Linh Nguyen is in his second season as the Emory University women’s and men’s cross country and track & field teams. He led the Eagles’ women’s cross country team to a regional title and garnered South/Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors in 2019. Nguyen previously coached the same sports at NCAA Division I programs University of North Carolina at Greensboro and University of Toledo.
The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.
Being Born Shortly After Vietnam War
“I was born three years after the end of the Vietnam War, one of the most unpopular wars in U.S. history. As a result, I had a lot of difficult times in my early school years. Many of my classmates growing up had fathers, uncles, grandfathers, etc. who fought in the war. My own father was in the South Vietnamese Navy and came to the U.S. as the war ended, seeking political asylum,” Nguyen reported. “I think the overall feelings about the war in the U.S., my classmates and their families’ personal histories with the war, and the fact that I had the ‘face of the enemy’ in that war, all compounded tough times for me.”
The fact that he was born in this country did not make a difference to those around him. “Although the U.S. was the only home and country that I had ever known, my heritage linked me to another country in the eyes of my peers and others. I was subjected to a lot of animosity, both verbal and physical, because of who I was and what I looked like,” he recollected. “Derogatory names and comments were hurled at me. Learning about the war in history class was uncomfortable and often led to issues with classmates outside of class.”
Media portrayals only intensified anti-Vietnamese sentiments. “Many movies about the war came out, all of which showed people like me as the enemy. Some classmates learned racist terms for Vietnamese people from those movies or family members, using them on me,” he recalled. “There were many good people and good times as well, but I learned a lot during that period about differences and the way some people will treat you and think of you based on your race, background, or how you look. That time and those experiences definitely shaped my life. I learned that some people wouldn’t ever give me the chance to show who I was through my character. This is why I’ve tried to live my life by giving others that opportunity.”
READ LINH'S FULL STORY:
