The South-East Asian Refugees’ Experience of Intersectionality in America
Intersectionality has been widely used by social scientists to explain social identities in relation to systems of oppression. Some of the areas the term has been applied include race, gender, and class due to their interconnectivity. From Eric Tang’s “Organizing in Poor Immigrant Communities: Starting from Scratch in the Bronx”, “How Refugees Stopped the Bronx from Burning,” and Maliha Safri and Julie Graham’s “The Global Household: Toward a Feminist Postcapitalist International Political Economy,” I analyze the interdependence of violence, organizing, and opportunity in the context of the Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees who were brought to the America as a result of American wars in that region. This is followed by a summary of my key arguments before drawing conclusions to my essay.
Background
The South-East Asian refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam were brought to the U.S after a U.S. military invasion of those countries. They were settled in the South Bronx in New York City. But, contrary to their expectations—that they were leaving a war zone and coming to a place of peace, tranquility, and economic opportunities—they were rather exposed to what they would …show more content…
Landlords, in collusion with corrupt government officials, used acts of arson as a tactic to clear the blighted areas of the Bronx which also housed the new immigrants. Social activist, Tang would like to know, for instance, why no other place was chosen to settle the refugees apart from the South Bronx, if not for reasons bordering on race. Of course, it may be argued that no immigrants from Europe or with European origin have had to be settled in the poor communities in
Intersectionality has been widely used by social scientists to explain social identities in relation to systems of oppression. Some of the areas the term has been applied include race, gender, and class due to their interconnectivity. From Eric Tang’s “Organizing in Poor Immigrant Communities: Starting from Scratch in the Bronx”, “How Refugees Stopped the Bronx from Burning,” and Maliha Safri and Julie Graham’s “The Global Household: Toward a Feminist Postcapitalist International Political Economy,” I analyze the interdependence of violence, organizing, and opportunity in the context of the Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees who were brought to the America as a result of American wars in that region. This is followed by a summary of my key arguments before drawing conclusions to my essay.
Background
The South-East Asian refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam were brought to the U.S after a U.S. military invasion of those countries. They were settled in the South Bronx in New York City. But, contrary to their expectations—that they were leaving a war zone and coming to a place of peace, tranquility, and economic opportunities—they were rather exposed to what they would …show more content…
Landlords, in collusion with corrupt government officials, used acts of arson as a tactic to clear the blighted areas of the Bronx which also housed the new immigrants. Social activist, Tang would like to know, for instance, why no other place was chosen to settle the refugees apart from the South Bronx, if not for reasons bordering on race. Of course, it may be argued that no immigrants from Europe or with European origin have had to be settled in the poor communities in