Mr. Speaker. the unfortunate men. women and children of South Vietnam who were forced to leave their own country and seek a new life in the United States are the latest in a long line of immigrants who have sought in America the freedom and dignity they could not find in their native countries. Unfortunately. much of the initial reaction to these Vietnamese refugees was hostile. A side of America which many of us did not want to believe existed seemed to show itself. Fortunately. this narrowness was shortlived and the better instincts of the American people began to show themseles. Protestant. Catholic. and Jewish relief agencies have joined together to assist the refugees in their relocation. American families in cities and towns across the country have come forward to act as sponsors. The values I have always believed were ours as a Nation so overwhelmed the antagonism of the few that little criticism has been heard in recent days. This may be an appropriate time to recall one particularly vicious attack upon the refugees from Vietnam which came. ironically. from a man who is himself an immigrant to our shores. Discussing Pat Oliphants cartoon concerning the refugees in the Washington Star. columnist John Lofton described it this way: His cartoon showed an embarrassed Statue of Liberty surrounded by a group of sleazylooking Orientals. The caption read: "Send me your tired and huddled masses. your generals. your wealthy and privileged classes. your crooks and pimps and bar girls yearning to breathe free." When Mr. Lotton called Mr. Oliphant and asked him if there was not something anomalous about an immigrant like himself being so harsh on the new Vietnamese immigrants. he said"Yes. there was. But. he explained. he resented the fact that he had to fill in all kind of forms and go through all kinds of programs these people dont.. .. First. the Vietnamese immigrants will have to fill out all of those forms and go through all those programs Mr. Oliphant had to endure. He should know that it is one thing to escape Coinmunism. but quite another to elude the federal bureaucracy.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization about Vietnamese refugees as 'sleazy-looking Orientals', 'generals', 'wealthy and privileged classes', 'crooks and pimps and bar girls'.