“From our standpoint, removing the photograph is not an option for us,” campus spokesman Marc Posner said Friday. “We are an institution that is about learning, discussion and discourse, and you don’t do that by silencing a voice.”
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Marla Jo Fisher
Orange County Register
February 15, 2009
Officials at Cypress College are refusing to remove a controversial, defaced photo that has angered some members of the Vietnamese American community, despite threats of protests against the college next week.
“From our standpoint, removing the photograph is not an option for us,” campus spokesman Marc Posner said Friday. “We are an institution that is about learning, discussion and discourse, and you don’t do that by silencing a voice.”
Protesters said they plan to demonstrate Wednesday afternoon at the college. Hundreds could show up.
In recent years, any local showing in public of the flag of the communist nation of Vietnam, or a photo of the late leader Ho Chi Minh, has triggered large demonstrations. Irvine Valley College took down a display of flags of the nations in response to protesters, while USC refused demands to remove its flag.
Cypress College officials and photographer Brian Doan met this week with Vietnamese protesters, who want Doan’s photo, of a young girl wearing a shirt that resembles the communist flag while standing next to a bust of Ho Chi Minh, removed from a gallery exhibit, Posner said.
The photo, titled “Thu Duc,” was previously defaced by a protester with spray-paint when it was on exhibit in Santa Ana.
The Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California issued a statement asking college officials to “be sensitive” to the feelings of Vietnamese refugees who were forced into reeducation camps and forced to flee their country after the communists took over.
“While UVSA respects the individual’s right to freedom of expression, we believe that such right should take into consideration the negative emotional impacts the display can have on the Vietnamese community,” the statement said.
The campus president is scheduled to meet with representatives of the group Tuesday, Posner said.
Posner said campus officials offered to hold a forum where protesters can express their views, but refused to remove the photo, despite threats of a demonstration that could occur Wednesday.
714-796-7994 or mfisher@ocregister.com
Illustration
Caption: “Thu Duc,” before it was defaced by a protester.
Copyright , The Orange County Register – 2009