Module 4: Refugee Resettlement and Diaspora
Did Cambodian Americans attain justice for the harms of war and genocide?
Dear loom, dear box skeleton,
special ordered and
handcrafted from wood,
you rest on the floor
and wait for her
to sit down with you
and together weave
fabrics for weddings
between lovers and warriors,
the survivors, surviving.
– Monica Sok, excerpted from “Ode to the Loom,” A Nail the Evening Hangs On 1
Cambodian American poet Monica Sok opens her collection A Nail the Evening Hangs On with a dedication to her grandmother: “for Bun Em”. In the poems, Sok’s descriptions of the relationship between her and her grandmother, a master weaver, and their loom, illustrate the thread that connects the refugee’s life before displacement and life after resettlement in the diaspora. A diaspora refers to any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland, especially involuntarily. “Diaspora” can also be used to discuss the transnational movements of people that align with historical, social, and economic events.
This module addresses the topics of refugee resettlement and diaspora, and explores the experiences of the Cambodian diaspora in the United States. We learn about refugee experiences of displacement and resettlement, and understand the historical and legal conditions that produced the Cambodian refugee and the Cambodian American.
What is a “refugee” and what are some of the conditions that produce refugees?
What is “diaspora,” especially for Cambodian Americans?
What experiences define resettlement for Cambodian communities in the United States?
