In this week’s reading, the topics of discussion are “Traitors Strike Back, Venerations: Hybrid Vigor, Cultural Bridges, Golden People, Race Saviors, and Ideal Beauty.” From the first reading, “Doing the Mixed Race Dance: A Multiracial Vietnamese American ClassTypology.” by Professor Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde, we have this discussion of multiracial Vietnamese American typology with the Amerasians, Mixed Race Vietnamese, and Cosmopolitian mixed-race Vietnamese hierarchy, from lowest to highest respectively. I think this is still seen today. That the level if immigrant one is reflected in how they are treated. There is a level of respect given to those that are more American than those are “fresh of the boat” coming to America. Having that sense of being mixed adds privileges at some points, but others int he same community may also only look at the bad points in each side. So, either helps or hurts you to be mixed race, which is unfair on either side. Going beyond that there is this really interesting point of how you are what you are. Like what gender you are, makes the first difference, and then which side of your family contributed to the race you express, where you were born, Vietnam or America (from my experience even which part of Vietnam you come from), occupation, education level, and whether or not you can speak Vietnamese, and how assimilated you are. I get this on so many levels without even being mixed race. If you are Vietnamese and cannot speak it, you are looked down upon and can feel it from any other Vietnamese person, speaking or not. I feel like looking assimilated is more preferred, which is strange if Vietnamese speaking abilities makes one “ranked” higher.
How did the professor come to these conclusions? Was it from observation and surveying or what? I resonate and believe every word of what she wrote in the article, just question what the process was like for her.
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