“40, 50 years ago, Americans - the majority of Americans did not want to accept these Vietnamese refugees who they saw as completely foreign. Now there are new foreigners - Syrians and other people from the Middle East, people of Muslim backgrounds. And the sense among many Americans is, well, these people are completely different from us, and they're not like the Vietnamese who are much more assimilable. And I think that's very, very doubtful. I think that the majority of these new foreigners, if given the opportunity, will be able to assimilate and deal with American culture.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantYearsWellsDifferentAbleCultureOpportunityGivenDealsAcceptingSawsMiddleYears AgoMajorityEastBackgroundsMiddle EastRefugeeAmerican CultureForeignersDoubtfulVietnameseVietnamese Refugees Author:Nguyen Viet Thang
“I think my parents' lives are worthy of writing about. I don't think my life is particularly worthy of writing about.” ThinkingWritingLife IsParentWorthy Author:Nguyen Viet Thang
“People might like to think a war is done when a cease fire is signed, but for most people who lived through a war it goes on for decades.” PeopleThinkingWarDoneMightFireGoes OnDecadesCease Author:Nguyen Viet Thang
“By college, I had a really grand, preposterous vision of myself as becoming a writer, but I don't think I had the discipline or the patience - or the ability or the humility. It took 20 years to acquire those things.” ThinkingYearsAbilityVisionHumilityCollegeBecomingDisciplineAcquire Author:Nguyen Viet Thang
“The refugees are not only going to be a demand on the country's resources, but also the refugees raise the possibility that the countries that they're going to are themselves not as stable as the citizens would like, I think. We're all just one catastrophe away from ending up as a refugee, and we don't want to be reminded of that.” ThinkingWantCountryPossibilityCitizensDemandResourcesRaisesJust OneStableCatastropheRefugee Author:Nguyen Viet Thang
“I think all immigrants and refugees are preoccupied with memories to one degree or another. But again, this question of how much to remember and how much to forget is really aggravated for those who have lost a tremendous amount.” ThinkingRememberLostMemoriesForgetAmountDegreesImmigrantsRefugeeAggravated Author:Nguyen Viet Thang
