Recently, Los Angeles County supervisors designated the fall of Saigon Commemoration Day as “Jane Fonda Day,” sparking strong dissatisfaction from Vietnamese-American congressional members in California. In response to the backlash, the county government is reconsidering this controversial decision, with legislators showing support for the reversal.
According to the report by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, when Saigon fell, Janet Nguyen’s uncle – a South Vietnamese officer – was publicly executed in his village. After the collapse of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the communist regime imprisoned Janet Nguyen’s parents for trying to escape Vietnam.
Following the fall of Saigon, Tri Ta’s father spent several years in a re-education camp prison. His “crime” was writing critical books about communism.
Janet Nguyen and Tri Ta eventually resettled in California with their families. Janet Nguyen became a California state senator, while Tri Ta became a state assemblyman. Representing the largest Vietnamese diaspora community outside of Vietnam in Orange County, Republicans, 49 years after the fall of Saigon, still commemorate April 30 as a solemn day known as “Black April” for Janet Nguyen, Tri Ta, and the 2.3 million Vietnamese-Americans in the United States. “This is a day of mourning for us,” Janet Nguyen expressed.
This is why when the Los Angeles County supervisors designated April 30 as “Jane Fonda Day” to honor her environmental activism, Tri Ta and Janet Nguyen felt deeply outraged. Legislators promptly started pressuring the county board of supervisors to retract the accolade. To many Vietnamese veterans and refugees, Jane Fonda earned the dishonorable moniker of “Hanoi Jane” for her actions during the war, including visiting North Vietnam, interviewing with communist radio stations, and posing with North Vietnamese soldiers and anti-aircraft guns.
On May 10, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors announced that Jane Fonda Day would be moved to April 8 to show respect to the dissenting community.
Lindsey Horvath, chairperson of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, through her spokesperson Constance Farrell, clarified that the selection of the date was not intentionally meant to disrespect the Vietnamese-American community. Farrell explained that the date was chosen due to the regular meeting schedule of the board, where recognitions are usually presented.
Tri Ta and his Democratic colleague, State Assemblywoman Stephanie Nguyen of Elk Grove, penned a joint letter last week, supported by nearly all Republican state legislators, urging the board to rescind the recognition. “The tribute to Jane Fonda is an insult to the service and sacrifice of American and South Vietnamese soldiers for the cause of freedom,” they stated in their letter.
Stephanie Nguyen, a descendant of Vietnamese refugees who grew up in the Little Saigon community of Sacramento, did not respond to CalMatters’ interview invitation. Jane Fonda also did not respond to CalMatters’ requests for comments relayed to her public relations. However, she has apologized for the incident of posing with anti-aircraft guns, stating that she never intended to oppose the U.S. military, but rather to oppose the war.
Tri Ta and Janet Nguyen expressed relief at the board’s decision to change the recognition date for Jane Fonda. However, they lamented the fact that the leadership of Los Angeles County, the most populous county in California, could easily forget the shared experiences of Vietnamese-American families who fled communist oppression, which is disheartening. There are 521,100 Vietnamese-Americans in California.
“I am really, really disappointed because for almost every Vietnamese-American, Black April is a very sad day,” Tri Ta stated, recently appearing in the state capitol wearing dark blue traditional Vietnamese attire.
Janet Nguyen donned black clothing for the Black April commemoration event in her district. Upon learning of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ decision, she immediately called the board, urging them to reconsider. “I implore them, if they will not rescind the recognition, at least change the date,” Nguyen said. “April 30 should not be that day.” She expressed a hope for the board to choose a date outside of April.
This is not the first time the California Vietnamese-American community has exerted pressure on the political arena to retract offensive actions.
In 2017, then-State Assemblyman Rob Bonta introduced a bill aiming to repeal a 1953 law allowing the California government to dismiss communist party members. At the time, Janet Nguyen criticized Bonta’s proposal as “a great insult to Californians who escaped communism.” Bonta issued an apology and withdrew his bill.
“In conversations with veterans and the Vietnamese-American community, I’ve heard many poignant stories about how AB22 brought significant pain and harm, which is incredibly heavy for those with dignity and honor,” Bonta stated at the time. “For that, I apologize.”
Janet Nguyen is running for the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Before leaving the State Senate at the end of the year, she specially introduced anti-communist measures, which stood out in a state known for its left-leaning politics.
Nguyen proposed a resolution to designate November 7 as “Victims of Communism Remembrance Day” to commemorate the millions of victims of communist regimes worldwide. The resolution was passed by the State Senate last year. She also introduced a pending bill allowing non-profit organizations to establish a memorial for victims of communism inside the state capitol building, which was passed by the State Senate in April. Both proposals faced no opposition.
“As Vietnamese refugees coming here, we value democracy and freedom,” she told CalMatters. “We value our right to speak out. So, we don’t want anyone to experience the hardships we’ve gone through.” ◇