The Vietnamese are SO magnanimous

I just came out of an IADL organized meeting between American and Vietnamese students and young lawyers from around the world, and I am so very humbled by everything the Vietnamese shared with us. These people have the biggest hearts possible. Vietnam continues to struggle and live through the unimaginable physcial, psychological, and ecological damage we unjustifiably imposed upon them less than thirty years ago, in living memory, but here's what the students said about it:

- my family members and my people have suffered from all of the destruction of the war, and it is the responsibility of the present generation to alleviate their pain by fostering partnerships and good relations with the world.
- One woman shared a really poignant story about her uncles and parents who fought against the American invasion--all of them are disabled, and despite the difficulties they have faced personally and in raising their family every step of the way -- they taught their children that "all Americans are not the same, it was the American government of the time that attacked us, not the American people. The people of America were with us, they marched for us and went to jail for us."
- We hold the future and we awnt to hold it for peace, and we want to forget the past atrocities in order to create a bwrrwe duruew.

These sentiments resonated consistently across the comments, and it was absolutely humbling for me to witness a people -- who America tried to completely break through its indiscriminate bombing campaign and sanctions since -- stand up and reach out with a hand of friendship. Everyone sitting in the room was in tears. Though we shared the pain and suffering of the Vietnamese people, as Americans, I think our tears also symbolized an element of anger and frustration for the injustice that our country has done to millions of Vietnamese.

One thing that came up several times was the our gov'ts hypocrisy in reimbursing our war veterans for damages from Agent Orange, but their strict refusal to do the same for the Vietnamese people. Yesterday we went to the Vietnamese Friendship Village, one of few institutions that take care of children and veterans of Vietnam who have been affected by America's campaign to defoliate this country by spraying Agent orange. Generations of children and their families completely deprived of "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." Children born disabled and deformed; families forced to child-rearing instead of earning an income; villages burneded and eternally scarred with the stigma of rearing deformed children and losing family members to complications of Agent Orange --- sheer injustice from every perspective!!

In our country, we compensate victims for the slightest tort crimes with millions of dollars -- but we refuse to deliver that same justice to individuals who were systematically and knowingly sprayed with this heinously toxic chemical.

As Americans, we came out of this student delegation feeling a deep sense of injustice, one stemming both in America's misguided foreign policy that is imbued with the dichotomous us vs. them rhetoric that is blantantly racist, with a mission to do something for this. We need to support our Vietnamese bretherens and bring justice to those who have suffered by holding our government accountable.

Anurag, NYU Law