We recommend you include the following information in your citation. Look below the item for additional data you may want to include.
Contact Owning Institution
All fields are required.
Download Item
Please use this item responsibly. Check the rights information for this item to see if it has copyright restrictions. Note that even if the item is protected by copyright, you may be able to use it for educational, research, or other purposes. To learn more, read Calisphere's terms of use.
Do you need a bigger file? The file available on this site is 1024 x 682 px. To obtain an alternate file type or higher resolution copy, please
contact the owning institution.
Copyrighted This material is provided for private study, scholarship, or research. Transmission or reproduction of any material protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Contact the University of California, Irvine Libraries, Special Collections and Archives for more information (spcoll@uci.edu).
Description
Scope/Content: An oral history with Charlie Lam, born in 1960 in rural Cambodia, near Sihanoukville. He is a 2nd generation ethnic Chinese, where his grandparents migrated to Cambodia from Hainan, China. When he was 12, he and his family migrated to Kien Giang, Vietnam to live with his aunt. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he escaped with his aunt’s family by boat and arrived in Thailand. Through family sponsorship, they made their way to Camp Pendleton, San Diego. He discusses his hardship of readjusting to a new life in California as an orphan. After not graduating high school, Charlie was constantly moving around trying to figure out life. Eventually, he started his own bakery business and opened a store in Echo Park, Los Angeles in 1999. He has three children and lives in Echo Park, California with his wife. Scope/Content: At what point in time can one pinpoint the beginning of Vietnamese America? Does it begin with the Fall of Saigon? Does it begin with the creation of Little Saigons throughout America? In looking to define Vietnamese American experiences, do we limit what it has been and what it could be? Whatever the entry point, experiences of Vietnamese Americans are inextricably tangled with the political, economic, and social structures of racial, class, and gender hierarchy in the United States and notions of authenticity and nationalism. Thus, to begin learning what the Vietnamese American experience entails, is to also begin unlearning. This course seeks to understand, unravel and complicate what Vietnamese America is through a critical refugee and critical race lens. By analyzing various issues, we are able to see how Vietnamese Americans are affected by larger societal forces such as capitalism and imperialism. This course aims to: 1. To introduce the student to the history, culture, and contemporary experiences of Vietnamese Americans, highlighting how power and privilege entangles them all together. 2. Expand current discourse around social issues that affect Vietnamese Americans by using both scientific literature, creative works and scholarly articles. 3. Expose students to the multitude of historical, contemporary and local Vietnamese American narratives, taking advantage of the proximity to one of the largest Little Saigons. Scope/Content: Charlie holds a map of Cambodia, photographer Katie Xing, 2019.
Type
sound
Format
2 mp3 audio files; 2 pdf transcriptions English; 1 pdf time log; 1 pdf life map; 2 jpg image files
Assimilation | Boat people | Business owner | Chinatown | Chinese | Ethnic Chinese | Crime | Diaspora | Diaspora | Education | Escape | English as Second Language (ESL) | Family | Family reunification | Farming | Fisherman | Hainanese | High school | Identity | Language barrier | Marriage | Orphan | Poverty | Refugee Camp (Thailand) | Resettlement | Sponsors | Sponsorship | Student | Unemployment | Vietnam War | Youth | Cambodia | Camp Pendleton, California | Guam | Los Angeles, California | Monterey Park, California | Songkhla Refugee Camp, Thailand | U-Tapao- Royal Thai Navy Airfield | Vietnam, Southern | Kiên Giang Province
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
