3/19/2008

Vietnamese Americans Today

 “For the past 30 years, Vietnamese American contributions are often forgotten because Vietnamese Americans are mostly referenced in terms of a war. More than reminders of a war, we are a refugee community that has built new homes in a country of opportunities.” 

As the history of refugee flight from Vietnam would suggest, Vietnamese Americans see family reunification and long waits for citizenship as the most significant immigration issues they face. But the community in the United States is equally concerned with its role in American society. In 2000, the 1.2 million-strong Vietnamese American community made up 10.9 percent of the Asian population, and was the fifth largest Asian immigrant group in the United States.

This represents a dramatic transformation in a relatively short span of time. Vietnamese immigrants were only identified separately by the Office of Immigration Statistics in the decade of the 1950s, when 335 were admitted as refugees and became Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs). This number had risen to 832,765 LPRs by 2003.

Almost 40 percent of Vietnamese Americans live in California and another 12 percent in Texas. As of 2000, 44 percent of foreign-born Vietnamese had become U.S. citizens, the highest naturalization rate of all Asian groups, even though Vietnamese had the highest proportion (62 percent) of persons who spoke English less than “very well” at home. 

Although the Vietnamese community has a per capita income 40 percent lower than the national average, the median family income is the highest of all the Southeast Asian American refugee populations ($46,929 according to the 2000 Census). Moreover, the Vietnamese have the lowest rate of receiving public assistance (10 percent) among Southeast Asian groups. Among all Asian ethnic groups, the Vietnamese are known to be especially anti-communist, very active politically, and more likely to vote Republican.

Carving Out Entrepreneurial Niches

  The Vietnamese who came to the United States, especially in the second wave of migration, often had rudimentary education and skills, which made integration into their new homeland all the more challenging. With little English-language or technical training, Vietnamese exhibited great entrepreneurial spirit by finding niche occupations which could allow them to immediately earn money to support their families. According to the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, businesses owned by Vietnamese Americans employed 97,035 people, had an annual payroll of $1.1 billion, and generated annual receipts of $9.3 billion in 2003.

The Vietnamese revitalized and even re-invented some traditional job categories. Many first and second-generation Vietnamese are small business owners and have established restaurants or auto-repair shops. However, low-skilled Vietnamese in particular have had a pronounced impact on two industries: nail care and commercial fishing and shrimping.

Not Just Another Nail Salon

The nail salon business in the United States in 2003 was worth more than $6 billion. The number of salons shot up from 32,674 in 1993 to 53,615 in 2003, and revenues have grown 67 percent in the past decade. Vietnamese quickly saw that nail shops could become profitable family businesses, and even males learned how to manicure and pedicure in order to support themselves. 

Nails Magazine credits the Vietnamese with changing and re-defining the industry more than any other group, helping to increase the number of salons by 374 percent over the past decade, and making nail care a service that anyone from teens to working women can afford. Vietnamese Americans alone make up 37 percent of licensed technicians nationwide and dominate 80 percent of the industry in California.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Charlie Ton has built a multi-million dollar empire with over 700 nail franchise locations (many located in Wal-Marts as ‘Regal Nails,’ which is growing at the rate of 125 per year). His headquarters has 50 employees in the nail supply division and 10,000 nail supply customers. 

Although most of Ton’s products are imported, he has begun manufacturing some goods in the United States to increase his profits. His franchisees are sold for $50,000 apiece, making the total market value of the salons more than $35 million. Now Ton is developing coffee shop franchises, which also may end up in Wal-Marts around the country.