Where are all the Asians?

Being a native San Franciscan and living in the Richmond District of the City I am use to seeing the stoic faces of Asian people walking up and down Gary or Clement Street (Chinatown West).  I am a home boy in this hood, born and raised, and this is what I'm used to seeing.  So being somewhat transplanted to New Orleans, I asked myself "Where are all the Asians in New Orleans?".  Well of course I see them at Tulane (they are the smart ones, no stereotype intended :-).  I even made a joke of it and said to myself "oh yeah, they're at Harrahs Casino".  But seriously, I have seen them.  They run the reflexology shops (foot massage) in the Quarter.  They appear as the white collar office workers in the CBD (Central Business District).  I see them as tourists and locals having a good time in the Quarter.  It is interesting to me that I mostly see Asian women, not a whole lot of guys (Ok, they're at the casino, ha ha). 

Having some craving for some home cooking, I looked for a Chinese restaurant in the Quarter.  I used my iPhone and the application "urban spoon".  I looked for Chinese food in the Quarter and up popped "Moon Wok" restaurant at 800 Dauphine Street.  They had a mix of Chinese and Vietnamese fast food and very reasonable prices.  Off I went for another hike in the Quarter.  After about 30 to 40 minutes of walking I saw the red brick building with the sign "Moon Wok Chinese Restaurant".  I walked in an was immediately greeted by a young man who's name is Bau.  I ordered a noodle platter and some spring rolls.

Suffice it to say that you get what you pay for and in this case it is true.  But the purpose of the visit was not only to eat something familiar but it was to also make a connection with Asians in the Community.

I asked Bau, "where are all the Asians?"  He looked at me with a puzzled look.  I asked him what race he was...I asked "are you Chinese?"  He said he is Vietnamese.  After some more explaining on my part, he finnally understood my question.  He yelled back at his family "where's Versailles".  Now I am the one with the puzzled look.  Versailles is the palace in Paris.  So all the siblings which included two young sisters proceeded to let me know where the location of the Vietmamese Community is:  

Vietnamese in New Orleans
I did get specific directions from the family on where the Vietnamese community is and also with a little bit of research on the internet I found out how and why and where the Vietnamese are in New Orleans.  The history goes back to the Vietnam War in the 1970's where many Vietnamese were re-settled because they were refrugees from the war who fought with the Americans.  Now there are second generation Vietnamese that are born and raised here.  Most do live in the the north east section of New Orleans called Village De L'est.  The street names here are mostly in French and there are apartments in the area called Versailles Arms Apartments. These were the first apartments to house Vietnamese in 1975.  Hence the question "where is Versailles?"  The older generation, the uncles, aunts, and grandparents retain the values of their home country, hard work, frugality, family, fishing,  and interestingly,  farming.  There are as many as 6.000 Vietnamese in Versailles living within a mile of each other.  Many of the Vietnamese families living at Versailles have home gardens in their back yards.  One of the projects of Urban Build at Tulane University (see my earlier blog entry on Tulane) is to build an urban farm out the New Orleans East along with a farmer's market.  One of the advocates for the market is New Orleans Chef John Besh, who likes the idea of buying fresh vegetables in his own back yard.

This area just like most of New Orleans did not escape the flood and disaster of Katrina.  Much of the land and homes here were devastated.  Much of the surrounding area is vacant.  However the Vietnamese community have come back.   As much as 200 families returned before Christmas 2005, right after Hurricane Katrina hit in August.  There are now as many as 90% of the community back.  Their return reaffirms their sense of belonging and commitment not only to family but also to community.
Read Renee Peck's article in NOLA.com,  where I got most of my information.
http://blog.nola.com/reneepeck/2008/09/in_new_orleans_vietnamese_comm.html