Growing up as a Vietnamese refugee in 1980s America

On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen shares what it was like growing up as a Vietnamese refugee in the US—and how the Americans around him often misunderstood the emotional toll of displacement.

When Nguyen’s family fled Vietnam in 1975, they joined over 130,000 South Vietnamese refugees trying to rebuild their lives in the United States. Nguyen grew up in a tight-knit refugee community steeped in anti-communism and Catholicism, watching his parents work 14-hour days while sending money to relatives they had left behind. “We were a community that had lost so much,” he says, “and we were trying to rebuild our shattered lives.”

Nguyen, the author of the bestselling novel "The Sympathizer," tells Ian Bremmer that while Vietnamese refugees were navigating grief, separation, and survival, many Americans failed to grasp their reality. Shaped by war footage and one-dimensional portrayals, the public often viewed Southeast Asians as either victims or enemies. “There was a lot of misunderstanding... a lot of incomprehension,” he says—especially in parts of the country that had little exposure to Asian communities.

Watch full episode: 50 years after the Vietnam War

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).

New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.