Viet Chicanos

VIET CHICANOS

Community, aesthetics and cultural cross-over in Saigon.

In Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) there's a subculture of barbers, tattoo artists, motorcycle enthusiasts, and their friends who, despite not being of Mexican descent, consider themselves "Vietnamese-Chicanos."

While aesthetics play an important role in the community — many have facial tattoos, slicked-back hair in hairnets, wear rosaries and other clothing often associated with Chicano culture — their adopted identity is more than that: it's a lifestyle. Thao, one of the movement's co-founders, who has identified as Chicano for over a decade, says he sees many similarities between Chicano and Vietnamese culture: in both, family is a priority, and respecting the community is one of the most important interpersonal values one can practice.

Is this cultural appropriation or appreciation?

Going beyond the surface, members of the community in Saigon have thought deeply about what it means to "practice Chicano identity" and have even collaborated with Mayan, Chicano, and Mexican artists to design products in their barber shops. They also have vibrant online friendships with people in places like El Paso, Texas, and Los Angeles, California, with a small number of the community considering themselves Pachucos or Cholos.

Stereotyped from outside as violent and/or gangsters, strong bonds have formed between the (mostly men) in the group, who have, in creating a Vietnamese-Chicano community, been able to provide livelihoods for themselves, foster community within Vietnam and internationally and challenge Vietnamese society's preconceptions around tattoos.

Nguyen Phuoc Loc, a Vietnamese barber who considers himself a "Cholo," at the shop he manages in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. "Familia," the Spanish word for family is tattooed on one side of his head, and "Loyalty" on the other.

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Mural at a Chicano-themed barber shop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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Nguyen Phuoc Thien, who goes by "Tea," at the Mexican-themed barbershop where he works in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He identifies with the "W" for Westside that many California Chicanos use, as he is from Can Tho, in the Western Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

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Ngo Cong Binh (right), a barber at a Mexican-themed shop in Ho Cho Minh City, Vietnam, cuts a customer's hair.

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Nguyen Van Thao, the co-founder of the Chicano movement in Vietnam. Thao is a tattoo artist who specializes in lettering.

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Mike P., (left) Thao's tattoo apprentice, works at Thao's tattoo studio. Mike is Vietnamese but grew up in Germany and came to Saigon to work on his art and connect with his roots.

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