Between 1978 and 1979, the largest group of refugees coming to America were the Vietnamese boat people. The term “Vietnamese boat people” refers to those refugees that fled Vietnam by means of boats and ships after the Vietnam War. This migration brought roughly 800,000 Vietnamese refugees. Communism started because of Viet Cong and the uprising of the Vietnam War. I Love Yous Are For White People, written by Lac Su, is a story of an ordinary family living under extraordinary circumstances after fleeing Vietnam. The novel exemplifies how Vietnamese refugees had a difficult time assimilating to the American way of life. There is more to identity than meets the eye; culture, class, and social factors that can influence that. Asian refugees faced
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When refugees escape to a new land, they not only have to adapt to a new life far away from their family and friends, but also to a new language. Many Vietnamese refugees had limited English proficiency, which created a language barrier that prove difficult to overcome. The language barrier had a great impact on their lives and brought a lot of hardships within their community. For example, in the novel, the existence of the language barrier between Su’s father and the bus driver caused great miscommunication. Su reiterates his father’s words, “He was rattling off words to me like firecrackers and I didn’t understand any of them. I just nodded my head and hoped he understood what I wanted. I sat on his bus for another hour waiting for him to signal that I should get off, but he just kept driving.” (34). Language barriers not only influenced the refugees’ ability to gather information, but also the capability of seeking help, where something as simple as taking the bus home can lead to great confusion. Another example from the novel that demonstrates how the language barrier for refugees created problems was the scene when the Su family went out to dinner at Bob’s Big Boy. When it came time to pay at the restaurant Su’s father kept insisting on paying with the food stamps, while the restaurant only accepted cash or credit. There are further discrepancies as the Su family did not bring any cash to pay for their meal. While Su’s father kept forcing the food stamps as payment, which the waitress constantly denies. This in turn leads to a furious manager taking the unwanted food stamps and paying the bill with his own money, and shooing the family out of the restaurant. Assimilating to a new country, involves learning their native tongue and in time through various encounters and much practice one can be accustomed to the new
When refugees escape to a new land, they not only have to adapt to a new life far away from their family and friends, but also to a new language. Many Vietnamese refugees had limited English proficiency, which created a language barrier that prove difficult to overcome. The language barrier had a great impact on their lives and brought a lot of hardships within their community. For example, in the novel, the existence of the language barrier between Su’s father and the bus driver caused great miscommunication. Su reiterates his father’s words, “He was rattling off words to me like firecrackers and I didn’t understand any of them. I just nodded my head and hoped he understood what I wanted. I sat on his bus for another hour waiting for him to signal that I should get off, but he just kept driving.” (34). Language barriers not only influenced the refugees’ ability to gather information, but also the capability of seeking help, where something as simple as taking the bus home can lead to great confusion. Another example from the novel that demonstrates how the language barrier for refugees created problems was the scene when the Su family went out to dinner at Bob’s Big Boy. When it came time to pay at the restaurant Su’s father kept insisting on paying with the food stamps, while the restaurant only accepted cash or credit. There are further discrepancies as the Su family did not bring any cash to pay for their meal. While Su’s father kept forcing the food stamps as payment, which the waitress constantly denies. This in turn leads to a furious manager taking the unwanted food stamps and paying the bill with his own money, and shooing the family out of the restaurant. Assimilating to a new country, involves learning their native tongue and in time through various encounters and much practice one can be accustomed to the new