Vietnamese Americans in American Education

Traditionally, ethnic minority groups often face seriousameliorate it. It should be said that the development of
problems and Vietnamese Americans are not anre-education camps was supposed to contribute to
exception. Probably the most serious problems theythe faster integration of Vietnamese arriving from
faced and are still facing in education that actuallyVietnam to the new life in the US. however, this
reflects all other problems this ethnic group suffersmeasure seems to be not very efficient because it
from in the US.merely helped Vietnamese people feel the real life
Problems and difficulties Vietnamese Americans facedwithin American community. Obviously, the closer
in the pastintegration of Vietnamese and local communities was
First of all, it should be said that ethnic minoritiesneeded.
traditionally were in a disadvantageous positionAt the same time, the development of strategy of
compared to the dominant ethnic groups. The US isethnic tolerance was obviously extremely important
not an exception, though a lot of efforts were madeand the general anti-segregation policy aiming at the
to change the situation for better and make Americanintegration of representatives of different ethnic groups
society more tolerant and provide all ethnic groups within the education process. However, this strategy is not
really equal opportunities. Nonetheless, the position ofreally fulfilled because, as a rule, the representatives of
Vietnamese Americans was quite difficult, especially inethnic minorities constituted the overwhelming majority
the past.in schools, especially in the inner city .
It should be pointed out that the mass immigration fromAt the same time, it is obvious that the major
Vietnam to the US was marked by quite a negativestrategies, which really aim at the improvement of the
attitude to Vietnamese arriving to the US because ofposition of Vietnamese Americans, should be focused
the Vietnamese war which took lives of manyon the improvement of their socio-economic position.
Americans. At the same time, Vietnamese arriving inHowever, there is a kind of vicious circle that is
the US were really strangers for the local communityextremely difficult to break. To put it more precisely,
because they had different culture, language, traditions,the better social position can be gained due to the
mentality. Moreover, the negative past experience ofbetter education while the better education often turns
extremely complicated relations between the US andto be inaccessible for the families of Vietnamese
Vietnam did not contribute to the easier integration ofAmericans because of their poverty. This is why, it is
American Vietnamese.necessary to keep developing educational and social
Speaking about their problems, including those relatedprograms that would help Vietnamese Americans to
to the sphere of education, it should be said that onereceive higher education that could open new
of the major problems was the language. For instance,opportunities for them and substantially improve their
in 1990 Vietnamese children lived in families where thelife.
heads of the households basically had poor EnglishCurrent issues related to Vietnamese Americans in
proficiency . This was particularly widely spread withineducation
the families of the first generation of VietnameseNowadays, the situation is obviously better than it used
Americans, i.e. families that just arrived in the US andto be even a decade ago. For instance, there are
their children were born in the new country or arrivedpractically no serious language problems and
at an early age.Vietnamese American children are practically in the
Obviously, it was quite difficult for these children to getequal position compared to other ethnic groups.
integrated into American life and achieve positiveNonetheless, there are still serious problems that are
results in the education, i.e. have academic becausereally important.
they lack the knowledge of English which was theIt should be said that socio-economic position of
basic language used in schools. In fact, the proficiencyVietnamese Americans did not improved significantly
in English was and actually remains one of the basicand often higher education is still hardly accessible to
conditions of successful learning because even thoughthis category of students. Though it is worthy of
children may have equal academic abilities they can bemention that gradually this ethnic group progresses and
less successful in learning because of languagetheir socio-economic position starts to improve but
problems.quite slowly.
Not surprisingly, that Vietnamese Americans were lessFurthermore, nowadays, Vietnamese American
likely to have a college education or a professionalstudents have to deal with the problem of bicultural
education than whites . In this respect, it is worthy ofconflicts between home and schools. It should be said
mention that poor English proficiency was not the onlythat to a significant extent this conflicts are provoked
reason. In fact, one of the most important factors thatby the generation gaps between children that grew up
prevented Vietnamese Americans from receivingin American reality and their parents and even
higher education was their socio-economic position. It isgrandparents who still keep their traditions, perfectly
not a secret that the vast majority of Vietnameseremember their native country, and have not managed
immigrants were poor and belonged to lower classes.to change their mentality and get accustomed to the
Naturally, they could not afford educating their childrennew lifestyle.
similarly to the upper classes of American society. ThisBasically, it is possible to single out four main bicultural
is why many Vietnamese Americans were simplyproblems Vietnamese Americans currently face .
deprived of real opportunities to receive goodFirstly, parent and children tend to disagree on the
education because of their poverty. Moreover, theirnature and extent of parental authority. Secondly,
poor social status also contributed to the negativemany of the means of enforcing parental authority that
attitude to Vietnamese Americans from the part ofwere common in Vietnam are unacceptable in the US.
other students and lower self esteem of childrenThirdly, parents and children have different
representing this ethnic group compared to white andperspectives on what aspects of American culture
black Americans.are desirable. And, finally, the role reversal of parents
Finally, they Vietnamese Americans faced a veryand children that frequently occurs in immigrant families
serious problem of racism that was really disturbing.is contrary to the cultural expectations of Vietnamese
For instance, in 1992, University of Miami pre-medparents about their own roles.
Vietnamese American student Luyen Phan Nguyen, 19,Conclusion
was chased and beaten to death outside a CoralThus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is
Springs, Florida, college party by the mob of about 15possible to conclude that Vietnamese Americans
young white men who used their fists, feet and beerfaced a number of problems in education. Nowadays,
bottles. Actually, he was slaughtered only because hesome of them are solved but there are still a lot of
had protested an insulting reference to his Vietnamesedifficulties they have to overcome and basically they
origin earlier at the party. What is even more shockingare related to the low economic position of their
is the fact that the party crowd ignored the murder .families and to their cultural background and
The strategies used to ameliorate the situationcontradictions between traditional Vietnamese and
Naturally, the situation could not remain unchanged. ThisAmerican cultures that provoke bicultural conflicts
is why certain steps were undertaken in order towithin Vietnamese Americans families.