardless of class, was in this room, giving the younger Vietnamese the benefit of having upper class members help them. Vietnamese students that were especially adept in a subject acted as a tutor for one or more students needing help. During several periods of the week, the homeroom was also used to assist Vietnamese students in learning and understanding American culture. The Vietnamese teacher also assisted new students in learning common, necessary phrases in English for everyday experiences, and with practical information such as learning about U.S. currency so as not to be cheated. The Vietnamese-individualized use of homeroom and study hall created a unique situation in West Side High. No other group had such a space of their own, nor was any other homeroom or study hall used in this manner. The Vietnamese experienced their homeroom and study hall as “free space.” Here, Vietnamese use of physical space assisted in mobilizing them, moving them towards an orientation and identity of academic achievement. In addition, using the homeroom and study hall in this way caused a heightened Vietnamese identity to emerge, creating a common immigrant/refugee bond distinct from any other in the school. The Vietnamese created a space of recuperation, free of stereotypes and the abuse Vietnamese students experienced at other times in West Side High. This space was not only used for recuperation, but intense academic work, thus contributing to the assessment that the Vietnamese were strong and serious students. The administration at West Side High has facilitated the positioning of the Vietnamese as privileged by permitting the Vietnamese to assemble as a group. Administrators insist that doing so

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is the only sensible thing to do. The Vietnamese constitute a group just large enough to place them all in the same room, thereby maximizing the benefits of teaching and English language reinforcement. American students—white, African American, and Latino—are groups too large to provide the same type of space, and the other ESL student ethnic groups, such as Yemenites, are too small a group to give them a homeroom of their own, therefore diluting their collective effectiveness. Also, to create racially segregated classes for white, Latino, or African Americans would violate the rules of integration. Mr. Lee, the Vietnamese teacher, is also the only full time tenured faculty member assigned to one group of students, maximizing his effectiveness in negotiating on behalf of the Vietnamese. As a Vietnamese, Mr. Lee also provides the Vietnamese students of West Side High with a powerful role model that is accountable to the Vietnamese community. The administration of West Side High has also permitted Vietnamese students who have technically completed high school in Vietnam, and who are older than most high school age students, to attend West Side High. This, too, provides younger Vietnamese students with role models and homeroom mentors to assist them through the high school educational process. Administrators explain these exceptions by stating that they “…wish to help the Vietnamese in any way that they can,” and that they do not want to overwhelm the Adult Learning Center. However, both teachers and administrators alike agree, often in private communications, that allowing these exceptions assists West Side High in raising its academic performance. Some counselors, on the other hand, found the Vietnamese students to be aggressive, demanding academic courses, particularly in math and the hard sciences, which counselors felt were beyond their abilities. Caplan (1991) suggests that the preference of Southeast Asian students to take math and science courses is based on their lack of English. Chung (1992), however, suggests that the preference of math and science courses taken by Chinese college students, referred to as the “Main Street Gang,” is due primarily to practicality. That is, that Chinese students take science and math courses because it will provide them with degrees that result in both prestigious and high paying employment. Other courses are taken as required, but are not sought after. In this research I argue, like Chung, that Vietnamese students, both males and females, generally intend to

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continue on to higher education and seek degrees that will also provide them with upward social mobility; therefore, they take high school courses that will provide them with the appropriate academic background. I also agree with Caplan (1991) that math and science courses, which are less language intensive, allow Vietnamese students to experience academic achievement while learning English. Most teachers at West Side High regarded the Vietnamese as the school’s most successful group. An analysis of my observation data did not always find the Vietnamese students to be academically bright; however, they were consistently polite, attentive, and generally very hard working. These were qualities that teachers often complained were lacking in the poor American students—Black, Latino, and white. Rather, teachers found Americans to be academically dull and unappreciative of education. Although scholars like Davidson (1996) found ESL students to be positioned as second class in their research because of an inability to speak English and their isolation from other students, I found the Vietnamese of West Side High to be very highly regarded by teachers and administrators when compared to their American counterparts. I suggest that this might not be the case in schools where the general student body is not as socially and economically challenged. In addition, the Vietnamese definitely benefit from the overall discursive construction of Asians as “model minorities.” This might be the case in a school with lower overall standards as well. Vietnamese student identity at West Side High, I argue, emerges from a set of circumstances based on their particular refugee experiences and the development of an identity in relation to African American and Latino students. Minority and white working class academic culture in the United States, as evidenced by the work of Ogbu (1989) and Weis (1990), arises from an historical relationship with the United States and is linked to resistance and social movements. The Vietnamese, on the other hand, have no long historical relationship with the United States, have a dual reference framework, and are, therefore, open to appreciating what American education has to offer. I found no relationship between academic achievement and class background. The themes of appreciation for school, future planning, and race predominated in interviews with Vietnamese males. Both appreciation

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for school and planning for the future are, in my opinion, linked to practicality. That is, Vietnamese males desired to take advantage of education at West Side High in order to continue on to higher education, to find employment, and to seek a better future for themselves and their families than would have otherwise been available to them in Vietnam. However, education at West Side High was not necessarily viewed as a good education. West Side High as an institution, I argue, was used by the Vietnamese not primarily as a sight for rigorous academic achievement, but rather, as a site for acquiring language and American cultural knowledge in a relatively protected environment. Vietnamese males most often commented on free books, school lunches, pens, paper, and field trips, but rarely on instruction or the curriculum. West Side High education was viewed in utilitarian terms; that is, to learn English, learn American culture and customs, and receive the necessary credentials to move on to college. Some Vietnamese students remarked that both American students and American teachers were not responsible, suggesting that the actual education received at West Side High was not particularly good. In one case, a student remarked that education at West Side High was inferior. When Vietnamese students discussed American teachers and administrators at West Side High in a positive light, they were discussed favorably for their passive involvement; that is, noncontrolling or non-punitive attitudes that Vietnamese students perceived to be typically opposite in Vietnam. Conversely, Vietnamese students frequently commented how much they appreciated the Vietnamese teacher and aides for helping them with language and American cultural issues. The Vietnamese were also viewed by some counselors, teachers, and American students as academically aggressive. That is, they consistently demanded college preparatory courses whether, as in the words of one African American counselor, they could handle the work or not. What is clear from my data is that they were able to handle the work. A review of Vietnamese student grades maintained by Mr. Lee, the homeroom teacher, placed the majority of students in the B to B plus range. Their course requests were always supported by the Vietnamese teacher and staff, and permitted by upper administration. Consistent with their choice of high school course offerings, most Vietnamese students narrated their intentions to attend four-year

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institutions of higher education. All Vietnamese males interviewed were interested in pursuing local university or college degrees in highly prized fields such as chemistry, biology, or computer science. All of the seniors had applied and were accepted into colleges or universities, and all of the juniors had applications pending. Attending an institution of higher education was understood to be a benefit of living in the United States and was viewed as a means to upward social mobility. No Vietnamese student viewed the current socio-economic status of their family as a result of inability, but rather a condition of their immigration. Higher education was viewed by both males and females as a prerequisite to marrying and having of family of their own. While Vietnamese males did offer a critique of American students, they rarely did so concerning other Vietnamese. American students, particularly African Americans and Latinos, were regarded by the Vietnamese as confrontational, disruptive, and “not serious about their work.” Throughout this research, I found, like Willis’ (1977) “lads” and Weis’ (1990) Freeway males, the Vietnamese identity of West Side High was formed in relation to that of constructed others. In the case of the Vietnamese, their identity was based on the high value they placed on education and their perception that American students, particularly African Americans and Latinos, placed a much lower value on education. Observations in the classroom, however, did not always support the Vietnamese contention that they were always ideal. Like other students, the Vietnamese were noted as participating in disruptive behavior. Race relations at West Side High were central to Vietnamese interviews. Vietnamese students blamed many of the school’s problems on African American and Latino students. The Vietnamese viewed African Americans and Latinos as problems in both school and in the community. Conversely, African American and Latino students found the Vietnamese to be exclusive and arrogant, in school and out. These negative perceptions between groups led to tense relations in the school. Often, these tensions led to abuse directed towards the Vietnamese students, especially during less structured times such as lunchtime, on busses, or walking on the way home. Gibson (1988) and Weis (1990) also note the increase of abuse and racism during relatively unstructured time and space within the school. Unfortunately, it is difficult for the Vietnamese to understand the social underpinnings

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of these incidents and, in my analysis, they lay the foundation for future racism expressed by both groups. Although Vietnamese students were often quite critical of African American and Latino students, I noted near the end of my study that a few Vietnamese males were adapting various inner city styles such as hip-hop clothes and slang, particularly in households where there was no older male figure such as a father. Here, the contradictory attitudes of criticizing and admiring these expressions of inner city culture can be understood in terms of what Lee (1996) refers to as “cool capital.” The Vietnamese understand that the emulation of Black styles in clothes, language, and body posturing hold a certain currency. By embracing these expressions, Vietnamese students attempt to rid themselves of the “nerd” stereotype that they believe American students have of them. The experiences of Vietnamese female youth differed somewhat from the males, though the role of the act of immigration situated both the male and female identity formation and social critique in a similar location, centralizing this experience in Vietnamese identity. Vietnamese females, not surprisingly, had nearly identical responses as the males on school matters. Like the males, Vietnamese females maintained high grades, but were less certain than the males about what they would do after high school. Vietnamese females, like the males, were highly motivated in their pursuit of education. Again, like the males, Vietnamese females found American students to be lazy and disrespectful. The females, too, narrated long and often emotional tales of being harassed by American students. The centralizing of their immigration and refugee experiences, and the way Vietnamese females interpreted the value of education, supports Ogbu’s theoretical constructs. However, the data collected at West Side High suggests that Vietnamese females’ future plans are less developed than the males. For the first time, many of these young women are facing issues that take them outside of the domestic sphere. Many are responding by realizing that work/employment will further advance their economic goals. While moving in an emancipating direction through school and employment, they are simultaneously burdened by traditional Vietnamese patriarchal values. Some of the females are participating in an ideology of romance, while others are moving toward a more liberating identity that includes a career. I want to comment, however,

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that Vietnamese males, in fact, are more romantic in a traditional sense than American males, particularly in this age group. Here I find, that Vietnamese women’s identity is somewhere between McRobbie’s (1978) working class girls, and Weis’ Freeway females (1990). None of the Vietnamese women raised the issue of marriage. It was only discussed after I brought it up. This should not, however, be interpreted as apathy towards marriage, but rather, the Vietnamese distinction between the public life and the private lives of individuals, with private matters being rarely discussed in public. After some probing, however, it was clear that all of the Vietnamese females intended to get married. Most stated that they would only marry Vietnamese men. Vietnamese men were generally scripted as being more romantic and more preferable to other men, suggesting that Vietnamese females idealize marriage to some extent. However, Vietnamese males are more likely to understand Vietnamese females better and, as one Vietnamese female pointed out, she did not want to be called and considered a bitch and a whore, as is presently stylish in hip-hop culture. Vietnamese females narrated that they were exclusively responsible for domestic chores. In fact, Vietnamese females are being raised to expect to get married and trained to run a family. None of the females expressed any resentment towards males. Instead, Vietnamese females created a “free space” in their homes, eliminating gender tensions by creating a place where women could bond and, as I suggested in chapter 6, a space where they could re-envision themselves without the interference of men. Similar to Raissiguier’s (1994) North African females, Vietnamese females’ acceptance of domestic labor without critique should not be interpreted as a wholesale acceptance of traditional Vietnamese patriarchal values, but rather, a clear understanding that to engage in a critique at this time would compromise their relationships with their families and their communities. In the last chapter, I examined the role of family and community in the identity formation of West Side High’s youth. Here I argued that the Vietnamese community operates as a “free space.” It is not a space that is physical, but rather, a conceptual/cultural space that is held together by a biography of oppression, a yearning for freedom, and a commitment to the collective rearing of youth. Like the Africans of

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Paul Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic, Modernity and Double Consciousness (1993), the Vietnamese of Nickel City harbor a double consciousness, striving to be both Vietnamese and American, or at least, learning to negotiate American society without adopting those American cultural values viewed as harmful. This cultural space contributes powerfully to Vietnamese high school students’ construction of academic and cultural identity, through the private sphere and public sphere. Specifically, I have explored three themes: home and public gatherings, community and parental attitudes toward school, and the maintenance of Vietnamese cultural identity. Throughout these data, I encountered a great deal of value work. In the living rooms, over dinner, in private conversations, and in public gatherings, family and community experiences and expectations are told and re-told, shaping the identity of Vietnamese youth and creating a shared immigrant/refugee identity. The Vietnamese community was fused from a tightly knit network of relationships similar to a large extended family. This is the way traditional communities were supposed to operate in the past. Parents and community members narrated great concern that Vietnamese youth were acquiring bad American values, such as lack of respect for elders and authority, or acting too independently. This was a major source of tension between parents and teenage Vietnamese. However, Vietnamese collective cultural values were very pervasive and often triumphed over individual subjectivities. I suggest here that the yearning for freedom is a double-edged sword. Coming to the United States provides for both social and economic opportunities, yet traditional Vietnamese culture is challenged. Another source of tension is gender relations. Vietnamese males attempt to reposition themselves as the head of the household, similar to traditional Vietnamese customs. Yet females are encouraged to become educated and contribute to the family’s economic well being through employment, often very professional employment. Vietnamese females, then, must balance contradictory messages of moving towards female equality while maintaining traditional female roles at home. In Nickel City households, Vietnamese families maintain gendersegregated spaces, the kitchen being the exclusive domain of the women and the living room the domain of the men. The rules of

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exclusivity were most often enforced by the women, and provided the family with a space free of gender tensions. Vietnamese homes also served as miniature school systems. Similar to Kibria (1993), I found that education for Vietnamese youth was most important. Parents were actively engaged in their children’s education by insisting that homework be done, and that children in need of assistance receive ample help from adults and other Vietnamese children. Older children and children especially good in certain subjects were engaged in helping other children. These household study groups existed in every household I visited, and often included children from nearby homes. Overall, the Vietnamese community exhibited high degrees of interdependence and collective responsibility, especially in the areas of discipline and education, rarely needing or wanting outside assistance. The Vietnamese used public functions and celebrations to focus particularly on traditional culture, where discipline and education were stressed, contributing to the expectations that Vietnamese children have a moral obligation to their families and to their communities. However, these spaces of high morals and educational expectations served to both comfort and contain individuals. Like their children, the Vietnamese families and community held education in high esteem, appreciating the free public education Vietnamese children were receiving at West Side High. The privilege of going to school was closely linked to the Vietnamese construction of the meaning of freedom. Parental and community complaints about education at West Side High centered on their perceived lack of discipline of students by teachers and administrators. Some parents believed that the school should have the right to engage in corporal punishment and teach courses in ethics, similar to those Taoist and Confucist courses taught in Vietnamese schools. The parents and community viewed West Side High as a means to move on to higher education and as a location of language and culture acquisition. Parent and community narrations suggest that individuals did not view education at West Side High to be particularly good overall, but demonstrated great appreciation for what West Side High was doing for Vietnamese youth. Further, parents were adamant that children should go to school and move on to higher education, often suggesting that Vietnamese children should become doctors or lawyers.

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Of great concern to most parents and community leaders was that Vietnamese children maintain their Vietnamese cultural identity. The loss of Vietnamese cultural values was viewed proportionately to the amount of American culture children acquired. American children were seen as disrespectful, unappreciative, spoiled and indulged. Too much individuality, as expressed by American children, was viewed as leading to too few morals and chaos. Moreover, Vietnamese children that strayed too far from the Vietnamese community and its cultural values were seen as having a more difficult time adjusting as well as performing poorly in school and less likely to have a bright future. Straying too far from Vietnamese culture was also related to the general belief that many families intended to return home one day or at least maintain strong contacts with Vietnam. Vietnamese students also narrated intentions of maintaining contact with Vietnam and family members left behind. Some expressed hope of assisting Vietnam in rebuilding and developing. In the final analysis, I find the Vietnamese of West Side High to be youthful border crossers. Working the hyphen of being Vietnamese and American, they bring cultural grounding and values to new opportunities and challenges. Mindful of the dangers of the new, and temptations of the novel, they carry the protection of culture as they venture forth. John Ogbu might suggest that their armor will last only a generation before the fabric of traditional Vietnamese culture begins to unravel. W.E.B. Dubois might be more hopeful about the enduring power of their dual consciousness. A shortcoming of ethnography is that we only have the present. But at present, the power and surrounds of cultural space are profound—at this moment, in this city, for this generation. How it will endure, in the face of American corporate commercialism, impoverished schools for poor and working class youth, the racism and prejudice expressed towards them, and the economic burdens shouldered by poor and working class families, remains to be seen.

Some Implications The findings of this research seriously challenge the theory of reproductive structure in the field of education, and further illuminate the ways in which individuals and groups forge an identity. Through

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the exploration of the lives of 20 Vietnamese youth, the present study has determined that individuals and groups do not formulate identity around the narrow confines of an institution, or even the broader social constructions of race and class. Further, these identities are not static, but rather, dynamic and mediated between the economy, institutions, and other groups. Here, Vietnamese youth began their educations without the benefits of the middle class, and as racial and ethic minorities. Further, as an immigrant/refugee group, they also did not have the benefit of attaching themselves to an established community. An examination of these youth’s prior family socio-economic backgrounds in Vietnam finds that the group is reflective of a broad range of class backgrounds. As such, I found no relationship between class background and attitudes towards achievement and an overall proschool identity; yet, as a group, they have created a remarkably homogeneous pro-school ethic. The findings of this research essentially support Ogbu’s (1989) theory of voluntary and involuntary minorities, in that the Vietnamese would be considered voluntary minorities within the framework of this theory, and they are doing better academically than African Americans and Latino students. In many ways, they are also doing better than white Americans. For these reasons, it is worth exploring the triple reinforcement of home, community, and school that is found in the Vietnamese community of Nickel City. The findings of this study suggest that there are some serious limitations to schools, at least in their present form. The Vietnamese of Nickel City are bonded by the shared experiences of oppression and by being immigrants/refugees in the United States. They have left behind all of the social and economic inequalities of communist Vietnam for opportunities in America. By doing so, they have what Ogbu defines as a dual reference framework. Armed with these experiences and insights, the Vietnamese and their children can see and appreciate what West Side High has to offer in spite of its limitations. Americans, however, have no such dual reference framework and, as is the case with Americans of color, there is the clear implication that doing well in school does not necessarily mean social and economic opportunities. In the case of Mr. Lee and the Vietnamese aides, they, too, have a dual reference framework that the American teachers of West Side High do not have. Further, the diversity of our society and the destruction of our

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traditional communities makes it increasingly more difficult to come together as a unified voice for change. Because of the nature of our society and economy, I do not believe that we can attempt to duplicate on a point/counterpoint basis the educational efforts of the Vietnamese community of Nickel City. This research suggests, however, that there are some things that we can do. Over the last 20 years, Nickel City, like other communities around the country, has seen massive regional bussing to achieve racial balance and equalization of access. In Nickel City, much of this has been accomplished through an individual transfer initiative to magnet schools with a de-emphasis on neighborhood schools. Yet there has never been a local study to examine if African American and Latino students do better by sitting next to white students or by being taught by white teachers. These very issues were addressed as early as the 1940s by Zora Neal Hurston, (1942) and as recently as the 1990s by bell hooks (1992). Both of these feminist authors have been seriously criticized by scholars for attacking integration. But aren’t the real issues here the elimination of legal barriers to racial equality and equal access to funding? Beyond this, bussing has further contributed to the destruction of our communities and framed neighborhood schools in a bad academic light. For those of us who are concerned that we may slip into neighborhood parochialism, I suggest that there are plenty of opportunities for pluralism, cosmopolitan experiences, and zones of cultural exchange in the work force, our colleges and universities, and in the anonymity of our depersonalized metropolitan centers. First, let us create stable, healthy and productive youth. The suggestions from the present data are that neighborhood schools, given equal funding, have great potential. They must, however, be re-packaged to compete with the more glamorous sounding magnet schools. Perhaps the sound of community schools has a more competitive edge. In this research I have found some compelling evidence which suggests that it would be beneficial for teachers to live in the communities in which they teach and have a personal invested interest in the children of the community. I believe it is a matter of accountability. Mr. Lee personally knows the Vietnamese children that he is teaching, is accountable to the Vietnamese community, and has a very personal interest in the academic outcomes of his students. Because of his commitment, he is able and willing to negotiate

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resources with the school and Board of Education, and personally oversees the education of each of his students. This would be at least partly possible with community schools and with local legislation that requires teachers to live in the city. Through the unique management of space, Mr. Lee has also created a “free space” where Vietnamese students can bond, reenvision themselves, recuperate from harmful stereotypes and abuse, and, in fact, do much value work to reinforce the ethics of the Vietnamese community. In fact, he has created a safe location for Vietnamese students within a much larger and impersonal institution, and created a place for personal affirmation and validation, reenforcing who and what they are. Again, I believe that this is possible in a community school. Furthermore, Mr. Lee and his aides have deemphasized the destructive aspects of competition between students, and have allowed and encouraged collective study groups. Collective study groups that I observed in the Vietnamese community and in the Vietnamese homeroom employed the following simple techniques. No child was ever labeled as an underachiever or overachiever, or academically challenged or positioned as just plain stupid in any way. Rather, any student with ability in a subject mentored others that needed assistance. Students within age groups were assisting their peers, and older, more advanced students assisted younger, less accomplished students with their advanced knowledge and understanding of a subject. Even Vietnamese students who attended college or the university returned to act as role models. From this, I understand that we need to encourage and foster cooperation and a commitment to our values in a more structured way. The downside of the triple reinforcement of community, family, and school were the severe limitations placed on individuality. By this I am referring to the tremendous pressure on Vietnamese youth to conform. To stray too far from the collective values and interdependence of the Vietnamese community of Nickel City was to face continued collective critique at best, or to be totally shunned, as was the case with two effeminate Vietnamese men who lived together on the West Side. This collective interdependence creates a nurturing cultural blanket and the safety of a floor below which the individual could not fall. It also creates a glass ceiling beyond which the individual should not rise, or at least act in too idiosyncratic a manner

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in the public sphere. As a member of the arts community of Nickel City, I understand individuality and idiosyncratic behavior to be the source of virtuosity and creativity, both of which are things to be celebrated and encouraged rather than contained and controlled. In the final analysis, perhaps because of the democratic values we prize so highly in America, we have replaced honor with an overemphasis on material gain and the need to exercise our individual rights.

Notes

1. After some scholarly debate, it appeared clear to me that any comparison of the Vietnamese would be more accurate with other recent immigrants such as Asians, Russians, or various African or Caribbean immigrants. However, there were not significant numbers of these groups in West Side High to permit this kind of research. 2. All information pertaining to the magnet school system is from interviews and conversations with members of the magnet school office in the Board of Education and its publicly distributed printed material. 3. This statement is a direct quote from an interview with a high-ranking official in the superintendent’s office. The respondent did not want to be identified. 4. I have heard various dates on when West Side High became an ESL site. The school has no definitive records on the dates. 5. All data on Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians in the demographic section have been taken from primary statistical sources of the INS Statistical Yearbook 1975-1989 and Reports to Congress 1975-1989. As of November 1, 1992, no additional data are available for the years 1990-92. 6. The exact number is difficult to acquire. INS yearbooks do not count Southeast Asian refugees by country of origin. 7. This assistance is available for single-headed households or for families with a second, but unemployable parent.

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8. All statistical data in this section on achievement have been taken from secondary sources. 9. Achievement scores are equally divided into quarters, the lowest being the first and the highest being the fourth. 10. Statistics on Southeast Asians are not disaggregated. Most statistics only report on the entire group. INS yearbook data reflect that the vast majority of Southeast Asians are Vietnamese. Also, most of my conversations with American teachers indicate that all students of oriental appearance are simply regarded as Asian. They are not aware of the specific ethnicity of any one individual. 11. Because these data are taken from students who have been in the U.S. only three and a half years or less, they fall into the second and third waves, not from the more affluent and Americanized first wave. 12. I have found that ethnic and racial purity in Asia is considered to be very important. Children that are half Black and half Asian are especially marginalized in Vietnamese society. Further, unlike the North American concept of multi-cultural societies which at least attempt equality, there is no such presumption in Vietnam. Vietnam is primarily for native Vietnamese. 13. I would like to point out here that it was the Vietnamese students and teacher that arranged the room in the fashion described below. 14. The above journal entry was created with the assistance of one of the Vietnamese aides who translated for me. 15. I have not identified the particular job of this interviewee because there is only one such appointment and she would be easy to identify. 16. Ancient Vietnamese folk saying. 17. Public schools in Vietnam have limited spaces at the secondary level, and are not as well equipped as in the United States. Students are required to pay for uniforms, books, paper, etc. Students may attend a private school, but that is an expensive option. Also, unlike in public schools, teachers in private

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education are not required to be credentialed, often providing private school students with a less competitive degree. 18. The Vietnamese males’ narrations have been grammatically corrected. Often the males spoke in broken English that would be difficult to understand. In all cases, I have strived to retain their voice. 19. Again, the term American becomes a catch-all term that includes whites, Blacks, and Latinos. 20. I have left this observation intact, including my feelings and side notes to myself. I believe that it was at this point in my research that I realized as a researcher, I was not as objective an instrument as the social sciences would have us think. Researchers become part of the scene and, in some ways, alter the outcomes. 21. Most white Americans don’t understand the historical and economic reasons for African American and Latino behavior either. In this sense, the Vietnamese are taking on the attitudes of the dominant culture and allying themselves politically/socially with the dominant white. 22. The statistics for this section were acquired through the office of counseling at West Side High School. 23. Weis is talking about a contradictory notion of accepting school knowledge as legitimate while simultaneously resisting it, as was evident in Black student behavior at a community college. For more information on this subject, see: Weis, Lois. Between Two Worlds: Black Students in an Urban Community College, 1985. 24. Translated from Vietnamese. 25. On various occasions during the school year, I observed Vietnamese females briefly speaking with African American or Latino males. On those occasions, a Vietnamese male would usually interrupt or wait until the conversation concluded, and then address the Vietnamese female in a stern tone, with both taking on very serious facial expressions. On two such occasions, this scene occurred while I was with a Vietnamese respondent. I

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asked if everything was O.K. with the pair, and both times I was told that the male was admonishing the Vietnamese female for talking with a nonVietnamese male. As the students’ conversations were in Vietnamese, I was, of course, unable to record the interaction to use as data. On one occasion, when I asked the respondent why the male was angry, he replied, “Oh, yes. Kim is angry with Joy for talking to that Black student.” 25. Tran is in her senior year at West Side High. 26. Other social scientists, such as Maya Daren who studied Haitian culture in the early 1950s, made this distinction. The integrated psyche, or integrated self, is primarily a Western concept, and rarely seen in traditional cultures with limited industrialization or technology. This observation, which distinguishes the public and private personae, is not new. 27. The families with whom I spent time were exceptionally polite and interacted primarily in English. However, there were times when, for expedience purposes, a parent or child would converse with one another in Vietnamese. During these times, the Vietnamese student with whom I was best acquainted in the family would patiently translate various family conversations for me at my request, which were written by hand in my notes. If the conversation was picked up on tape, I asked a Vietnamese graduate student I am acquainted with to produce an original version of the tape, which was later transcribed and coded. 28. In Vietnam, parents would never question the authority of a teacher or school administrator. Teachers are highly regarded in Vietnam.

References

Andrada, Belan. Immigrant Families: The Case of the Indochinese Refugees and its Implications for the Public School. Unpublished paper, 1984. Angel, Ronald and Marta Tiendra. Determinates of Extended Family Structure: Cultural Patterns or Economic Need. American Journal of Sociology, 87 (1982): 1360-83. Anyon, Jean. Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work. Journal of Education, 162(1) (1980): 67-92. Anyon, Jean. Elementary Schooling and Distinction of Social Class. Interchange, 12 (1981): 2-3. Anyon, Jean. Social Class and School Knowledge. Curriculum Inquiry, 11(1) (1981): 3-42. Apple, Michael. Ideology and the Curriculum. Boston and London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979. Apple, Michael. Cultural and Economic Reproduction in Education: Essays on Class, Ideology and the State. London, Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982. Apple, Michael. Education Power. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982. Apple, Michael and Lois Weis. Ideology and Practice in Schooling. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983. Baker, Reginald and David North. The 1975 Refugees: The First Five Years in America. Washington D.C.: The New Transcentury Foundation, 1977. Baldwin, Beth. Patterns of Adjustment: A Second Look at Indochinese Resettlement in Orange County. Santa Ana, California: Unpublished paper, 1984.

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Index African Americans, xii, 12, 13, 28, 43, 80, 122, 138, 249-50 background of, 91, 160 Centrie associated with, 28, 233 demographics of, 4, 36, 65, 68, 88, 97, 116, 194, 238, 240 dual reference framework of, 158 identity formation and, 68, 131, 241 racism and, 142-52, 157, 203, 243 as perceived by Vietnamese, 137, 141-42, 158, 171, 243-44 as perceived by American society, 10 perception of Vietnamese, 6-7, 23, 169, 170 as students, 111 Vietnamese females and males and, 255-56 n.25 as West Side High staff, 116, 118, 134, 242 After school activities, 140 Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), 56 Amerasians, 50, 64-65. 166, 227 “Americans” (term as used by Vietnamese), 137, 255 n.19 Andrada, Brian, 11, 60 Anyon, Jean, 89

Bao (male student), 126-27, 131, 140, 142, 155 Biklen, Sari, 36, 44 Bilingual education, 85, 97-98, 130, 214, 218 Bogdan, Robert, 36, 44 Border crossers, 248 Bourgois, Philippe, 12 Bow, Mr., 78 Bowles, Samuel, 13-14, 196 Boyte, Harry, 25, 69, 87, 193 Bradberry, Mrs. (West Side High teacher), 104, 111 Brown, Mrs. (West Side High teacher), 116-17 Buddhism and Buddhists, 3, 50, 62, 64, 65, 124, 126, 127, 177, 200, 222, 236 Buddhist Center, 177, 236 Bus ride (opportunity for likely abuse), 22, 147, 149, 151 Businesses (Vietnamese), 50, 53, 56, 65, 176, 234 Cambodians, 62, 71, 75-79, 110, 238 Cao, Mr., 213-14 Caplan, Nathan, 9, 48, 50, 52, 56, 60-63, 68, 126, 174, 237, 240 Catholic Charities, 5, 29, 37, 53, 63, 64, 65, 66, 113, 199, 200, 235, 236 Catholic Charities Resettlement Program, 37, 53, 29, 56, 235 Catholicism and Catholics, 49-50, 56, 62-63, 124, 234

Bankston, Carl, 21-23, 30, 37, 51, 152, 157, 174, 208, 220, 223-24

269

270 Central Americans, 141 Centrie, Craig, xi, xiii, xiv, 87 background and learnings of, 28-31 discussions with Vietnamese leaders, 37-38 at hospital emergency room, 42-44 feelings and perceptions of, 255 n.20 Vietnamese businessman advises, 37 work in Vietnamese community, 41-42 at West Side High School, 36-41 See also interview questions throughout the text and comments especially at the beginning of each chapter Chang (male student), 131, 141, 143, 146-47, 149, 153-55 Charles, Mr. (West Side High teacher), 91-92 Chinese (language): African American misperception of, 168-69 Chinese (people), 9, 49, 50, 53, 56, 135, 146, 228, 234, 240 Choy, Marcella, 60 Chung, Joy Pei-Lin, 135, 183-84, 240 Class (middle), xi, xii, xiii, 2, 17, 22, 28, 34-35, 43, 47, 50, 111, 125, 156, 162, 178, 180, 197-98, 219, 234-35 Class, (working), 3, 16-19, 28, 31, 89, 95, 105, 122, 128, 133, 249, 158, 161, 194-96, 206, 217-18, 241, 243, 248 Coleman Report (1966), 32 Collective learning, 119, 229. See also Homework; Southeast Asian homeroom; Study hall; Vietnamese

Index homeroom Collective cultural values, 246 Community schools, 250 Confucianism, 126, 216, 220, 222 “Cool capital” (inner city culture), 141, 244 Correspondence (theory), 14 Critical cultural theorists, 14 Cubans, 55, 123, 235 Culture, xi, xii, xiii, 4, 7, 9, 11, 1415, 17-26, 29-30, 42-44, 49, 51, 53, 60, 69, 80-82, 86, 89, 113, 118-19, 12223, 125, 128, 131, 133, 141, 150-52, 156-58, 162, 165, 177-78, 180, 182-84, 188-89, 193, 196, 198-200, 203-04, 207, 219-30, 23739, 241-42, 244-48 Cuong, Mr. (West Side High teacher), 215-17, 222, 225 Cusick, Philip, 7 Dao (female), 199 Daren, Maya, 256 n. 26 Data collection and management, 36-45 Davidson, Amy Locke, 70, 88, 111, 241 Dipiro, Mr. (assistant vice principal), 112-13 Discipline, 36, 190, 206, 207, 208, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 221, 247 Dorothy (African American female), 169 Douc, Mrs., 215 Du (Amerasian), 227 Dual consciousness (concept), 111, 248 Dual reference framework (concept), 20, 23, 111, 128-29, 131, 157-58, 160, 190, 193, 196, 217, 234, 237, 241, 248-49

Index DuBois, W.E.B., 248 Duc (male student), 129-30, 134, 144, 146, 149, 153, 215 Education, xii, xiii, xiv, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 15, 17, 21, 37, 40, 50, 89, 120, 123, 162 in America, 212-14, 217, 237, 241 community and, 230 expectations for, 4, 8, 206, 247 family and, 211-20 females and, 161-62, 165 17475, 191, 204 goals concerning, 16, 59, 82, 180, 183, 185 higher education, 10, 82, 85, 86, 112, 119, 152, 153, 156, 163, 191, 196, 211, 241, 243, 247 males and, 128, 131, 133-34, 139, 140, 155-56, 157-58, 160, 162, 240-43 private spheres and, 197-206 public spheres and, 206-11 re-education camps and, 18162, 198 reproductive structure and, 24849 respect and appreciation for, 5, 6, 18, 108-11, 119, 127, 129, 131, 138, 160, 190, 194-96, 238, 241, 243-44, 247 social and economic benefits of, 10, 14-16, 18, 21, 23, 58, 89, 95, 108, 110, 127-28, 156, 160, 175, 186, 189, 196-97, 204-05 sociology of, 121, 128, 133, 151 Vietnamese view of, 62, 67, 129, 131, 133-34 at West Side High, 95, 92, 9798, 102, 106, 108, 128-29,

271 131-32, 158, 213, 211-20, 229, 236-38, 242 See also Bilingual education; Vietnam educational system; other educational headings English language (instruction and proficiency), xiii, 32, 40, 35, 199, 207, 210, 237 affect on academic achievement and course selection, 62, 72, 99, 101, 201, 202, 237, 240-41 discrimination and, 157, 184 economic and social importance of proficiency in, 57, 58, 59, 134, 153, 216, 220, 227-28, 230, 237 families and, 256 n.27 females and, 170-72, 180, 184, 188, 191 Lee and, 81-84, 94-95, 113, 239 males and, 140-41, 147, 255 n.18 parents and, 105-06, 195 student attitudes towards, xiii, 80, 129, 134 refugees, first wave and, 49, 67 refugees, second and third waves and, 67 refugees and classes in, 51-42, 65 homeroom and, 73, 75, 217 Vietnamese study hall and, 94-96 West Side High and, 90-91, 101, 106, 107, 119, 201, 213, 219, 240, 242 See also Bilingual education English as a Second Language (ESL), 6, 32, 36, 67, 71, 80-89, 100, 109, 119, 134, 163-64, 238

272 See also Bilingual education Ethnography, 27, 234, 248 Evans, Sari, 25, 193 Everhart, Robert, 122 Fanon, Franz, 43 Fine, Michelle, ix, 13, 25, 31, 39, 70, 87, 145, 185, 234 Floating cultural space (concept), 194 Fox, Mr. (West Side High science teacher), 110 “Free space” (concept), xiii, 5-6, 20, 24-26, 69-70, 72- 80, 8788, 149, 193, 228, 234, 239, 245, 251 Freedom (varieties and meanings), 48, 126-28, 157, 164-67, 171, 183, 193, 197, 204, 212, 221-22, 245-47 Friends (role of), xiii African American and Latino, 142, 143, 172-73, 174 American, 138 gender differences among, 175, 177 relations with, 132, 143, 177 support of students, 4, 42, 109, 164, 193, 195, 198, 209, 223, 227 Fuentez, Ana (West Side High teacher), 115 Gender (impact and roles), xii, 6, 11, 14, 15, 17-19, 29, 44, 59, 60, 62, 64, 70, 142, 156, 159, 167, 177, 182, 19091, 193, 204-05, 231, 243, 246, 247 Gibson, Margaret, 121, 123, 125, 129, 141, 149, 151, 157, 160, 174, 190, 243 Gilroy, Paul, 193 Gintis, Herbert, 13-14, 196

Index Goals (student), 23, 135, 161, 178, 180, 183, 203, 244 Goldstein, Beth, 11, 29, 60, 65, 68, 174, 237 GPA (grade point average), 61-62 Grace (Vietnamese female), 163, 171, 172 Grace, Ms. (West Side High vice principal), 211 Hein, Jeremy, 23, 152, 174 Hetenger, Ms. (West Side High teacher), 109, 111 Hispanics, 9, 97 See also Central Americans; Cubans; Latinos; Puerto Ricans; West Indians Hmong, 62, 74-75, 78-79 Hoa (ethnic Chinese), 53-56, 62, 234 Homeroom. See Southeast Asian homeroom and Vietnamese homeroom Homework, xiii, 82, 140, 168, 201, 202, 205, 207, 217, 247 Homophobia, 203 Hungarian refugees, 16 Hurston, Zora Neal, 250 Identity formation administrator and teacher contributions to, 96-118 Centrie on, 16, 60 defined, 234 ethnographic studies of, 15-20 immigration and, 159, 160 “limnal space” and, 220 McRobbie on, 192 Raissiguier on, 192 Vietnamese community and, 4, 5-6, 7, 9, 11, 193, 195, 220, 221, 222, 229, 245, 248 Vietnamese families and, 26, 36, 195, 229-30, 245

Index Vietnamese females and, 159, 160, 161, 163-77, 182, 244 Vietnamese males and, 137, 160, 163-77, 193 Vietnamese parents and, 193, 195, 196, 248 Vietnamese students and, 4, 7, 11, 18, 19, 25 Weis on, 185, 192, 220, 243, 245 West Side High and, 16, 28, 96118, 238, 241, 243, 245 Willis on, 137, 138, 158 Identity retention, 220-28 Immigrants (Vietnamese and others), xi, xii, xiv, 2, 5, 7, 9, 37, 66, 68, 69, 125, 193, 253 adjustment of, 59-60 background of, 8-12 demographic profile of, 54-56 departure from Vietnam, 48-51 economic participation of, 56-59 as model minorities, 121 resettlement of, 51-54 similarities and dissimilarities with refugees, 10, 16, 227, 228, 229 voluntary/involuntary, xiii, 122, 123 waves of, 8, 48-51, 234, 235 See also Refugees Immigration (Vietnamese), ix, xi, xiv, 26, 65, 195, 229 Asian immigration, 2 background and general character of, 8-12, 36, 37, 48-51, 76, 157, 234 demographic profile of immigrants, 54-55 demographic profile of settlement, 55-56 resettlement, 51-54 Vietnamese perceptions of, 159,

273 160, 203, 243, 244 Individuality, 177, 220, 248, 251-52 Inner city culture, 141, 151 Integrated self (concept), 256 n.26 Interagency Task Force for Indochinese Refugees (IATF), 52 Interviewing (methodology), 29-30, 36, 40-41 Iowa Achievement Test, 61 Jackson, Mr. (West Side High principal), 76, 97-100, 106, 113, 150, 213 Jacobs, Mr. (West Side High teacher), 90, 107-09 James (African American male), 145 Jing (Vietnamese female), 173, 180, 181 John (problem student), 223 Johnson, Ms. (African American guidance counselor), 134 Jones, Mr. (African American), 233 Joy (Vietnamese female), 164, 166, 169-70, 174, 179-80, 182, 188, 193, 202, 206, 215, 226, 256 Kay (Vietnamese male), 129, 199, 226 Kelly, Gail, ix, 3, 7-10, 48-51, 234 Kibria, Nazli, 197, 205, 220, 247 Kong, Mrs., 207 Koreans, 9 Lam (Vietnamese male), 129 Laotians, 82, 71, 75-76, 78-79, 110, 238 Latinos attitudes toward education and school, 142, 150, 243 Centrie and, 28, 72 demographics of, 54 stereotypes of, 7

274 Vietnamese and, 137, 142, 146, 147, 158 Vietnamese males and, 170 Vietnamese perceptions of, 14142, 144, 243, 255 n.21 at West Side High School, 36, 80, 88, 151, 157-58, 238, 243 Lee, Stacey, 5 Lee, Mr. (West Side High teacher) as an advocate, 88, 240 on Cambodian and Laotian students, 79 Centrie meets, 73 culture classes and, 82-86 dual reference framework and, 249-50 on educational system of Vietnam, 80-81 Fox on, 110-11 “Free space” and, 251 Hetenger on, 104 instruction in culture and, 82-86 instruction in English language and, 81-84, 94-95, 113, 239 instruction in exam taking and, 93-94 Nguyen on, 213 Santiago on, 115 Southeast Asian homeroom and, 75, 79-80, 239 student progress tracked by, 134, 136, 137, 242 as Vietnamese community leader and member, 86-87, 250-51 Vietnamese homeroom and study hall and, 73, 7778, 84-86 Vietnamese parents and, 201 on Vietnamese students, 69, 113-14 Vietnamese students on, 132, 149

Index Wacharamontri on, 76 well-educated, 73 on West Side High, 81, 82, 219 Lie, Mr., 222 Ling (Vietnamese female), 168- 186 Luc (Vietnamese male), 127 Lunch period, 149, 168, 172 Mabry, Mrs. (West Side High teacher), 90-91 Mac Leod, Dag, 157 Magnet schools and system, 32-34, 69-70, 106-08, 111, 11820, 238, 250, 253 n.2 Mai (Vietnamese female), 150 Malaysia, 52, 124, 235 Marriage. See Romance and marriage Martinez, Ms. (West Side High teacher), 100-02 Mathematics (courses and skills), 61, 62, 68, 75, 100, 117, 13436, 172, 202, 218-19, 237, 240-41 McNeil, Linda, 89 McNeil, Mrs. (West Side High assistant vice principal), 105-06, 111 McRobbie, Angela, 161, 183, 192, 243 Mei (Vietnamese female), 167, 178, 181, 200 Mexcans, 22 Michael (African American male), 45 Ming (Vietnamese female), 171, 181 “Model minorities,” 5, 121, 157, 241 National Educational Longitudinal Survey data, 157 Native American Community Center, 36 Neighborhood schools, 31, 33, 34, 70, 97, 106, 108, 250 Nag, Mr., 225

Index Ngo, Mr., 233 Ngo, Mrs., 233 Nguyen family, 198 Nguyen, Mr. on American education, 212 on community values, 203, 206, 221 on homework, 200-202 on freedom, 212, 213 on proper conduct, 29, 199-200, 203 on Vietnamese culture, 221, 226 on West Side High, 213 Nickel City, xiii, xiv, 4, 31, 63, 233 and Centrie, 28, 252 demographics of, xi, 2, 24-25, 31-32, 63, 144-45, 233-34, 236, 250 social mobility in, 237 Vietnamese in, 20, 22-24, 2830, 64-66, 145, 142, 164, 194-95, 228-29, 236-37, 246, 249-50, 251 Nickel City Board of Education, 34, 70, 71, 76, 77, 88, 101, 103, 251, 253 Nickel City School District, 27, 3135 North Vietnamese, 1, 49-50, 53, 126, 160-61, 164, 166, 198, 212, 234, 245 Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), 50, 52, 57-58 Ogbu, John, 19, 121, 141 on American school system, 133, 174, 241 Centrie and, xiii on dual reference framework, 190, 248-49 on identity formation, 16, 60 on racial groups, 10 on voluntary and involuntary immigrants, 68, 122-23,

275 157, 237 Oldenburg, Ray, 70 Payne, Charles, 19-20 Phoo (Vietnamese female), 166, 179, 181 Phum (Vietnamese female), 163, 165, 188 Poles, 36, 194 Police: interactions with, 208 Police science (courses and career), 144, 152 Portes, Alejandro, 20-22, 37, 157, 174 Puerto Ricans, 13, 68, 41, 114, 115, 117, 123, 160 Punishment (corporal), 206, 212, 247 Quong (Vietnamese female), 207 Race, xii, 14-17, 19, 63, 70, 18, 126, 142, 158-59, 167, 241, 249 See also White (race) Racism, 13, 17-18, 43, 123, 135, 142-52, 174-75, 243-44, 248, 254 n.12 Raissiguier, Cathrine, 160, 161, 183, 192, 245 Repatriation to Vietnam, 3, 4, 48, 24, 225, 226, 234 248 See also Visiting Vietnam Refugees, xi, 1-3, 5, 7-11, 16, 20, 21, 24, 37, 47-60, 63-69, 12324, 133, 195-96, 228, 23437, 249, 253 n.6 See also Immigrants (Vietnamese and others); Immigration (Vietnamese) Regents examinations, 72, 90-91, 9799, 103, 119 Religion, 56, 62, 64 See also Buddhism and Buddhists; Catholicism and Catholics;

276 Confucianism; Taoism Reproductive structure, 248 Research design, 3-7, 36-45 Respect, 170, 173, 194-96, 208, 21216, 219, 222, 228-30, 238, 246 Roberts, Alden, 11, 60, 87 Romance and marriage, 151, 154, 156, 158, 161, 183-85, 189, 244-45 Rose (Vietnamese female), 172-73, 180, 186-87, 189 Rumbaut, Ruben, 20, 21, 22, 37, 157, 205 Saigon Place, The (restaurant), 176 Sam (Vietnamese male), 199 Sanchez, Ms. (West Side High teacher), 100, 102-03 Santiago, Mrs. (West Side High teacher), 114-15 Sciences (courses and skills), 61, 62, 68, 81, 92, 134-36, 152, 219, 237, 240-41, 243 Skin color immigration and, 21 Social mobility, 67, 127-28, 135, 152, 189, 197, 237, 241, 243 Social pressure, 32, 209 Social studies (courses), 89, 91-92, 134, 135, 136, 201 Southeast Asian homeroom, 73-76, 79, 119, 238 See also Vietnamese homeroom Stein, Barry, 10, 59 Study hall, 39, 69, 73, 74, 77, 79, 82, 84, 85, 89, 94, 168, 239 Suarez-Orozco, M., 141 Sung, Mr., 47, 201-02, 209-10, 22021, 225, 230 Taoism, 127, 124, 196, 208, 220, 222, 247

Index Tet (Vietnamese New Year), 29, 37, 176, 197, 206, 236 Teachers, respect for, 132, 256 n.28 Teacher’s aides, 76, 79-80, 82-85, 94, 114, 119, 132, 160, 173, 217, 249 Texas Achievement Test, 61 Thailand, 1, 52, 235 Thu (Vietnamese male), 148, 150 Tran (Vietnamese female), 165, 172, 174, 179, 182 Twan (Vietnamese male) 130, 133, 140, 144, 153, 155-56 U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 52 U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), 36-37, 51, 63, 195, 253 n.5, 253 n.6, 254 n.10 U.S. Refugee Acts, 51, 52, 58 Valentine, Bettylou, 12 Valli, Linda, 14-15, 18-19 Value work, 198, 246, 251 Vietnam War, 3, 8, 29, 48, 50, 53, 64, 90, 91, 163, 165, 167, 177, 190, 196, 227, 234, 236 Vietnam educational system (perceptions and realities), 62, 77, 80-82, 96, 111, 112, 120, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 133, 134, 136, 154, 157, 162, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 221, 236, 240, 241, 254-55 n.17, 256 n.28 Vietnamese community, xiii, xiv, 30, 37, 39-41, 43, 44, 47, 60, 73, 82, 87, 88, 89, 195, 196, 127, 205, 223, 228, 249 “bad children” and, 22, 24, 200 celebrations of, 5, 37-38, 66-67,

Index 176, 206-07, 246 Centrie as member of, 29 collective learning in, 229 collective responsibility in, 247, 249 cultural values of, 152, 194, 198, 203, 208, 211, 220, 222, 229, 248 demographics of (local and national), 55, 228, 236 on education, 4, 5-6 18th street in, 206, 209, 229-30 expectations of, 85-86, 87, 198, 203, 209 females of, 178-80, 184, 198, 207 “free space” in, 5, 25, 30, 245 geography of, 30, 87, 97, 125, 194, 228, 230, 236 homophobia in, 203 identity formation and retention in, 4, 5-6, 7, 9, 11, 193, 195, 220, 221 222, 229, 245, 248 individuality in, 251-52 leaders of, 29, 37, 41, 54, 64, 66, 86-87, 200, 208, 220, 223, 230, 248 local community, 63-67 Lee accountable to, 240, 250-51 males and, 203, 210 meetings of, 29, 200 social programs and groups of, 66, 69 a success predictor, 21, 223, 224, 229, 234, 250 work ethic in, 230 on West Side High, 211-20, 247 public and private spheres and, 206-11, 231 secondary migration and, 49, 55-56 on West Side High, 211-20, 247 Vietnamese families, xiii, xiv, 4-8,

277 10, 41, 42, 44, 153, 19395, 202-03, 205, 233, 234, 246 academic achievement and, 8, 11, 63, 85, 153, 154, 205, 206, 230 African American perceptions of, 145 business expectations of, 225 Centrie as friend of, 42-43, 256 n.27 demographics of, 63-67, 107, 124, 125, 198, 243, 249 females and, 18, 60, 162, 164, 165-67, 177, 178, 180, 181, 183-85, 189, 191, 245-46 “free space” and, 25, 247 role in identity formation, 26, 36, 195, 229-30, 245 individuality and independence in, 210, 251-52 males and, 155, 156, 158, 162, 163, 185, 191 Nguyen on, 200, 201 parents as refugees, 196 on West Side High, 211, 220 Vietnamese females, 6, 25, 38, 41, 159, 160, 193, 40-41 academic performance of, 191, 244 African American males and, 255-56 n.25 American students harass, 160, 190 aspirations and expectations of, 26, 162, 191, 231, 240-41, 246 background of, 161-63 and cultural values and traditions, 161, 191, 244, 246 domesticity of, 190-91, 204, 245

278 dual reference framework and, 160 educations and teachers on, 160, English language skills of, 191 family tensions and, 204 “free space” and, 245 identity formation of, 159, 160, 161, 163-77, 182, 244 Latino males and, 255-56 n.25 relations with males, 30, 157, 159 romance and marriage and, 183 -85, 189, 191, 243, 245 roles of changing, 177-90 studying in groups, 205 Vietnamese homeroom, 73, 77, 79-80, 82-85, 87-89, 9394, 114, 136, 184, 21718, 222, 238-39, 242, 251 See also Southeast Asian homeroom Vietnamese language, 225, 256 n.27 Vietnamese males, 6, 38, 39, 41, 121, 159. 190 academic performance of, 126, 134-35, 178, 191 on American education, 128, 132, 161 on American students, 190, 244 aspirations and expectations of, 126, 128, 152, 154, 15556, 178, 231, 240-43 background of, 124, 126, 153, 161 bad behavior of some, 203 class and, 126 cultural values and traditions and, 177 differences from females, 6, 25, 26, 161 domesticity and, 180-82, 191 education and, 128, 131, 13334, 139, 140, 155-56, 15758, 160, 162, 240-43

Index English language and, 255 n.18 “free space” and, 245 homophobia and, 203 identity formation and, 137, 160, 163-77, 193 identity formation pro-school of, 122-42 inner city styles of, 128, 244 racism of, 142-52 romance and marriage of, 18385, 189, 191, 243, 245 on other students, 136 protective of females, 255-56 n.25 Vietnam War and, 190, 227 on West Side High, 129, 131 Vietnamese parents, xiii, 4, 11, 20, 21, 23, 29, 40, 41, 63, 65, 81, 208 academic expectations of, 19, 33, 205, 207 cultural values and, 203, 22028, 230, 246 education of children and, 34, 67, 211, 212, 247, 256 n.28 English proficiency of, 105, 106, 123, 164 role in identity formation, 193, 195, 196, 248 individualism and, 230 reasons for coming to America, 127, 165, 197, 217 repatriation and, 226-27 respect for, 202, 216, 219, 220, 222 on West Side High, 213-19 Vietnamese students, xi, xii, xiii, 3, 4-6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 21, 22, 23, 30, 38, 39, 40 academic achievement and, 60-63 academically aggressive, 77, 117, 134, 240, 242 Brown on 116-17 compared with Puerto Rican

Index students, 115 Fox on, 110-11 identity formation of, 4, 7. 11, 18, 19, 25 perceptions of, 4, 10, 70, 71 teachers’ perceptions of, 11, 24 Vinh, Mr. (Vietnamese parent), 218, 224 Visiting Vietnam: desire to, 155, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227 See also Repatriation Voluntary and involuntary (minorities), xiii, 228 African American males and, 145 dual consciousness and, 111 Ogbu on, 5, 16, 20, 68, 122, 124, 157, 234, 237, 249 Vietnamese males and, 121 Voluntary Resettlement Agency, 29 Vu (Vietnamese male), 141, 149, 151, 154 Wacharamontri, Ms. (Laotian teacher’s aide), 76-77 Waters, Mary, 21-22, 24, 193 Weis, Lois. 17, 18, 19, 25, 31, 39, 121 attitudes toward education and knowledge, 89, 92, 95, 119, 122, 123, 131, 133, 137, 138, 156, 196, 217, 241, 255 n.23 on collective support and responsibility, 208, 218, 223, 224, 229, 234, 238 on “free space,” 70, 87, 149 on gender and male/female relations, 158, 159, 161, 183, 192 on identity formation, 185, 192, 220, 243, 245 on inter-ethnic relations, 145, 151

279 West Indians, 22 West Side High School, 4, 6, 12, 13, 29, 35-36, 37, 41, 64, 65, 68, 69, 71, 72, 88 administrators on, 24 Centrie given permission to study, 38 community and family attitudes toward, 211-20 compared with schools in Vietnam, 80-82 curriculum of, 88, 89-96 ESL programs in, 31, 32, 67, 71, 80, 88, 111, 119, 253 n.4 “free space” and, 5, 6, 20, 25, 26, 69, 72-80, 234 identity formation and, 16, 28, 96-118, 238, 241, 243, 245 a neighborhood school, 5, 31, 70, 119, 236 perceptions and reputation of, 70, 97, 110, 120, 238, 242 under Regents review, 72 White (race), 8, 10, 16, 22, 23, 32, 33, 35, 36, 54 88, 97, 118, 145, 150, 218, 255 n.19 Whitmore, John, 60 Willie (African America male), 150 Willis, Paul, xiii, 14, 15, 17, 18, 121 attitudes toward education and knowledge. 156, 24 on dress code, 128 on identity formation, 137, 138, 158 on racism, 151 Xinh (Vietnamese female), 200, 202 Zhou, Min, 21-23, 37, 50-51, 152, 157, 174