OUR TOWN
L E A R N I N G
A B O UT
S O C I A L
J U ST I C E
GROWING UP IN VIETNAM
PULSE Perspective by Kim Nguyen | Design & Illustration by Sara Roach Hearing about Vietnam, what would be the first thing that comes to your mind? Let me guess, is it the Vietnam War? Most people are only familiar with Vietnam through the pages of their high school history books and hundreds of documentaries about its painful past. However, things are no longer the same. Vietnam has become the country of change and its people are responsible for making that happen. In the past few years, the younger generations in Vietnam have begun taking on the responsibility to fight for social justice. With over a thousand years of tradition engraved in the society, it is going to be a rough battle. Bound in Tradition For you to fully understand my social justice journey, I will introduce a little about myself and my childhood. My name is Kim Nguyen and I spent the first 18 years of my life in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, in a family with generations of traditional artists. If you are familiar with ancient stories and plays, they all attempt to teach morals. Therefore, my childhood was all about learning proper
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etiquette and manners of a good lady and not questioning what I was taught. Vietnam is a great country, but it is bound by too many ancient traditions. Traditions may hold historical value and can be important to one’s culture, however, they are not always right. A long time ago, I realized that the legends and stories I grew up with have taught generations of Vietnamese citizens to be silent. Casey Swendig, an American teacher who has spent the past seven years teaching about social justice in Vietnam, shares, “The older generations accept their place in the world and do not ask questions or even desire to talk about social justice.” If you have seen Mulan, you would remember the part where Mulan stepped out to stop her father from going to war and she was told to be quiet so she would not dishonor her family. That animated scene actually represents a realistic idea in the Vietnamese society where women are still considered the ‘weaker’ gender and they are not given a say in many things. The lack of equality is not only because of the traditions and old stories, but also can be a result of the education system. Bach Do, a Vietnamese
