Ho Chi Minh poster creates tension in community

Friday, February 26, 1999

Ho Chi Minh poster creates tension in community

RESPONSE: Vietnamese hope protest pressures Tran to remove
symbols

By Yiloc Lai

Daily Bruin Contributor

Jimmy Nguyen doesn’t like knowing that a picture of Ho Chi Minh
is posted in his community.

"For the Vietnamese people, Ho Chi Minh will always represent
all their oppression," Nguyen said. "So when they see images of him
or his flag, they’re haunted by their memories of his killings and
torture."

And Nguyen and others refuse to remain silent about their
beliefs.

More than six weeks of demonstrations and debate have followed
the initial posting of communist images in a storefront window in
Westminster. Truong Van Tran, a Vietnamese shopkeeper, displayed
the flag of Vietnam and a poster of Ho Chi Minh – two symbols of
Vietnamese communism – in his Hi Tek TV and VCR store in Orange
County since Jan. 17.

The protesters argue that these images shouldn’t be displayed
because it reminds them of the horror of Ho Chi Minh’s communist
regime. Tran and others, however, argue that posting symbolic
images is a first amendment right.

For the protesters, it is Tran’s insensitivity for the memories
of his fellow refugees, particularly through his "praise" of Ho Chi
Minh that is so disturbing, according to Jimmy Nguyen, the
community liaison for the demonstrators.

Tran, however, says that he posted the images in order to
exercise his freedom of speech and encourage fellow Vietnamese to
view their homeland in a new way.

"I know it makes the community angry," Tran said. "But once they
get past the anger, they will see the issue. They will understand
that I am right."

Civil liberties advocates support Tran in his freedom of speech.
They have accused Vietnamese protesters for trying to get the
symbols taken down.

The protesters won a temporary court order on Jan. 22, which
forced him to remove the symbols on the basis that it violated his
rental building contract. The decision was overturned by the same
court on Feb. 10.

"Because the state didn’t explicitly order Tran to remove those
symbols of Vietnamese communism, his right to free speech wasn’t
violated," said Kenneth Karst, a UCLA law professor.

Tran vowed that he would keep the flag and photo up. He said
that his spiritual background helps him maintain a strong will and
keep up the fight.

Tran opened his store in 1996 in Little Saigon, a community of
200,000 residents, many of which are Vietnamese who have been
former political prisoners or refugees and despise the communist
government.

Strong community sentiment has resulted in on-going protests,
the largest of which occurred Feb. 22, drawing a group of
10,000.

While respectful of Tran’s first amendment rights, members of
the Westminster Vietnamese community plan to continue their rallies
and protests, in the hope that they’ll pressure Tran into removing
the symbols of communism.

In contrast, some Vietnamese students at UCLA are indifferent to
the symbols but sympathetic to the protesters.

"As a first-generation Vietnamese-American, I’m not insulted by
those symbols and images because I didn’t lose my country like my
parents did," said Tommy Do, a first-year undeclared student.

Though Do and the protesters agree that posting symbols is
within Tran’s rights, they said they feel it shows a lack of
judgment.

"This is an issue of sensitivity," Nguyen said. "We honor his
first amendment rights, but we ask that he exercise them with
sensitivity, respect to others and respect for public safety."

With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.

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