Saigon, USA presents a compelling portrait of a community
struggling to make a new home in the United States.

First hand accounts combined with archival footage and photographs will show how the City of Westminster in Orange County has grown into the de facto capital of the Vietnamese immigrant community since the fall of Saigon, almost 25 years ago. But this growth has not been without challenges. The Vietnamese community has been fragmented by political and generational differences, as some members dwelled on the injustice of their exile, and others focussed on assimilating into their new home. No group effectively presented a unified voice to the outside world.

This status quo was jolted in February, 1999 when a Vietnamese American named Truong Van Tran hung a photograph of Ho Chi Minh and a communist Vietnamese flag in his Hi Tek video store. Mr. Tran's actions provoked dramatic and unprecedented demonstrations among Vietnamese Americans of all generations that reverberated in Orange County and throughout the other Vietnamese American communities across the North American continent.

To the American non-Vietnamese community, the extent of the anti-Communist uproar was surprising – why was there such a response to what most Americans had thought was ancient history? And what of the free speech rights of the video store owner? It seemed to be a clash between old country politics and new world free speech rights.

But the strength of the Vietnamese Americans' response showed the deeply felt issues and passions that still mark this community in exile. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of Saigon nears, the protests mark an important point for their community. The furor over the legacy of the past has led to increased public visibility and a sense of hope for the future. The reaction has outgrown the video store, and community organizers are attempting to harness the new-found energy within the community. The protests against a picture and a flag and the communist regime that they represent have ultimately led to the tantalizing possibility of unifying and organizing the community for greater civic participation and political empowerment in the United States.

Saigon, USA explores the dynamics of the Hi Tek protests in the context of the history of Vietnamese immigration to California: why Mr. Tran felt compelled to place the provocative photograph and flag in his store; why people reacted so passionately; and how the groundswell of Vietnamese outrage was reshaped to fit into an American context through the use of peaceful protests, demonstrations and media strategies. Saigon, USA tells the story of the Hi Tek protests and their consequences from many perspectives within the Vietnamese community.

In examining the many sides to this story, Saigon, USA reveals a larger story: the story of an evolving American community and the process of becoming "American." It is the American struggles of immigration and assimilation seen through the unique and contemporary experience of the Vietnamese. It explores why the Vietnamese came to America and what hopes and fears they brought with them. It shows their attempts to forge a new community in spite of a legacy of traumatic dislocation. And it shows how a group of immigrant Americans is trying to build its own future.

Saigon, USA deepens our understanding of what it means for these recent immigrants to be American. By doing so, it will also broaden public understanding of what America is, and what America can be.

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Producers:  Lindsey Jang and Robert C. Winn
Tel:  (213) 977-0019, Email: winn@aya.yale.edu
In collaboration with KOCE