IMO, the Vietnamese refugees who came here as boat people probably wanted to locate as far away from the ocean as possible.
Probably the most adaptable & productive immigrant group to have come to America.
Definitely productive, but I keep getting requests to convert all our Oklahoma City business systems into Vietnamese and Spanish.
Not gonna happen.
I think the OKC oddity is more a result of the USAF base and how the US government handled the influx of refugees.
Of course, I had an Indianapolis employee who jumped on a boat at age 11 and didn’t see US land for two years. He was one of those who never wanted to set foot on a boat ever again.
“IMO, the Vietnamese refugees who came here as boat people probably wanted to locate as far away from the ocean as possible.”
http://www.vietnamese-american.org/102802.html
“Tuesday’s establishment of an eight-state shrimp-industry coalition that will seek ways to promote wild-caught Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic shrimp took a historic turn when two Vietnamese-American men were named to sit on its board.
Gary Nguyen, a Lafourche Parish dock owner; and Calvin Nguyen, a New Orleans member of a Vietnamese fishing family; both described their decision to accept seats on the Southern Shrimp Association’s board of directors as a “very big step” for the organization and for themselves.
Inclusion of Vietnamese Americans in a U.S. commercial- fishing trade organization is something fishermen interviewed Tuesday said might have been impossible a decade ago because the history between Asian and Anglo fishermen has been so tainted with instances of discrimination and even violence.
George Barisich, co-chair of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, who has fought battles for years against turtle-excluder devices and other issues important to shrimp fishermen, said he has been trying for years to include Vietnamese voices in his efforts. He said he is pleased that this time those efforts have borne success.
“Right now, the Vietnamese are 45 to 80 percent of the industry in some areas,” Barisich said. “They are a major portion of the U.S. fleet, and up until now they have not been politically involved or helping to fight the battles others have put up, such as turtle-excluder devices. This is an opportunity to open that door.”