Nguyen Viet Thang

I've never stopped being a refugee.

— Nguyen Viet Thang

In the United States, we want to believe we will never become a country of refugees.

— Nguyen Viet Thang

I never called myself a writer because it seemed so pretentious - a writer was what somebody else called you, a title…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

No one wants for their child to become a refugee. It's an awful experience.

— Nguyen Viet Thang

People might like to think a war is done when a cease fire is signed, but for most people who lived through…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

My identity is deeply intertwined with being a refugee because that's the first experience that I remember.

— Nguyen Viet Thang

I think all immigrants and refugees are preoccupied with memories to one degree or another. But again, this question of how much…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

You have to wear a different face when you're interacting with the larger culture. And you can be more of yourself at…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

In the United States, the immigrant experience occupies a very central place in American mythology. And sometimes, that place wavers between acceptance…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Immigrants, as troubling as they are to some people, are an integral part of what the American Dream is supposed to be.…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Every new refugee to a society, whether it's the United States or some other place, is subjected to fear. They are the…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

The refugees are not only going to be a demand on the country's resources, but also the refugees raise the possibility that…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

When I was growing up, I cared very little for the customs of my parents, the special things that we're supposed to…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Immigrants who voluntarily come to a country have already made a decision to assimilate to one degree or another. Probably not completely,…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Growing up in the U.S., I was certainly deeply aware of the power of American media, specifically Hollywood and television, in terms…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Refugees are threatening, not just to Americans, but also in many countries the world over. And it's partially because, unlike immigrants, refugees…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

People may be vaguely aware that there's suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan, but simply because the media are filled with American-centric versions,…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

40, 50 years ago, Americans - the majority of Americans did not want to accept these Vietnamese refugees who they saw as…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Hollywood in many ways serves as the unofficial ministry of propaganda for the United States.

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Writers from the majority can assume their audiences know what they're talking about - they don't have to explain things, whereas minority…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

I think my parents' lives are worthy of writing about. I don't think my life is particularly worthy of writing about.

— Nguyen Viet Thang

If you're a so-called minority writer, the temptation is to write for the majority... I refuse to do that.

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Refugees, especially in their early years, are still caught up in the experience that made them refugees. And they're much more melancholic.…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

By college, I had a really grand, preposterous vision of myself as becoming a writer, but I don't think I had the…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Refugees have been displaced by war or natural disaster or political catastrophes, and they are much more threatening because they are reminders…

— Nguyen Viet Thang

Immigrants who come to a country are going to lose something, for sure, but they hope to gain a great deal by…

— Nguyen Viet Thang