The United States from its earliest times has been a melting pot, so to speak, of many cultures form various regions of the world. Much more recently have Asian Americans, and specifically Vietnamese people come into the mix of American culture. Like most immigrants, Asian-Americans have had to suffer many hardships, not only to get into the country itself, but to assimilate, adapt, and survive. When groups like this come to this country, it is crucial to be able to align themselves with others who have shared similar experiences in order to attain some sort of political status. Asian-American groups did just that early on, specifically on the west coast.
Mobilization efforts were not easy, yet groups were established early enough that, to this day, changes have been made. The word mobilization was originally used in the context of war. It was defined as “the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war”. When related the book Mobilizing an Asian American Community, by Linda Trinh Vo, the word is used in a similar sense, however without the classic war connotations. Asian American groups came from a diverse number of countries and thus were designated within these groups upon arriving in the U.S.. By realizing that they could have more power in greater numbers, umbrella groups for their smaller campaigns and social organizations were formed for the betterment of the larger group on a broader scale.
What some don’t necessarily agree on when it comes to this topic is the acceptance of various groups to fall into the larger “Pan Asian” and “Asian American Groups”. Some cultural croups felt as if they were underrepresented at times within these umbrella organizations, and tried to form their own political coalitions. Other groups felt as if their immigration experience had been different or even worse than others, and because of this, felt they should be represented in other ways. Many people also don’t realize that large groups of the Vietnamese immigrants specifically were forced to leave their homes and come to the U.S. rather than do it willingly. Experiences like this can lead to a completely different outlook on mobilization efforts.
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Overall i'd have to say your context gave a interesting look into the background of mobilization efforts of Vietnamese people who immigrated into the United states. I couldn't really tell if the main point was supposed to be about the mobilization efforts or how Vietnamese people actually came to the U.S. so you might want to clarify that.
I was interested in the refugee camps as well so I think it could help this section of your project to talk a little bit about that because I think that was a large part of the immigration process for a lot of Vietnamese people. I think you do have enough information in the context that you can use in the paper. It was solid for a rough draft though and i'm interested to see what the final draft is going to be like.
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