Publisher's Synopsis
"Not Just Victims" contains twelve oral histories based on conversations with Cambodian community leaders in eight American cities with sizable Cambodian ethnic communities. Unlike the dozens of autobiographies published by Cambodians that focus largely on their victimization and experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime before fleeing Cambodia, these narratives describe how Cambodian refugees have adapted to life in the United States. Providing insiders' views of the issues and challenges the group is encountering, "Not Just Victims" focuses on communities in Long Beach, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Portland, Tacoma, and the Massachusetts towns of Fall River and Lowell. Sucheng Chan's extensive introduction provides a historical framework within which the stories of the refugees can be better understood. She discusses the civil war that brought death to half a million people (1970-75), the bloody Khmer Rouge revolution (1975-79), the border war during the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia (1979-89), and the additional travails faced by those who escaped to holding camps in Thailand. The book also includes an essay on oral history and a substantial bibliography.
