Jillian Turner Blog # 7: Maya Lin the Scapegoat

In Maya Lin: A Stong Clear Vision, Frieda Lee Mock illustrates the controversial selection of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. Maya Lin was an Asian woman studying architecture at Yale. Needless to say, this sparked a huge controversy during a time in American history in which those of Asian descent were the object of discrimination.

The film itself addresses more than just the struggles of Maya Lin. The Vietnam War is now known as one of the most controversial wars in American history. Media played a vital role in America as graphic images of victims provided insight to the atrocities of the conflict. As a result, many soldiers who returned to the states were poorly received. Americans struggled with justifying such brutal warfare. In her film, Mock features a specific case in which one soldier was spit on by a civilian on his way home.

This abuse of veterans shows the complexity of the country during the time. On one hand, Maya Lin was criticized for her memorial to the troops, possibly because of her race, and on the other hand, soldiers who returned home were criticized for their war acts over seas. This led to distrust in government as people questioned what America was really fighting for.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html


http://www.history.com/topics/my-lai-massacre

"To grieve, and to make grief itself a resource for politics is not to be resigned to a simple passivity or powerlessness." In her quote, Judith Butler calls upon the human emotion of grief as an emotion rather than a political tool. Her work "Global Violence, Sexual Politics" relates to the discussion of the Vietnam War and its unprecedented violence. I found it interesting that this war in particular received such attention. Vietnam was one of the first publicized wars in American history. As a result, there was a collective idea that this war was more horrific than WWII for example. Despite dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, Americans believed that this was worse. I can't help but wonder if this is simply American Exceptionalism at play. 

So what kind of community was perpetuated in America during and after the Vietnam War? Clearly the country was plagued by complex views of exceptionalism and racism while showing surprising empathy towards the civilians of Vietnam. Unlike in WWI and WWII where anti-enemy propaganda instilled strictly American views in the people, it was evident that an overwhelming number of Americans were disturbed by the goings on over seas. 

In chapter 7 of Imagined Communities, Anderson discusses the colonization of education overseas. I found this interesting because it shows yet another side of cultures around the world. In schooling we so often focus only on how other cultures affect American cultures for economic or war-related reasons for example. In the Vietnam war, as in other wars, Americans portrayed their enemies as inferior and almost dehumanized them as a justification for the war acts against them. It was interesting to note Anderson's statement that "Vietnamese elite [tried] to place their children in the best French schools available, so as to ensure their bureaucratic futures." Unlike common beliefs that were perpetuated during the war, this portrays the Vietnamese as education-seeking people much like the united states. So I must ask, what are we missing? What is the price of political propaganda?