This project explores First Amendment rights and Vietnamese American history. In it, is an analysis of US Constitutional rights in the context of the Hi-Tek protest of 1999. Vietnamese immigration started in 1975 with the Fall of Saigon, after the Vietnam War. Immigrants were fleeing persecution of the newly placed Vietnamese Communist government and a majority ended up in California. Orange County, California is the largest US Vietnamese ethnic enclave. In 1999, Truong Van Tran put up a display supporting the Vietnamese Commnunist government in his store Hi-Tek TV and VCR in the Bolsa Avenue Mini-Mall of Westminster. In an attempt to provoke reactions amongst the Vietnamese community, Tran sent out notices of his actions to community leaders. Amongst the community, popular opinion consisted of negative sentiments towards the Communist Vietnamese government, and so Tran challenged them to make him take his display down, knowing it was offensive to the surrounding community. Tran’s actions sparked protests and demonstrations in Orange County, eventually growing and drawing in crowds larger than fifteen thousand. In this project, I argue that Tran did have the right to put up his display, as according to the US Constitution, however previous court cases and the California Constitution showed that Tran was less rightful in terms of his lease with the mall owner. This protest also marks a significant moment for Vietnamese Americans, empowering them as one of their first times massively involved in political activism, while bringing attention to Vietnamese American culture and awareness.

This project was inspired by Vivian’s mother, a Vietnamese immigrant that came to the US when she was sixteen. Her mother was not directly related to this incident, but is just as impacted by the effects of the Vietnam War and these community sentiments. Her, as well as the majority of Vivian’s family were immigrants and still hold many connections to their homeland and culture. In an attempt to better understand the plights of her family and heritage, Vivian chose to learn more about this incident that held a defining moment in Vietnamese American history.