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BP Spill Damages More than Coast–a Vietnamese Community too

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A Vietnamese Fisherman in Louisiana (post-Katrina actually, not the oil spill). Image credits to NOAA Photo Library.

Not two months ago, the Vietnamese community in Louisiana was being featured in big name news outlets as a shining beacon of resilience and transcendence.  Not only had we built up a strong sense of self-sufficiency and tenacity, becoming one of the first communities to move back into ravaged New Orleans areas post Katrina, as this CNN article from 2007 details, we’d also become the guardians of cultures beyond our own–just this April, Vietnamese-Americans in Louisiana were heralded in the New York Times as the new culinary keepers of both Vietnamese and Cajun cuisine.

But fast forward two months and that narrative of successful Vietnamese Louisianans seems to be falling apart at the seams.  Our community in New Orleans is shaken and distraught.  At the core of this community unraveling is the BP oil spill, which (needless for me to say at this point) has caused irreparable damage to the environment and maritime culture of the gulf coast.  Many of the 20,000+ Vietnamese living in the New Orleans areas happen to depend on fishing for their livelihood.  With the gulf in its current condition, Vietnamese fishermen are left jobless.  Add an English-as-a-Second-language barrier to the equation and joblessness turns into a state of prolonged, unalleviated anxiety.

Indeed, the latest article featuring Vietnamese Americans on the New York Times lacks any ring of optimism that was found in previous articles.  Vietnamese fishermen, as well as others, suffer from “hopelessness, anxiety, stress, anger, depression and even suicidal thoughts.” Once peaceful and calm fishermen grow frustrated and even violent as they wait for aid.  Already haunted by a displacement from their motherlands, these fishermen grow concerned that a second displacement may follow if the situation does not clear up soon.

BP has announced that it will pay 20 billion in reparations to immediate victims of the oil spill, but how long will it take them to dole out the 20 billion, how the 20 billion will be allotted, and how much 20 billion can repair still remains to be seen.

In the past, Louisianan Vietnamese communities have banded together beautifully in times of need.  We bravely stood up to the KKK in the late 70s and early 80s, and we lent each other helping hands after Hurricane Katrina.  We’ve stood up to racism and to natural disaster (though some might say that Hurricane Katrina was more than a natural disaster…)—how will we stand at the end of this man-made calamity?

A Quick Link to Articles referenced in this post:

“New Orleans: An immigrant community thrives” by Adam Lashinsky (CNN Money)

“United Tastes – Vietnamese Immigrants Carry on a Cajun Food Tradition” by John T. Edge (NYT)

“Spill Takes Toll on Gulf Workers’ Psyches” by Mireya Navarro (NYT)

“The KKK and Vietnamese Fishermen” by Andrew Chin (University of North Carolina Law School)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I couldn't help but think of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans when the news broke about the BP Spill. I recently watched a documentary, A Village Called Versailles, about this community, their struggles and how they were able to over come Katrina and idiot Mayor Nagan, when he tried to put a toxic dumping ground in their community. I know they were able to rebuild and get past those obstacles. As Vietnamese it is our inherit nature to persevere, our people have been through a lot and survived – and strive, but I am starting to wondering if what is going on in the Gulf is way too much for even the most determined to make it. Very sad indeed.In case you are interested, here is the link to the documentary: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/village-called-versailles/film.html

  2. The article declares: "BP has announced that it will pay 20 billion in reparations to immediate victims of the oil spill, but how long will it take them to dole out the 20 billion, how the 20 billion will be allotted…"Newsflash; that $20 billion is not B.P.s to dole out! –it's Obama's slush fund, and the slow-to-act federal government will decide which affected people get money, –if any at all! …. This $20 billion is not the first huge sum of money that the Obama administration has used for OTHER than its intended purposes. /History majors, pay attention.

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