A proposal to explore the feasibility of a 2015 event. The Montagnard community would back this, but to be successful would require the cooperation and collaboration of many American partners and organizations.
Time Frame
Dec 2013 – October 2014
Tentative Conference Date
May 2015 (Memorial Day weekend)
Why does this proposal matter?
It comes at an urgent time when many of the elders who were educated under the French colonial system, served in the South Vietnamese government or were prominent in the wars will be passing on. Traditional weavers who know how to raise cotton, identify plants for natural dyes, spin thread, warp and weave cloth on a backstop loom are in their 70s. Too many elders live in impoverished conditions.
A conference about the Montagnard community must be international in scope because the Montagnard community, small as it is, includes Vietnam, Cambodia and the US (and to a lesser extent, other resettlement countries like Canada and Finland). Scholars are also spread across the globe, but North Carolina is fortunate because it has archives of refugees' interviews, thriving neighborhoods in Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh and the Center for New North Carolinians located at UNCG.
But no center for Montagnard scholarship exists although Greensboro would seem to be its natural place. I have had discussions with elders and community members that elicited strong interest in cultural preservation (language, history, arts) that unfortunately don't coincide with mainstream American interests (public health, law enforcement, housing and code enforcement). Only recently have we found some commonality with local farming, sustainability, environment, and the region's demographic future. It is to these topics, too, that Piedmont higher education institutions are drawn, whether because of overlapping "stewardship", community engagement, community service, local to global issues, or other pressures. But today there is no organized scholarship. Students from the Montagnard community are not recruited nor are they guided to pursue specific studies or undertake scholarly work that would aid their community. Students interested in studying the Montagnard culture are similarly left with little or no direction.
Part 1. Montagnards, Greensboro and Cultural Isolation
The Montagnard population is unique to the Piedmont and is largely concentrated in Greensboro — making our city the largest Montagnard community outside of Southeast Asia. Despite decades of living here, it has remained socially, linguistically and culturally isolated. Low wage jobs and poor access to services are typical. Treatable chronic diseases are a serious problem. Only recently were former medical doctors identified and brought to the attention of American authorities but as has been characteristic of past relationships, it has not led to quick agreement to work together, only slow, tenuous agreement to cautiously probe forward.
Part 2. Montagnard Population and Changing Demographics
The education of second and third generation Montagnards and the radically shifting demographics of the Piedmont will force political and social changes to the region in the coming decades. If the Great Recession exposed the region's fundamental economic weakness, it has also caused some to look harder at its future, including its infrastructure, housing, environment, educational system, and workforce. If in 1980 the population of the Piedmont was comfortably white, by 2030 it will be multicultural and diverse, with most counties headed for 40% to over 50% people of color — Latino, African-American, Asian. Many will be refugees and immigrants.
When does a refugee cease being a refugee? When is a refugee "settled"? Surprisingly, there is no clear benchmark. Today, almost no Montagnards refer to themselves as hyphenated Americans, ie, Montagnard-American, even if they have been here for 20 years, even if they were born here. But in years to come, they or their children will.
But Montagnard identity remains complicated. Tribal identity is more important. In the Piedmont there are about a dozen tribes present of which five are prominent. Past wars of which the US Vietnam War was only a part injected religious and political differences. There are historic language and cultural differences among tribes and between themselves and Vietnamese, Khmer and other people of the region.In America and in Greensboro, Jarai, Koho, Sedang, Stieng, Chru, Bunong, Dega and Montagnard people will find their own identity, sometimes as a community, sometimes as a neighborhood, family or as individuals. Only perhaps in America can a people find this kind of space.
Part 3. Guilford College's Unique Relationship to the Montagnard Community
How many Montagnard students are at her university? asked the professor. I explained the technique for finding out was pretty simple and didn't violate privacy rules, but did involve some deeper knowledge of the community and a commitment to working with it. When it was clear the professor was not interested in investing any time I ceased working with her and her department. Such are the problems of a large institution with academicians more interested in their own work than the welfare of the communities they study.
Guilford College has had a long relationship with the Montagnard community since their first arrival in 1986 through Raleigh Bailey, in the next large "wave" of 2002 through Judy Harvey and James Shields, and most recently with the arrival of Bonner scholars Lek Siu and HVung Ksor. The Bonner Center set up a community site decades ago with the Montagnard community; that site lives on at Glen Haven and more recently in a newer location in the emerging Rosewood neighborhood. But despite these strong efforts and important history, the institution itself has not constructed a narrative or taken on a deliberate role as a "steward of place". Like much of the Piedmont, it interacts with the Montagnard community incidentally. In fact, there are half a dozen Montagnard students currently enrolled — a remarkable milestone — but there's no recognition of the fact. Guilford can celebrate the arrival of the first black student on campus more than 50 years ago but it probably is ignorant of the first Montagnard, first Karen or other "firsts" of the New Century.
Part 4. Community and Campus as One
Like its big neighbor UNCG, Guilford has a long and unique relationship with the Montagnard community. Today, both institutions see a steady increase in the numbers of refugee and immigrant students. But both seem oblivious to their significance. Refugee and immigrant students bridge local and global divides, threaten institutional definitions of "international", "domestic", "study abroad", "campus" and "community". Just as higher ed faces greater pressure to show involvement in community issues, Guilford has the rare chance to discover that encounters with its local populations are in fact encounters with global people, global issues, and global ideas. And a closer examination of itself would reveal that representatives of its local populations are already here on campus. Demographic trends erased the boundaries between Community and Campus years ago. Institutional awareness has not caught up.
This proposal for an International Montagnard Conference is a way for Guilford to catch up.
The Local Montagnard Community
I have worked with the Montagnard community for five years. Almost all meaningful relations are built on face to face meetings. This is especially true for elders but remains important for a community in which most adults are preliterate or simply not comfortable with English over the telephone or Internet. When we speak of a "budget" in traditional societies this means expenditure of time with them — "social capital" — and less about monetary expense. The social capital accrued towards this project was gained over the five years working with elders, political and religious leaders, individual families and community members, artists, musicians and craftsmen, doctors, health workers, neighborhood leaders, businessmen and students.
In a Montagnard-centric world (upon which we have premised much of our research and community building success), I overlap projects (health, farm, ESOL, citizenship, etc) of interest to the community with new projects such as the Montagnard Conference. Individual fragile budgets and resources reinforce one another, creating a sturdier whole and in many instances give confidence to community members working in a factious society to move forward.
The strategy of the Montagnard Conference is to similarly integrate its introduction and mission into existing projects and narratives.
Campus
My purpose is to make the resources of the Montagnard community accessible to students and academicians by organizing collaborative processes that are fair and equitable. Social justice — the underpinning of much of the work of the Bonner Center and students’ community site work — coupled with the technical skills of UNCG students enrolled in professional programs suggests one model of social engagement, community building and institutional collaboration.
Resources
Raleigh Bailey’s excellent CAL report ends with the Montagnard experience in 2002.
Time Frame
Dec 2013 – October 2014
Tentative Conference Date
May 2015 (Memorial Day weekend)
Summary The aim of the project is to explore the feasibility of an international conference celebrating the survival of the Montagnard community in Greensboro and surrounding Piedmont.
On the Guilford College campus, the project will consolidate and recognize the institution’s unique historic relationship with the community since its arrival in 1986. It will help build stronger ties between the Bonner Center and Center for Principled Problem Solving, introduce a fresh approach to local and global topics for faculty and students to consider, and redefine the relationship of Campus to Community as we look at the extraordinary demographic changes affecting the Piedmont now and in coming decades.
Off campus, the project will help strengthen ties to the Center for New North Carolinians and help connect Guilford faculty to CNNC's research fellows and the Montagnard Health Disparities Research Network. Already, Bonner Scholars assist Fellows in health research work and many Guilford students work alongside UNCG students and personnel at joint community sites. Community engagement in this project will mean Guilford College's outreach to local neighborhoods in collaboration with a university research partner to advance the interests of all parties.
It comes at an urgent time when many of the elders who were educated under the French colonial system, served in the South Vietnamese government or were prominent in the wars will be passing on. Traditional weavers who know how to raise cotton, identify plants for natural dyes, spin thread, warp and weave cloth on a backstop loom are in their 70s. Too many elders live in impoverished conditions.
A conference about the Montagnard community must be international in scope because the Montagnard community, small as it is, includes Vietnam, Cambodia and the US (and to a lesser extent, other resettlement countries like Canada and Finland). Scholars are also spread across the globe, but North Carolina is fortunate because it has archives of refugees' interviews, thriving neighborhoods in Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh and the Center for New North Carolinians located at UNCG.
But no center for Montagnard scholarship exists although Greensboro would seem to be its natural place. I have had discussions with elders and community members that elicited strong interest in cultural preservation (language, history, arts) that unfortunately don't coincide with mainstream American interests (public health, law enforcement, housing and code enforcement). Only recently have we found some commonality with local farming, sustainability, environment, and the region's demographic future. It is to these topics, too, that Piedmont higher education institutions are drawn, whether because of overlapping "stewardship", community engagement, community service, local to global issues, or other pressures. But today there is no organized scholarship. Students from the Montagnard community are not recruited nor are they guided to pursue specific studies or undertake scholarly work that would aid their community. Students interested in studying the Montagnard culture are similarly left with little or no direction.
__________________________
History
Part 1. Montagnards, Greensboro and Cultural Isolation
The Montagnard population is unique to the Piedmont and is largely concentrated in Greensboro — making our city the largest Montagnard community outside of Southeast Asia. Despite decades of living here, it has remained socially, linguistically and culturally isolated. Low wage jobs and poor access to services are typical. Treatable chronic diseases are a serious problem. Only recently were former medical doctors identified and brought to the attention of American authorities but as has been characteristic of past relationships, it has not led to quick agreement to work together, only slow, tenuous agreement to cautiously probe forward.
Part 2. Montagnard Population and Changing Demographics
The education of second and third generation Montagnards and the radically shifting demographics of the Piedmont will force political and social changes to the region in the coming decades. If the Great Recession exposed the region's fundamental economic weakness, it has also caused some to look harder at its future, including its infrastructure, housing, environment, educational system, and workforce. If in 1980 the population of the Piedmont was comfortably white, by 2030 it will be multicultural and diverse, with most counties headed for 40% to over 50% people of color — Latino, African-American, Asian. Many will be refugees and immigrants.
When does a refugee cease being a refugee? When is a refugee "settled"? Surprisingly, there is no clear benchmark. Today, almost no Montagnards refer to themselves as hyphenated Americans, ie, Montagnard-American, even if they have been here for 20 years, even if they were born here. But in years to come, they or their children will.
But Montagnard identity remains complicated. Tribal identity is more important. In the Piedmont there are about a dozen tribes present of which five are prominent. Past wars of which the US Vietnam War was only a part injected religious and political differences. There are historic language and cultural differences among tribes and between themselves and Vietnamese, Khmer and other people of the region.In America and in Greensboro, Jarai, Koho, Sedang, Stieng, Chru, Bunong, Dega and Montagnard people will find their own identity, sometimes as a community, sometimes as a neighborhood, family or as individuals. Only perhaps in America can a people find this kind of space.
Part 3. Guilford College's Unique Relationship to the Montagnard Community
How many Montagnard students are at her university? asked the professor. I explained the technique for finding out was pretty simple and didn't violate privacy rules, but did involve some deeper knowledge of the community and a commitment to working with it. When it was clear the professor was not interested in investing any time I ceased working with her and her department. Such are the problems of a large institution with academicians more interested in their own work than the welfare of the communities they study.
Guilford College has had a long relationship with the Montagnard community since their first arrival in 1986 through Raleigh Bailey, in the next large "wave" of 2002 through Judy Harvey and James Shields, and most recently with the arrival of Bonner scholars Lek Siu and HVung Ksor. The Bonner Center set up a community site decades ago with the Montagnard community; that site lives on at Glen Haven and more recently in a newer location in the emerging Rosewood neighborhood. But despite these strong efforts and important history, the institution itself has not constructed a narrative or taken on a deliberate role as a "steward of place". Like much of the Piedmont, it interacts with the Montagnard community incidentally. In fact, there are half a dozen Montagnard students currently enrolled — a remarkable milestone — but there's no recognition of the fact. Guilford can celebrate the arrival of the first black student on campus more than 50 years ago but it probably is ignorant of the first Montagnard, first Karen or other "firsts" of the New Century.
Part 4. Community and Campus as One
Like its big neighbor UNCG, Guilford has a long and unique relationship with the Montagnard community. Today, both institutions see a steady increase in the numbers of refugee and immigrant students. But both seem oblivious to their significance. Refugee and immigrant students bridge local and global divides, threaten institutional definitions of "international", "domestic", "study abroad", "campus" and "community". Just as higher ed faces greater pressure to show involvement in community issues, Guilford has the rare chance to discover that encounters with its local populations are in fact encounters with global people, global issues, and global ideas. And a closer examination of itself would reveal that representatives of its local populations are already here on campus. Demographic trends erased the boundaries between Community and Campus years ago. Institutional awareness has not caught up.
This proposal for an International Montagnard Conference is a way for Guilford to catch up.
__________________________
Working MethodThe Local Montagnard Community
I have worked with the Montagnard community for five years. Almost all meaningful relations are built on face to face meetings. This is especially true for elders but remains important for a community in which most adults are preliterate or simply not comfortable with English over the telephone or Internet. When we speak of a "budget" in traditional societies this means expenditure of time with them — "social capital" — and less about monetary expense. The social capital accrued towards this project was gained over the five years working with elders, political and religious leaders, individual families and community members, artists, musicians and craftsmen, doctors, health workers, neighborhood leaders, businessmen and students.
In a Montagnard-centric world (upon which we have premised much of our research and community building success), I overlap projects (health, farm, ESOL, citizenship, etc) of interest to the community with new projects such as the Montagnard Conference. Individual fragile budgets and resources reinforce one another, creating a sturdier whole and in many instances give confidence to community members working in a factious society to move forward.
The strategy of the Montagnard Conference is to similarly integrate its introduction and mission into existing projects and narratives.
Campus
My purpose is to make the resources of the Montagnard community accessible to students and academicians by organizing collaborative processes that are fair and equitable. Social justice — the underpinning of much of the work of the Bonner Center and students’ community site work — coupled with the technical skills of UNCG students enrolled in professional programs suggests one model of social engagement, community building and institutional collaboration.
__________________________
Resources
Raleigh Bailey’s excellent CAL report ends with the Montagnard experience in 2002.
