Week 5 - Cultural-Political Representations and Struggles

Jinia Lee
ASA141
Week 5

As part of an ethnic minority, it is so important to be represented in the cultural and political spheres of society because when we are rendered invisible, our voices and needs are not met. While reading Jonsson and Taylor's National Colors: Ethnic Minorities in Vietnamese Public Imagery, there were some things that stood out to me. On page 180, it talked about how ethnic-minority people staged demonstrations against religious persecution and outsiders' encroachment, but Vietnamese media reframed it as a celebration with "... over two-thousand ethnic-minority in the region assembled for a two day annual festival aim[ed] to preserve and develop minority groups' cultural identities..." under the notion of national loyalty to Vietnam. This reminds me of multiculturalism and reframing the narrative to benefit the dominant group. In this case, Vietnamese people want to push this propaganda that Vietnam is diverse and that every culture is celebrated. However, this celebration of cultures is not discussing about the historical, political, and social experiences that impact the ethnic minorities. This then leads to Vietnamese people "othering" the ethnic-minority groups and by doing this, they contribute to the cycle of what whites perpetuate onto Asian and Asian Americans which reminds me of what Dr. Valverde said in class, "Just because they look like you does not mean they are on your side."