Vietnamese American Partisan Identification

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Vietnamese American Partisan Identification

Voters Box

Author: Duyên Tống
Grade: 11-12

Suggested Amount of Time: 80 - 100 Minutes
Area of Study: Vietnamese Resettlement and Community Building

Compelling Question

  • What is Vietnamese America?

Lesson Questions
  • Where do Vietnamese Americans fit within the American two-party system?
  • What political priorities in the Vietnamese American community influence their voting patterns and political views?
  • How do Vietnamese Americans participate in the democratic process through protest, organizing, co-ethnic mobilization, and allyship?
Lesson Objective

Students will explore how different waves of immigration experiences (including factors of language and education) may impact the dynamic of Vietnamese families by analyzing various sources and creating a fictional dialogue.

Lesson Background

To better understand the generational divides between different Vietnamese generations, it is important to review the different waves of immigration and the impact it had on the Vietnamese community and their experiences in the United States. The first wave started after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 and they were met with strong anti-communist sentiments from the Republican Party. They also lacked an established community and received limited resettlement support.  On the other hand, the second wave of refugees contributed greatly to the growth of the Vietnamese American communities starting in the 1980s with The Refugee Act of 1980 and the Orderly Departure Program. They were met with rejection and viewed as undesirables. However, to get more voter registration, the Republican Party increased efforts to reach and connect to the Vietnamese communities. The most recent wave of Vietnamese immigration is characterized by arrivals after the establishment of influential ethnic communities and voting blocs, particularly in Orange County, California. Little Saigon in Orange County serves as a significant cultural and financial hub for Vietnamese Americans. However, thriving Vietnamese communities have also emerged in Texas and Boston. In the middle of the 1990s, the Republican Party created some more restrictive rules about immigration such as Proposition 187 and a law in 1996 that limited help for people in need. This instilled an unwelcoming sentiment in many immigrants. Around this time, changes could be seen in the support that the Vietnamese communities were giving to the Republican Party. In this lesson, students will be able to explore how generational divides challenge communication among Vietnamese Americans. In understanding the waves of immigration, it could be seen that the first-generation Vietnamese Americans tend to support the Republican Party and see the Republican Party as allies against the government that took over their homeland. Additionally, factors such as: language, education, refugee experiences create a disconnect within Vietnamese families on different levels including politics. 

Image Citation: Election resources: How to get involved – AAUW : Empowering women since 1881. (2022, October 31). AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881. https://www.aauw.org/resources/policy/get-involved-in-elections/

Historical Thinking Skills

This lesson will facilitate student proficiency in historical perspectives, one of Seixas’ historical thinking skills (Seixas & Morton, 2013). To demonstrate the use of evidence to write historical fiction that accurately conveys the beliefs, values, and motivations of historical actors. Students consider how different historical actors have diverse perspectives on the events in which they are involved. Exploring these is key to understanding historical events.

Supplies
  • Access to laptop device
  • 2022 Asian American Voter Survey, pages 9–14
Readings
  • “Why the Defunct South Vietnam Flag was Flown at the Capitol Riot”
  • Videos:
    • US election: A generational divide over Trump among Vietnamese-Americans - BBC News
    • Source 2: 2022 Asian American Voter Survey
Handouts
  1. Cultural Energizer (5 minutes)
    1. Prompt students with the following questions: 
      1. What are some ways that you are different from your parents or family members? (i.e: beliefs, interests and hobbies, physical traits)
      2. Share with a partner and the whole class.
      3. Introduce today’s objective and go over the background information with students. Explain that you will go in more depth through analyzing different sources throughout the lesson. 
    2. Play this youtube video “US election: A generational divide over Trump among Vietnamese-Americans - BBC News”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5saCjvq0Jyo&t=163s  
      1. Ask students to share any insights or aha! moments they gleaned from this video and if it triggered any moments in their real lives.
  2. AAPI Data Sheet Analysis (20 minutes)
    1. Have students open the data sheet by AAPI Vote.
      1. The link can be found at https://ucdavis.box.com/s/oexot1vco1ppqmbczcnj4sgtfebnmavx  or original source https://apiavote.org/wp-content/uploads/2022-Asian-American-Voter-Survey-Report.pdf .
    2. The teacher will show pages 9-14 out of 85, which shows which party and candidates different Asian American groups tend to support.
      1. The teacher will have students discuss for three minutes: 
        1. How does the Vietnamese American vote differ from other Asian American groups? 
        2. What party do they tend to support?
        3. Why do you think that is?
      2. The class will then come together and discuss student thoughts
    3. Teacher to distribute the “AAPI Data Sheet Analysis” (see handouts)
      1. In the graphic organizer, students will follow the instructions on the worksheet:
        1. Below, among the six Asian American groups listed (Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean), rank what issues are most important to Vietnamese Americans in terms of other groups.
        2. The students should be looking through pages 21–35 out of 85 for preferences on key issues.
        3. Answers are provided in the worksheet.
      2. After ranking the importance of political issues for Vietnamese Americans, students will highlight all the #1 and #2 issues for Vietnamese Americans (most important) in yellow.
        1. After highlighting, the teacher will have students read pages 36-50. 
          1. Students will fill in the table in which Vietnamese Americans respond  to what party they believe is doing a better job. The answers can either be Democratic Party (D), Republican Party (R), or No Difference (None). 
          2. After filling out the party preferences, highlight the issues that were of most political priority (same as the previous job) to Vietnamese Americans. 
        2. After highlighting the issues, the students will research the stances of the party on issues Vietnamese Americans see as most important to them. Students will write down a sentence of that stance and why Vietnamese Americans may agree with that party more.
          1. The teacher will then have students discuss with each other for 5-10 minutes what issues are most important, what issues are not most important, what party is doing better on those issues, and which party fits with their highest political priorities. Discussion question:
            1. Is there a pattern in the party that they support?
          2. The class will come together and discuss
          3. Discussion points for teacher:
            1. First-generation Vietnamese Americans tend to see jobs, inflation, national security, and foreign policy in Asia as their most important political issues.
            2. First-generation Vietnamese Americans tend to support the Republican Party. Sees the Republican Party as allies against the government that took over their homeland.
            3. The first generation's partisan affinity towards the Republican Party aligns with their issue preferences, particularly on foreign policy and national security.
        3. At the end, the teacher will bring up other important nuances to lead up to the other activities, focusing specifically on: diversity in generation, language, and migration history (which wave they came)
          1. Generational divides challenge communication among Vietnamese Americans. Generational differences in political preferences can create divisions within the Vietnamese American community.
          2. Communication difficulties exist between immigrant parents (Vietnamese-language dominant) and their US-born children (English-language dominant).
            1. Second-generation Vietnamese Americans may feel disconnected from their group histories.
            2. Second and later generations sometimes attribute first-generation support for the Republican Party to a lack of political knowledge and misinformation.
            3. Second-generations also care about more domestic issues such as racism, health care, voting rights, and gun control and therefore lean towards the Democratic Party.
          3. These factors create a disconnect within Vietnamese families due to different socialization, education, and language experiences.
          4. Vietnamese Americans prioritize foreign policy in Asia and national security in their political preferences.
          5. Despite these differences, there are common challenges, such as standing together against violent attacks on Vietnamese Americans. Unity against such actions is seen as a way to bridge intergenerational divides in the community.
  3. For migration history, teachers can move onto the activity for sources one and two.
  4. For generation and language differences, teachers can move onto the activity for source three.
    1. Interactive with first source: Source 1: Understanding different waves of migration to the USA. These are some sample questions you can use to check for understanding. Use any text annotation strategies that you are comfortable with when looking through the sources. Create a graphic organizer that you are comfortable with where students can take notes and answer these questions for all the sources. (15 minutes)
      1. What details set apart the three waves of refugees and what were the political impacts?
      2. What were some of the more restrictive immigration policies introduced by the GOP in the mid-1990s, and how did they contribute to the perception of a hostile political environment?
      3. How did the political identification of Vietnamese Americans change over time, and what factors contributed to this shift in political affiliations?
      4. Class Share out: It’s important to point out that the different waves encounter different treatment and support and therefore impact their views. 
    2. Interaction with second source: Source 2: Chart (found on: 2022 Asian American Voter Survey) (10–15 minutes)
      1. Use the tips below to help students analyze data from the chart.
        1. Read the Title and Labels: Always start by reading the chart's title and labels. This provides context and tells you what the chart is about.
        2. Check the Data Source: If available, look for the source of the data. It helps you assess the credibility and reliability of the information.
        3. Identify Trends: Look for trends in the data. Are values increasing, decreasing, or staying the same over time or across categories?
        4. Analyze Patterns: Identify any patterns, such as cycles, outliers, or clusters. These can provide valuable insights.
        5. Interpret Data Points: Carefully read and interpret data points. Understand what each data point represents and its significance.
        6. Use Comparisons: Compare different parts of the chart to draw conclusions. For example, compare one category to another or one time period to another.
        7. Ask Questions: Don't hesitate to ask questions about what you see in the chart. This can help clarify any uncertainties.
        8. Look for Relationships: If there are multiple variables, explore relationships between them. Does one variable influence another?
    3. Interaction with third source: Source 3: The Politics of Intergenerational Differences: Bridging and Healing (Dr. Loan K. Lê) (10–15 minutes)
      1. Some points to bring up to students:
        1. Generational divides challenge communication among Vietnamese Americans. Generational differences in political preferences can create divisions within the Vietnamese American community.
          1. First-generation Vietnamese Americans tend to support the Republican Party. Sees the Republican Party as allies against the government that took over their homeland.
          2. The first generation's partisan affinity towards the Republican Party aligns with their issue preferences, particularly on foreign policy and national security.
        2. Communication difficulties exist between immigrant parents (Vietnamese-language dominant) and their US-born children (English-language dominant).
          1. Second-generation Vietnamese Americans may feel disconnected from their group histories.
          2. Second and later generations sometimes attribute first-generation support for the Republican Party to a lack of political knowledge and misinformation.
        3. These factors create a disconnect within Vietnamese families due to different socialization, education, and language experiences.
        4. Vietnamese Americans prioritize foreign policy in Asia and national security in their political preferences.
        5. Despite these differences, there are common challenges, such as standing together against violent attacks on Vietnamese Americans. Unity against such actions is seen as a way to bridge intergenerational divides in the community.
    4. Interaction with fourth source: “Why the defunct South Vietnam flag was flown at the Capitol riot” CBS News article https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/why-defunct-south-vietnam-flag-was-flown-capitol-riot-n1254306 (10–15 minutes)
      1. Some questions to ask to facilitate discussion:
        1. What significance did the South Vietnamese flag hold for Vietnamese Americans during the January 6th US Capitol riot?
        2. What divisions and controversies have arisen within the Vietnamese American community regarding the South Vietnamese flag, and what are some examples of these conflicts?
        3. What are the generational, class, and ideological divides within the Vietnamese American community, and how do they reflect larger societal divisions in the United States?
        4. What questions are younger Vietnamese Americans raising in response to their elders' loyalty to the South Vietnamese flag, and how can these discussions lead to constructive dialogue about their difficult past?
  5. Community Collaboration (10–20 minutes)
    1. Be sure to bring back the supporting questions and synthesize the information gleaned from the sources. There are different ways for students to collaborate on this: Socratic Seminar, World Cafe, Padlet, small group discussion. Post the questions somewhere visible.
      1. Where do Vietnamese Americans fit within the American two-party system?
      2. What political priorities in the Vietnamese American community influence their voting patterns and political views?
      3. How do Vietnamese Americans participate in the democratic process through protest, organizing, co-ethnic mobilization, and allyship?
  6. Cultural Production (20–30 minutes) 
    1. Task: Create a fictional dialogue discussing political views between two people of different Vietnamese generations and experiences. Alternatively, students can create a storyboard. The final product can be open to a written, visual, or audio narrative. 
    2. The dialogue should include the following:
      1. Theme: discussion of political views between two people of different Vietnamese generations and experiences, including background to explain their perspectives, experiences, and generational gaps.
      2. Determine the Context: Define the context of your dialogue. Are the characters meeting for the first time? Are they family members discussing over dinner? The context will influence the language and phrases you use.
      3. Create Characters: Invent characters for your dialogue. Give them names, ages, and backgrounds that fit the context. 
      4. Plan the Conversation: Decide who will initiate the conversation and how it will progress. 
      5. Use Relevant Information and Vocabulary from the 4 sources discussed in class. Make sure they fit naturally into the dialogue. 
      6. Add Realistic Expressions: Include expressions and gestures that make the dialogue sound authentic. For instance, polite greetings, expressions of gratitude, or ways to politely decline something.
      7. Include Questions and Responses: Include questions asked by one character and responses from the other. This will create a back-and-forth conversation.
    3. Showcase: Have each pair present their dialogue to another pair in class. Students can reflect on the lesson with a ticket out the door.

Students will create a fictional dialogue discussing political views between two people of different Vietnamese generations and experiences using information gleaned from the lesson and sources. Alternatively, students can create a storyboard. 

  • Engagement: Consider the following method to support with lesson engagement:
    • Use prompts or scaffolds for visualizing desired outcome
    • Encourage and support opportunities for peer interactions and supports (e.g., peer-tutors)
  • Representation: Consider the following method to support with multiple means of representation:
    • Pre-teach vocabulary and symbols, especially in ways that promote connection to the learners’ experience and prior knowledge
    • Link key vocabulary words to definitions and pronunciations in both dominant and heritage languages
      • Key Terms: partisan, politics, generational differences, political preference, socialization, political parties, political identification
  • Action and Expression: Consider the following method to support in presenting their learning in multiple ways:
    • Use social media and interactive web tools (e.g., discussion forums, chats, web design, annotation tools, storyboards, comic strips, animation presentations)
    • Compose in multiple media such as text, speech, drawing, illustration, comics, storyboards, design, film, music, visual art, sculpture, or video 

 

For additional ideas to support your students, check out the UDL Guidelines at CAST, 2018 http://udlguidelines.cast.org.

  • Emerging: Consider the following method to support with emerging students:
    • Speaking: Provide sentence frames for pair interactions
    • In response to a prompt, the teacher offers a sentence frame orally and/or in writing to support expression of student thinking. Frames are adjusted based upon specific grammatical structure, key vocabulary, content learning, and language proficiency level descriptors, etc. Frames are a temporary scaffold that require modification.
  • Expanding: Consider the following method to support with expanding students:
    • Speaking: Repeat and expand student responses in a collaborative dialogue 
      • Ground rules or guidelines for conversations are used as the basis for constructive academic talk. Teacher provides judicious corrective feedback during student talk.
  • Bridging: Consider the following method to support with bridging students:
    • Speaking: Require the use of academic language 
      • Apply domain-­specific vocabulary and general Academic vocabulary in open sentence frames to perform functions, like describing or explaining, that target specific grammatical structures.

 

For additional guidance around scaffolding for multilingual learners, please consult the following resources:

  1. Comic Strip - Students can create a digital or paper comic strip that captures the thoughts of Vietnamese American political views, or a conversation between two Vietnamese Americans who have different partisan identification. Students should use respectful language in dialogue. Suggested websites: Canva or Storyboard That. 
  2. Flag Research - Students can research the differences between the two flags that Vietnam has. Areas to research: design, symbolism, meanings, community thoughts of each flag.

APIA Vote. 2022, July 25. 2022 Asian American Voter Survey. https://apiavote.org/wp-content/uploads/2022-Asian-American-Voter-Survey-Report.pdf

Britt, K. 2020, May 11. English learner toolkit of strategies. California County Superintendents.  https://cacountysupts.org/english-learner-toolkit-of-strategies/

California Department of Education & English Learner Support Division. 2012. California English Language Development standards (Electronic Edition) kindergarten through grade 12 (F. Ong & J. McLean, Eds.). California Department of Education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/documents/eldstndspublication14.pdf

California Educators Together. (n.d.). ELA / ELD framework. https://www.caeducatorstogether.org/resources/6537/ela-eld-framework

CAST. 2018. The UDL guidelines. http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Lê, Loan Kiều and Phi Hồng Su. “Party identification and the immigrant cohort hypothesis: the case of Vietnamese Americans.” Politics, Groups, and Identities. 2018 : 43-763, DOI: 10.1080/21565503.2017.1289849 

Do, Anh Feb 19, 2017. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-viet-refugees-20170219-story.html

Lê, Loan and Phi Su 2018. “Party identification and the immigrant cohort hypothesis: the case of Vietnamese Americans.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 6(4)743-763.

Levitt, Peggy, Mary C. Waters The Changing Face of Home : The Transnational Lives of the Second Generation New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 2002, 69. 

Najolia, Sierra, "Root Causes of the Generational Cultural Disconnect Among Marin County Vietnamese-Americans" 2018. Senior Theses. 103. https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2018.HIST.ST.03 

San Diego County Office of Education. (n.d.). Providing appropriate scaffolding.  https://www.sdcoe.net/educators/multilingual-education-and-global-achievement/oracy-toolkit/providing-appropriate-scaffolding#scaffolding

Sexias, P. & Morton, T. 2013. The big six: Historical thinking concepts. Nelson Education.

Tulare County Office of Education. (n.d.). Strategies for ELD. https://commoncore.tcoe.org/Content/Public/doc/Alpha-CollectionofELDStrategies.pdf 

Wang, C. 2021, January 15. Why the Defunct South Vietnam Flag Was Flown at the Capitol Riot. NBC News.  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/why-defunct-south-vietnam-flag-was-flown-capitol-riot-n1254306 

Model Curriculum

Vietnamese American Experiences

Standard(s)

HSS 12.6 RI.11-12.7 W.11-12.3

Grade(s)

Grade 11 Grade 12