ASIAN AMERICAN V I E w s ON I M E \ A/ A R
Brandeis Asian American Student Assoc,
A
As A s i a n p e o p l e l i v i n g i n t h i s c o u n t r y , we f i n d i t n e c e s s a r y , a t t h i s moment o f a n t i - w a r a c t i v i t y a n d i n a c t i v i t y , t o p r e s e n t some of our views concerning the Indo-Chinese war, perspectives generally neglected by the present movement.
We f e e l v e r y s t r o n g l y t h a t U . S .
involvement in Vietnam, both military and political
is an imperiÂ
a l i s t and racist involvement, in keeping with America's inhumane p o l i c i e s a n d t h a t i t m u s t b e r e c o g n i z e d anci o p p o s e d o n t h i s b a s i s . Our own e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , r a c i s t m a n i p u l a t i o n , a n d particularly with the denial of the existence of racism against Asians in America magnifies our concern with the present struggle. Imperialism i s the stage of capitalist development during which the wealtn of a strong nation state depends upon the exploitation of other nations and nation states.
I t is characterized by military
intervention or conquest, puppet regimes, brutal exploitation of "native" labor and above a l l by a pervasive racism that degrades and s t r i p s o f a l l human d i g n i t y t h e p e o p l e o f t h e o p p r e s s e d n a t i o n . The American Empire i s vast and diverse, ranging from colonies like Puerto Rico and accessible fuel reserves like Iran to rich f r u i t areas like Guatemala to nations that serve as l i t t l e more than American brothels. part of
They a l l h a v e t h i n g s i n common — t h e y a r e
the Third World, their peoples are colored and they are
now f i g h t i n g b a c k f o r n a t i o n a l l i b e r a t i o n . Clerely Vietnam i s a cornerstone of t h i s empire.
T h i s i s why
t h e U . S . h a s e x p e n d e d s o much e f f o r t i n c r u s h i n g t h e movement for national liberation, beyond perhaps the tangible economic benefits to be reaped fror: natural resouces and cheap colored
labor.
R a t h e r t h a n a l l o w V i e t n a m t o become a n i n s p i r a t i o n t o o t h e r c o l o n i z e d
p e o p l e , t n e U . S . t r i e d t o make i t a n e x a m p l e t o n a t i o n s t h a t m i g h t c o n s i d e r opposing American interests. The military, p o l i t i c a l , economic, and cultural presence of the U.S. in Indochina i s clearly an attempt to impose American interests on the Vietnamese people.
T h e U . S . ' s d e n i a l o f V i e t n a m ' s r i g h t t o d e t e r m i n e i t s own
political and economic structure has been backed by ten years of genocidal bombing, biological warfare, and armed troop intervention; by the forced migration of thousands of Vietnamese people into 'pacified" areas; and by political maneuverings to establish an American controlled 'popular'' government. Imperialism, in a l l i t s forms, Is fundamentally a racist policy. I t subjugates the interests and wealth of one nation to those of another. But imperialism involves not only exploitation but an exploitation facilitated by the imposition of one culture upon another.
Almost without exception,
the culture imposed has been Western European and the race white.
People
who a r e c o n s i d e r e d a n d b e g i n t o c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s r a c i a l l y a n d c u l t u r a l l y i n f e r i o r become d e m o r a l i z e d a n d a r e e a s i e r t o c o n t r o l a n d e x p l o i t t h a n a proud and angry people.
The Vietnamese, however, a f t e r almost a century
of imperial brutalization, are s t i l l a proud and angry people. The Vietnamese people's refusal to accept an inferior s t a t u s , their refusal to relinquish their right to self-determination led the U.S. to military invasion in an attempt to prop up the f i r s t domino which i s r e a d y t o f a l l , n o t t o S o v i e t o r C h i n e s e d i r e c t e d Communism, b u t t o a movement t h a t s e e k s t o r e s t o r e human d i g n i t y t o
all Third World people. America's presence in Vietnam is itself a racist imposition of U.S. will on Asian people.
But the U.S. has gone far beyond the
attempt to direct the policies of an Asian nation.
The dehumaniza-
tion process of Asian people in the eyes of their oppressor has been facilitated by the use of such terms as 'the enemy, or "Cong," in the place or as ''Asian lives been raised.
the Vietnamese people.'
•'gook,1'
Slogans such
cheap1 ard "Asians • pe-.rj like vermin, ' have
The formula used on the oppressed is a physical one.
The air war is causing far more civilian than military casualties. Bombing has destroyed the lar.d#of Vietnam so that the Land pro duces malaria and chemical poisons rather than food. tinues to use outlawed anti-personnel bombs.
The U.S. con
However, unable to
couirol the people of Vietnam, the U.S. has decided to destroy them altogether.
After alt, Asian lives are cheap.
But the Vietnamese have refuted this claim by fighting and living and providing the entire Third World with inspiration and pride.
The American way as it has ev&lved has bacome a reactionary
way that goes against all that is decent, hopeful, unselfish, and ethical among human values.
The American way is a dead way.
This,
too, the Vietnamese have taught us. In this country we, like our Black, Brown, and Red sisters and brothers, are engaged in a struggle for liberation from the same r". < ?
i,>r,
linpvia i
P
^bfond.
Historically,
we have been dehumanized, enslaved flnd s iaitghmrcd. continues.
While lands in Asia, as in Africa and Latin America,
are turned into American military bases, our communities in the U.S. are quickly being appropriated by the government and by the greedy
c a p i t a l i s t c o r p o r a t i o n s w h i c h s u p p o r t iv.
f o r t h e i r own p r o f i t .
In our Asian
c o m m u n i t i e s , t h e H o l i d a y I n n h a s i n v a d e d S . F . C h i n a t o w n ; B e l l T e l e p h o n e Company h a s p u s h e d i n t o N . Y . , T u f t s Mew E n g l a n d M e d i c a l C e n t e r c o n t i n u e s t o p r e y o n Boston Chinatown, "redevelopment plans' remains of S.F. Manilatown.
threaten to evict Filipinos from what
These aggressors steal our lands without regard
for our people's welfare â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they use dollars instead of bullets, but their policies are the same. Just as American economic imperialism i s exploiting the ' cheap ' labor and natural resources overseas, "cheap " ghetto labor i s used in garment factories which cheat the people of fair wages; offices hire Asian cleaning m a i d s f o r v i r t u a l l y n o t h i n g , : a n d t h e U . S . Wavy d e g r a d e s o u r F i l i p i n o b r o t h e r s b y m a k i n g them s e r v i l e o r d e r l i e s ,
S h o d d y w a r e a r e dumped i n t o T h i r d World
ghettos at prices higher than elsewhere. like those abroad, are colonized.
T h u s we a n d o u r T h i r d World c o m r a d e s ,
We a r e b o t h u s e d a s a s o u r c e o f manpower
and as a "good market" by oppressive corporations. Through the mass media, educational systems, and literature of this coun t r y , we a r e t o l d o f t h e m e n t a l , p h y s i c a l , a n d s p i r i t u a l s u p e r i o r i t y o f t h o s e who o p p r e s s u s .
Our o p p r e s s o r s h a v e d e n i e d u s t h e p r i d e a n d t h e s t r e n g t h w h i c h
c a n come w i t h a t r u e u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e c o u n t r i e s a n d t h e h i s t o r i e s o f o u r origins.
Instead, they have seen i t f i t to assign us roles in their history.
A s i a n s , f o r e x a m p l e , when p o r t r a y e d a t a l l , a r e s e e n a s t r e a c h e r o u s v i l l a i n s , barbarous assigned be
their
benefits
killers, us
"natural
cooks, from
or
buck-toothed roles'
laundrymen,
"our"
in and
government,
houseboys.
their
Our
society.
gardeners. hospitals,
oppressors
They a l l o w In order and
to
insti-
us gain
have to
t u t i o n s , we must f i r s t beg f o r a t t e n t i o n and then t o l e r a t e s n i d e i n q u i r e s intq^very f a c e t of our l i v e s , The FBI makes our people l i v e i n f e a r w i t h t h e c o n s t a n t r e minder t h a t because we look l i k e t h e enemy, t h e y c o n s i d e r us a po t e n t i a l enemy i n need of s u r v e i l l a n c e ard c o n t r o l .
In m i l i t a r y
t r a i n i n g c e n t e r s , Asian-American d r a f t e e s a r e s u b j e c t e d t o use a s p r a c t i c e t a r g e t s s o t h a t G . I . ' s can b e g i n t o form t h e r e f l e x i v e l i n k between an A s i a n f a c e and p u l l i n g t h e t r i g g e r . Thus a s long a s t h e Vietnamese people a r e c o n s i d e r e d gooks, we t o o a r e g o o k s .
Their s t r u g g l e i s our s t r u g g l e .
Our common
t a s k i s t o work a g a i n s t i m p e r i a l i s m . Here we o f f e r some r e f l e c t i o n s on t h e s o - c a l l e d ' a n t i - w a r ' or"peace" movement. Those whose primary c o n c e r n i i s w i t h American l i v e s and Ameri can economic l o s s nave taken a r a c i s t and n a t i o n a l c h a u v i n i s t p o s i tion.
We must r e j e c t t h i s s t a n d s i n c e i t d o e s n o t speak a t a l l t o
t h e s l a u g h t e r of A s i a n s . However, a p o s i t i o n based s o l e l y on c e a s i n g t h e murder of Asians only begins to deal with the situation.
I t does n o t r a i s e
t h e c r y a g a i n s t imperialism a l t h o u g h i t does decry r a c i s m . p e r i a l i s t i m p o s i t i o n 0 i s , by n a t u r e , a r a c i s t a c t .
\ •
Im
Imperialism
u s e s r a c i s m t o f a c i l i t a t e both e x p l o i t a t i o n and e x t e r m i n a t i o n ,
The
o n l y n o n - r a c i s t p o s i t i o n i s t o advocate t h e r i g h t of t h e Vietnamese people t o s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n 1 I f we e x p l o r e a l l t h e p o s s i b l e ways of o b t a i n i n g "peace" i n Vietnam, we a r r i v e a t t h r e e p o s s i b i l i t i e s :
f i r s t i s F i x o n ' s peace,
i . e o , an American v i c t o r y i n and t h e subsequent d i r e c t o r i n d i r e c t c o n t r o l of Vietnam; second i s a mutual l a y i n g down of arms; t h i r d
is supporting the Vietnamese struggle for self-determinism. Nixon's peace we can reject, without further consideration.
It
is an imperialist peace., a peace attained after the consolidation of the American Empire. Those who caxl for a cessation of fighting-, who call for sides'
'both
Co lay down their arras arte negotiat- a settlement assumes that
the J.S. has a right tc negotiate or even to have an input into the affairs of
the Vietnamese people.
to intervene.
It is-uT.es tha'
the -J-S
This "right 1 is th< "right' of imperialism.
reflects naivete and a lack of historical knowledge.
has a right It also
Its advocates forget
that a cessation of fighting and a negotiated settlement were reached in 1954 with the Geneva Accords.
It was an agreement that went against the
interests of the Empire and consequently the U.S. disregarded it, suspended ejections, set up a puppet regime and finally intervened with military force This hisuoricdJ^exaiaple shows us that imperialism recognizes no negotiated .-egreements, no concepts of fairness or justice and seeks only to maintain its own interests with brutal genocidal force. Those pacifists, moralists and humanists who appeal to the government to end the war because it is morally wrong are equally naive.
They make an appeal to a force that knows no morality, a force
that has a single goal, to consolidate the empire.
They are deceived
by the many faces of imperialism known by such names as "white man's burden, and "making the world safe for democracy."
They believe in the good
intentions of this force and feei that one only needs to redirect, it by showing how it has deviated from its true
oal.
History shows us that
empires retreat not because they have viola Led morality, but because they were forced by economic
fnd military pressures to do .o,
Britain die rot withdraw from
India because it recognized its immorality but because it was economically, militarily impossible to remain. will not end imperialist Tars
Ideas and-appeals
material force must be countered
with material force. TJhat does
i*~
only one approach
mean, then to oppose imperialist wars?
There is
and that is to assert in whatever way possible
the right of the oppresseo people to self-determination.
Toi- means
that the U.S. must withdraw all troops and war material from. South east Asia.
It must end political and economic support for the reÂ
gimes of Thieu, Lon Nol, and Souvana Phouma.
It also means that the
U.S, must not supervise or force ''fair" elections upon the people, or enter into any negotiations either as a party or as a mediator. Only in this way can peace be achieved, for as long as certain human forces in this world attempt to take from the people what is Liioir.^ ho it- nflfi onhood, food, clothing, shelter, or dignity, there will always be wars.
The only way to end the war in Vietnam
to strive for the defeat ol imperialism.
Acknowledgement:
"A3ians and the War" Asian Political Alliance, Detroit
1972
is