Nam Pham: former commissioner, Refugees & Immigrants
Trinh Nguyen: director, development, Boston Women’s Fund
Nhan Paul Ton That: director, Viet AID
Peter Kiang: chair, Asian studies, UMASS Boston
Thirty years ago, the Fall of Saigon ended the Viet Nam War and led to the first wave of Vietnamese immigration to Boston and other cities in the United States. 130,000 refugees fled Vietnam in 1975, fearing reprisal from the Communist Party. The exodus continued and as of the 2000 census, there were nearly 1,220,000 Vietnamese Americans living in the US, the fifth largest Asian immigrant group in the country. Ten years after diplomatic relations between the US and Viet Nam were re-established, as many as 20,000 Vietnamese live and work in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. Panelists talk about generational issues, homeland politics, cultural barriers and challenges, and the contributions Vietnamese Americans have made to the City of Boston and the country as a whole.
Presented in partnership with Carney Hospital, Viet AID, City of Boston Office of Neighborhood Services, Office of New Bostonians, Dorchester Reporter.
December 6, 2005
http://dev.forum-network.org/lecture/after-saigon-vietnamese-immigrants-america