Bill Text: CA SCR85 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Black April Memorial Month.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-05-24 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 57, Statutes of 2022. [SCR85 Detail]
Download: California-2021-SCR85-Chaptered.html
Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 85
CHAPTER 57
Relative to Black April Memorial Month.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
May 24, 2022.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 85, Umberg.
Black April Memorial Month.
This measure would proclaim the month of April 2022 as Black April Memorial Month, a special time for Californians to remember the countless lives lost during the Vietnam War era and to hope for more justice and liberty for the people of Vietnam.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, April 30, 2022, marks the 47th year since the Fall of Saigon, on April 30, 1975, to communism; and
WHEREAS, For many Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans who were directly involved in the war, and Vietnamese Americans who have settled in the United States, the Vietnam War was a tragedy full of great suffering and loss of American, Vietnamese, and Southeast Asian lives; and
WHEREAS, The Vietnam War began in 1954 and ended in 1975. The war started soon after the Geneva Conference, which divided Vietnam into two nations at the 17th parallel. It is estimated that over 58,200 members of the United States Armed Forces, almost 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides, and some 1,100,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters had died or were missing as a result of the war. The United States committed some 550,000 troops to the Vietnam front lines at the height of the conflict and a total of 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam War era from August 5, 1964, to May 7, 1975, inclusive; and
WHEREAS, The combined United States and South Vietnamese fatalities among service people during the Vietnam War reached more than 300,000, with approximately 1,000,000 additional troops being wounded in combat. Millions of Vietnamese civilians suffered casualties and death as a result of the extended conflict; and
WHEREAS, During the Fall of Saigon, millions of Vietnamese people and their families, including, but not limited to, former military personnel, government officials, and those who had worked for the United States during the war, fled Vietnam to surrounding areas and the United States; and
WHEREAS, In the late 1970s to mid-1980s, an estimated 500,000 Vietnamese people risked their lives by fleeing Vietnam aboard small boats in a mass exodus. These emigrants reached refugee camps in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, while approximately one-half of the people fleeing Vietnam in search of freedom and democracy perished at sea; and
WHEREAS, The Vietnam War is marked as a tragedy for not only Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans who were directly involved in the war, it is one full of great suffering and loss for the Vietnamese civilians and the Vietnamese Americans who crossed the sea to find this land of freedom as their safe haven. These Vietnamese American refugees had soon become a part of, and continue to contribute to, our American diversified culture and economy today. According to the United States Census 2010, more than 580,000 Vietnamese live in California, with the largest concentration of Vietnamese found outside of Vietnam residing in the Counties of Orange and Santa Clara; and
WHEREAS, In the County of Orange, the Vietnamese Boat People Monument was built and officially inaugurated in April 2009 at the campus of Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary in the City of Westminster, where a large number of Vietnamese refugees gathered after 1975. The Vietnamese Boat People Project Committee initiated this work and had received great support from Vietnamese communities in California and across the United States. The monument was inaugurated with a statue of a mother holding her child on the passage across the sea and a large black tombstone engraved with the names of tens of thousands of people who were lost at sea. These names were provided by families or friends of the deceased; and
WHEREAS, Since its inauguration, the Vietnamese Boat People Monument has become a symbol of historical and spiritual significance. Every year, on April 30, in addition to commemorating Black April, the Vietnamese Boat People Project Committee joins the Vietnamese community in Little Saigon to hold a solemn ceremony to pray and commemorate hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese boat people who fled from Vietnam in pursuit of freedom and human rights. Throughout the year, individuals and families visit the monument to remember, and pay their respects to, the legacy of the Vietnamese boat people; and
WHEREAS, Remembering the Vietnamese refugees is meant to remind us about a period of historical events, which were marked by the overcoming of loss and struggle, as many Vietnamese people escaped from an oppressive communist regime in the pursuit of freedom and human rights; and
WHEREAS, Human rights, religious freedom, democracy, and protection against threats of aggression are important concerns of Vietnamese Americans and Vietnamese communities worldwide as a result of human rights abuses that continue to occur in Vietnam in the following areas: child labor, human trafficking, religious and political persecution, suppression of the press, unlawful deprivation of life, forced disappearances, and land seizure, among others; and
WHEREAS, We must teach our children and future generations important lessons from the Vietnam War and the continuing situation in Vietnam, including how the plight of the Vietnamese refugees following the end of the war serves as a powerful example of the values of freedom and democracy; and
WHEREAS, We, the people of California, should actively rededicate ourselves to the principles of human rights, individual freedom, sovereignty, and equal protection under the laws of a just and democratic world. Californians should set aside moments of time every year on April 30 to give remembrance to the soldiers, medical personnel, and civilians who died during the Vietnam War in pursuit of freedom and democracy; and
WHEREAS, In commemoration of Black April, we would like to take a moment of silence for the veterans of the United States of America and the Republic of Vietnam in memory of the soldiers of the United States Army and Republic of Vietnam who died during the Vietnam War. With this moment of silence, we remember the countless innocent lives affected by the war, and those that continue to live with these traumatic experiences, and developed resilience to overcome these extreme challenges. We respect and honor the Vietnamese-American community in California that has grown steadily, greatly contributing to our society in every way; and
WHEREAS, Vietnamese American communities throughout California will commemorate April 30, 2022, as Black April, a day of remembrance and rededication to the principles of freedom, including freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and internet freedom; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That in recognition of the great tragedy and suffering and lives lost during the Vietnam War, the month of April 2022 shall be proclaimed Black April Memorial Month, a special time for Californians to remember the countless lives lost during the Vietnam War era and to hope for more justice and liberty for the people of Vietnam; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
