ASA 115 001
14 July 2019
Professor Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde's "From Dust to Gold: The Vietnamese Amerasian Experience" explains the Vietnamese Amerasian experience, and how Amerasians have transitioned from dust (essentially nothing) to gold (potential, treasure, etc.). Valverde does so by breaking down the chapter into six sections, establishing a sense of fear of public image that both the Vietnamese and United States governments have exhibited since the Vietnam War. For the United States, their lack of attention or recognition of Amerasians comes from the loss of the war and any reminder that comes from it; while for Vietnam, their lack of recognition of Amerasians comes from a similar place of not wanting to remember the war as well as a lack of comprehending the distortion of homogenous relationships. Of course, this isn't to say that the Vietnamese have had no other instance of multiracial children, as far as it is known, but as discussed in class, society has a tough time with comprehending things and people that fall outside of one's umbrella of understanding. As such, this piece seeks to inform the reader of the common misconceptions that have come from the mention of Vietnamese Amerasians, which I personally wouldn't have known had I not taken previous ASA courses.
This piece in particular reminds me of a reading I had done with Professor Maira; the book is called We Should Never Meet by Aimee Phan, and it is centered around "Operation Babylift," an instance in which Amerasian babies were flown from Vietnam to the United States to be relocated. Phan displays the pain of relocating for Amerasian young adults by showing how their lives play out in different ways - for example, there is one Amerasian girl who has to "play with" her so-called trauma as an Amerasian for college admission; another girl must live with the consequences of "family" despite the trouble and loss of opportunity that may bring; and, how even Black Amerasians face a particular prejudice just by their visible difference. Pairing these two readings together felt both familiar and foreign, but also all the more worthwhile.
Here is the cover of the novel mentioned: (I highly recommend it!)
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