“The Mixed-Up-Ness is the Complete Picture:” Lessons from Vietnamese American Understandings of Family Histories

The experiences of refugees and their children contribute to a complex narrative of remembrance, citizenship, and belonging in the United States. In this study, I analyze the narratives and multimedia creations of the children of Vietnamese refugees to explore how they negotiate generational memories to make meaning of their personal identities and family histories. I organized participants' ways of processing their families’ histories around themes of fracture, excavation, and return. I argue that their approaches show how they began/continued to heal and how they could, then, re-member. The meaning-making processes of Vietnamese American young people offer powerful considerations for educators to facilitate meaningful engagements with history in and beyond classroom spaces.