When Vietnamese refugees settled in the Gulf States like Louisiana and Texas after the Fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, they found a home away from home in a familiar environment along the coastline. They soon found themselves working as fishermen, shrimpers, and crabbers, fitting in naturally in the subtropical climate and using their experiences with the Mekong River to make the most of the Mississippi River that provided a rich and lush environment for fishing. However, their presence wasn’t the most welcomed.

‍

Like the sentiment the Irish had with the Chinese in the 1800s, White residents of the US Gulf Coast were enraged by the newcomers, seeing them as competition and stealing jobs away from existing residents. They complained about the Vietnamese refugees getting help from the government and Catholic Church, which sponsored their stay, and about the Vietnamese not following practices established by the communities before them. For example, the Vietnamese residents, unaware of existing practices which would only be complicated by the language barrier, would put out multiple crab traps where there had been only one previously, ignoring a standard practice followed by the local residents. Tensions would escalate in 1979, when a fistfight broke out between White and Vietnamese fishermen in Galveston Bay, resulting in a White crabber being shot and killed. Hours later, Vietnamese boats were set ablaze and a crab plant known to hire Vietnamese workers became a target of bombings. The two Vietnamese men were charged with murder and later acquitted on the grounds of self defense a few months later. This decision enraged the residence, and news soon reached the Texas Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 

‍

In 1981, the KKK made it move into Galveston Bay with the mission to rid the Gulf of the Vietnamese for good, viewing these refugees as their enemies, a continuation of the sentiment many veterans carried after the Vietnam War. On February 14, Grand Dragon of the KKK and White Supremacist, Louis Beam, led an anti-Vietnamese rally in Galveston Bay, vowing to take matters into his own hands if the Vietnamese didn’t leave by May 15. On March 15, armed Klansmen would begin patrolling the Texas waters, circling and antagonizing Vietnamese boats, using scare tactics to drive some of the Vietnamese away from their new homes. On March 29, two Vietnamese-owned boats that were put up for auction were set aflame. Police investigation ended with inconclusive evidence to pinpoint a suspect and the case was closed, frustrating the Vietnamese who were looking to sell their assets and move away in fear for their lives and safety of their families. Klan rallies and organized fear mongering would continue for months to come. The Klan would go on to set up paramilitary training camps, arming White residents with resources and education on how to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons, explosives, and other methods of violence, intimation, and mass destruction.

‍

On April 16, 1981, the Vietnamese Fishermen’s Association, led by Colonel Nam, filed a civil rights suit against the Ku Klux Klan. The VFA would be represented by Morris Dee, a civil rights attorney and founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The result: on May 12, 1981, Judge Gabrielle McDonald issued an injunction that forbade Klan members and militant U.S. fishermen from carrying guns, wearing Klan robes in groups of two or more people, or burning crosses where Vietnamese American fishermen worked or lived around Galveston Bay. It also prohibited any activities having the intended purpose or the reasonably foreseeable effect of intimidating or harassing Vietnamese Americans. The VFA would sue again against the Texas Emergency Reserves, which were housing paramilitary camps led by the KKK, and Judge McDonald would again rule in favor of the VFA on June 19, 1982, prohibiting Louis Beam and the KKK from continuing to participate or operate in private military organizations, parading in public with firearms, and engaging in any military or paramilitary training, specifically combat-related training. In the end, the TER was disbanded and Vietnamese fishermen resumed their activities in Galveston Bay.

‍

This dish is inspired by the legal battle and landmark victory against the KKK led by Vietnamese refugees, and the legacy of the Vietnamese Americans in the South. Taking a popular Vietnamese street food called bánh tráng nướng, a grilled rice paper dish with a variety of toppings, we chose to highlight the seafood that these fishermen made their livelihoods on. Lightly poached squid is accompanied by a fermented carrot and pepper sauce, adding acidity and heat to the dish, and it’s topped with a fresh salad of Chinese celery and a variety of Vietnamese herbs. This dish pays homage to the Vietnamese fishermen, in a celebration of the resilience and determination of these American heroes, fighting against xenophobia and for justice for the American people.

‍

Photograph by Mischelle Moy

‍

References:

A Look Back: SPLC Case Brought Justice to Vietnamese Fishermen Terrorized by Klan

Vietnamese Fishermen's Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

The war between Vietnamese fishermen and the KKK signaled a new type of white supremacy

Decades After Clashing With The Klan, A Thriving Vietnamese Community In Texas

From the Gulf to the Courts 

Vietnamese Fishermen's Ass'n v. KNIGHTS, ETC. 

A Gulf Unites Us: The Vietnamese Americans of Black New Orleans East