Sharing this as an FYI to my Black followers on what the Vietnamese phrase “mi deng” means.
yoooooo missouri city, texas is like mad close to my home so yeah fuck evyerhing
Viet here.
Anti-black racism is pervasive as fuck in american vietnamese communities and back home in vietnam. This is coming from my own experiences within my homes, communities, and schools.
We have derogatory language for many other races. White ppl, latin@s, etc. But often, only those perceived as black or latin@ will be spoken of negatively.
Vietnamese children are taught to fear other poc. If a child is behaving badly in public and a poc is nearby we’d tell them that the “mi deng” will get them. As a child, I remember having to lie about a friend’s race if I wanted to go to their house. My Latin@ (I lived and continue to live in a large spanish speaking community) friends would become white or vietnamese girls.
The older generation carried much of their racism to america when they immigrated because of the war. In vietnam there are stereotypical blackface comedy skits that are still happening. And the younger generation of vietnamese americans absorbed this and the added systemic racism still evident in american culture. I continue to hear young vietnamese americans using racist coded language when they don’t want another poc to realize they’re speaking of them.
I’m writing all this to other fellow viets. If you see or hear your viet family members or friends saying or doing racist things call them out on it. Tell them that whatever they did or said was racist. My mother did not understand the harm she was doing until I explained it to her. This is a cultural and linguistic barrier that we need to overcome to ensure newer generations of viets don’t absorb that kind of racist bullshit.
Reblogged for commentary. Thank you for putting it eloquently.
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