Resilient History and the Rebuilding of a Community: The Vietnamese American Community in New Orleans East

The Adjustment of Asian American Families to the U.S. Context: The Ecology of Strengths and Stress

“…They do, however, exhibit resiliency and strengths that help overcome adversity. For example, Vietnamese Americans living in eastern New Orleans before Katrina drew strengths from their culture and history to rebuild their community (Leong, Airriess, Li, Chen, & Keith, 2007). By early 2007, more than 90% of former Vietnamese American residents had returned to eastern New Orleans.…”

Vulnerability and social resilience: comparison of two neighborhoods in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

“…This was the result of a political refugee camp opening in the eastern part of New Orleans following the Vietnam War. The first migration wave created a domino effect with the migration of refugees' families and friends, and by 1990 the Vietnamese community in New Orleans East was about 5,000 people [5]. The term community in this case has an ethnic connotation.…”

“…Moreover, a community's cohesion can make the disaster less of a crisis and speed up the recovery process, which was the case of the Vietnamese Community of Village de l'Est in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina [5].…”

“…It is divided in two areas, the older downriver of the IHNC and closest to the river known as Holy Cross, and the newer on lakeside of Saint Claude Avenue in the north known as the Lower Nine. Holy Cross lays on higher grounds at 60 to 90 cm above sea level while the Lower Nine sits at an average of 60 cm below sea level 5 . It is a residential area, where most of the houses are one-floor buildings.…”

My Folkloristic History of the Việt Nam War: A Non-communist Experience

“…Instead, they are actively constructing a diasporic community in which non-communism or anticommunism is a vehicle for sustaining an identity and community in the present and "serves as pedagogical tool" for the second generation (Dang, 2005, p. 69). For instance, in rebuilding the community after the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Vietnamese Versailles Community in East New Orleans "put to use" and "drew on" the tales of overcoming "forced" migrations and catastrophic loss that their ethnic group experienced in 1954 when the country was split into "two countries," and again in 1975 with the fall of Sài Gòn (Leong, Airriess, Li, Chen, & Keith, 2007). There is also evidence to suggest that younger Vietnamese Americans, who are "consumers" of the community's cultural and political activities, are capable of organizing projects that reflect the concerns and needs of the growing and diverse members of the community on both domestic and homeland issues (L. Le, 2011b).…”