San Jose's District 7 Council member, about to go through a recall election, March 3, 2009.
Let me start by saying, I don’t necessarily support the recall, but I’m not entirely against it. Madison’s campaign was grassroots and got all the Vietnamese Americans in San Jose to respond to local politics, in many cases, for the first time. Her campaign also had its humble beginnings right in my parents house. But somehow between then and now, a whole lotta shit happened.
The first of which was the decision on the naming of the Vietnamese hood in Eastside: Little Saigon vs Saigon Business District. Personally, I don’t see the difference. Both are exclusive and both ghettoize the neighborhood (the old Jewish American connotation of the word Ghetto, not the Ice Cube as Doughboy in Boyz in the Hood meaning). So the fact that Madison was adamant against naming the neighborhood “Little Saigon” means something was going on in the background. There is a Little Saigon in SF, OC, VA, pretty much everywhere. Why there couldn’t be one, officially, in San Jose, confounds me. It SMACKS of the same xenophobia that hit Santa Clara when the council there rejected the Koreatown proposal, despite the fact that the stretch of El Camino Real filled with Korean restaurants, bars, and shops is already an F’N K0-town, whether they like it or now.
The other reason I am not out there campaigning against the recall like I did for the election of President Obama (coincidentally, the Silicon Valley for Obama group is officially against the recall) is because the two sides are completely lopsided. The pro Madison side is filled ENTIRELY with local businesses, politicians, LARGE political groups (like the Democratic Party), and other randoms from OUTSIDE the District that this affects. The people FOR the recall? I have no idea. Why? Cause its just a bunch of random people FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD who were able to gather up 7,000 viable signatures from the District and got this thing to ballot. If this doesn’t scream democratic process and grassroots coalition building, then I don’t know what does. Cause between the thousands of dollars spent on billboards and TV ads the Madison side is pulling vs the random stragglers on the street knocking on doors the anti-Madison group is putting together, I think its pretty obvious which side is speaking for the people of District 7…
Grassroots is a caller list on one hand, a 900 mhz cordless phone in the other, and a newborn latched into a baby bjorn on your chest. In your living room.
BicoastalBitchin's Weblog 
The story behind the scenes, from what I read, is that one of Madison Nguyen’s biggest supporters is trying to develop a shopping center that he plans to name “Vietnam Town,” whereas the father of her city council election rival owns a shopping center named “Little Saigon.”
This sheds light on why she initially pushed for “Vietnam Town Shopping District,” and then backed down to “Saigon Business District.” The former was an open attempt to name the entire area to parallel the name of her supporter’s development. The latter is a compromise to at least not benefit the father of a political rival and alternate pole of community power.
Otherwise, none of this shit makes sense. “Vietnam Town Business District” sounds idiotic. “Saigon Business District” only slightly less so. But going for “Saigon Business District” instead of “Little Saigon” makes very little sense except for the factor of not wanting to mirror the name of “Little Saigon Plaza.”
I think both sides come across poorly. Madison Nguyen seems quite obviously beholden to special interests. And the “Little Saigon” supporters are at least partially being driven by another special interest. And, those who believe in the “Little Saigon” name for “grassroots” reasons seem, to me, to be folks who are still fighting an imaginary propaganda war against the Viet Cong…on American soil.
I don’t like the anti-Communist impetus behind the use of “Little Saigon.” If it’s really about honoring cultural identity and creating a marketing brand for a neighborhood, I don’t see why we can’t all compromise on something politically neutral and, in this case, developer-neutral…something like “Little Vietnam,” for example.
As for the idea that resistance to ethnic naming of a neighborhood being xenophobic…I’m sure there’s something there. But that doesn’t mean the City hasn’t been fair — there is no “Little Mexico” or “Little Lisbon” or “Little Italy” or etc. I have no problem with a “Little Vietnam” but I also have no problem prohibiting it if the prohibition is consistently applied.
In the end, the City’s compromise of allowing business owners to put up “Little Saigon” or “Saigon Business DIstrict” or whatever signs, at their own expense, seems to be a pretty sound one, given the passionate disagreement within “the community.”
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Great Points Chester. And I think it would be great if the unofficial Little Mexico neighborhood in south Downtown and the Little Lisbon area on Alum Rock became official. I don’t think many people in San Jose actually know they exist, helping commerce benefits all.
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