Vietnamese-American? We Need a Foreigner!

by John
(Saigon, Vietnam)

I'm frustrated, I'm Vietnamese-Amerasian, I'm almost 6-ft tall, have dark-brown hair, brown eyes, and light skin.

Growing up most Vietnamese didn't think I looked Asian-enough; now I'm told I don't look foreign enough to fit the bill for their stereotype of what a native-English speaker should look like.

I feel so angry, at least in the States, you can file a complaint against workplace discrimination when turned down for a job that you have the same qualifications as a white person (who might in this case actually be lesser qualified.)

I'm thinking about going to a salon, dying my hair light brown and investing in some blue colored contact lenses. I just feel so frustrated. I've changed my name on my CV and cover letter, my middle name was "Nguyen" (my mom's maiden name, the only part of my name that's Vietnamese at all.

I feel frustrated, since I'm already here, I'm in the Saigon grind, looking for work, sweating as I pound the pavement and I'm held up by their preconceived notions of what an English-speaker should look like.

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Someone help John, Please. Let's wait and see if anyone is willing to share their personal experiences with you.

I am a white boy so I could never understand as well as another Vietnamese-American.

Where are you? All?

Philip