Riddled throughout this weeks texts were examples of a lack of belonging. In “The Beautiful Country” Binh is treated poorly in Vietnam because of his status as “bui doi,” the son of an American soldier. However, after coming to America he finds that he is not treated any better because of racism aimed at Asian citizens. Throughout “We Should Never Meet” there are many examples of a lack of belonging. You get to watch the entire process from beginning to end. From the very beginning the book sets you up, in watching the process of a young woman giving up her baby to an orphanage. From there you witness as the orphanages and adoption agencies struggle to help children and find them homes. Even after Operation Baby-Lift, many of the children ended up in the Foster System because they were unable to find permanent homes.

White Saviorism was also a dominating force in this book. There was a featured group of American people who went to volunteer in the Orphanages. At one point in the story, a reporter even asks one of the workers how she feels knowing that there are orphans in America left without help while there are workers volunteering in another country. While it’s a noble cause, it’s still very obviously a play at the fact that white Americans tend to think that there are no issues in America, and look for other countries to help and “fix.” The other problem is the lack of acknowledgement to the fact that the Vietnam War was not a win for America. In all of my years in public education, never once did we look at the Vietnam War. It’s almost like the history textbooks are written to make America look “great.”