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In Vietnam, an unlikely outpost for Chicano culture
Los Angeles Times ^ | May 27, 2025 | Stephanie Yang

Posted on 05/27/2025 2:17:36 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie

HO CHI MINH CITY — When Nguyen Phuoc Loc first started dabbling in Chicano culture eight years ago, it was simply because he liked the way that the loose clothing offset his large head.

Today, he considers himself Chicano through and through. The 30-year-old Vietnamese barber has never been to the United States. Yet he has filled his life and work with tributes to Mexican American identity and culture.

The back of the barbershop he manages features a mural of the Virgen de Guadalupe, a cactus plant and a Mexican flag. Sneakers hang by their laces from barbed wire, dangling above two motorbikes.

Even his shaved head is covered in the Gothic black letters long popular in Chicano culture that spell out: Family, Loyalty, L.A. The ink on his crown — a large number 6 — signifies his status as the sixth member of a small but increasingly visible community: a local band of barbers and tattoo artists who call themselves Viet Chicanos.

“In the beginning, I was just copying the older guys, their style and all,” said Loc, 30. “But over time, I started to feel that it really fit who I am. It happened gradually, like it seeped into me.”

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: chechenchong; chicano

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1 posted on 05/27/2025 2:17:36 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
Viet Chicanos

It's an improvement over Viet Cong ...

2 posted on 05/27/2025 2:19:29 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

It’s certainly tacky enough.


3 posted on 05/27/2025 2:23:09 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

How to say ‘Low Rider’ in Vietnamese? And “Dis aint your turf ese!”


4 posted on 05/27/2025 2:30:19 PM PDT by know.your.why
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Shouldn’t the LA Slimes be having a meltdown that this is basically cultural appropriation?


5 posted on 05/27/2025 2:30:21 PM PDT by ProgressingAmerica (We cannot vote our way out of these problems. The only way out is to activist our way out.)
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To: ComputerGuy
Not only do we live in a crazy world. It is crazier than we could possibly imagine. I'm waiting for the Viet Low Riders.

6 posted on 05/27/2025 2:30:36 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: NorthMountain
Viet Chicanos

Viet Chigroes?
7 posted on 05/27/2025 2:31:55 PM PDT by know.your.why
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
"Saigón, todavía sólo en Saigón ..."
8 posted on 05/27/2025 2:34:33 PM PDT by pierrem15 ("Massacrez-les, car le seigneur connait les siens" )
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Cue Earth Wind and Fire.


9 posted on 05/27/2025 2:40:43 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: stylecouncilor

Ping


10 posted on 05/27/2025 2:40:58 PM PDT by windcliff
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

No bodega lights?


11 posted on 05/27/2025 2:44:55 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana ("Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." (John 2:5))
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

The Saigon Zoot Suit Boogie


12 posted on 05/27/2025 2:47:42 PM PDT by rdcbn1 (TV )
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Actually a cool business idea.

Probably very unique and eye catching in Vietnam.

I should open a German themed barber shop here, wearing a Pickelhaube and with a Kaiser Wilhelm mustache. Decorations would include lots of black and white pictures of really stiff looking men, in uniforms, that don’t smile. All day long you’d hear marching music, one beer would be on the house.


13 posted on 05/27/2025 2:49:48 PM PDT by Red6
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To: NorthMountain

Chicago’s don’t mix, and neither do Vietnamese.


14 posted on 05/27/2025 3:23:24 PM PDT by Judge Bean
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To: NorthMountain

Low riders?


15 posted on 05/27/2025 3:29:19 PM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)
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To: rktman

Mexican Pho?


16 posted on 05/27/2025 3:31:28 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Given the choice, I would pick this over Gung Nam Style


17 posted on 05/27/2025 3:40:47 PM PDT by ZOOKER
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

18 posted on 05/27/2025 3:42:03 PM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper)
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To: ZOOKER
#17: "Given the choice, I would pick this over Gung Nam Style"

Hahahahaha. True enough!

19 posted on 05/27/2025 3:43:44 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Amusing. It reminds me that Bruce Lee had his first big successes as a cha-cha dancer.


20 posted on 05/27/2025 3:43:47 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong?)
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