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Scholar Commons > Open Access Journals > GSP > Vol. 19 (2025) > Iss. 1 (2025)

 

Abstract

This autobiographical essay identifies three forces that shaped the author’s participation in the scholarly and political struggle against genocide and other mass violence and oppression. These include his status as the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors, the fact that his father was killed in action in the US War of Aggression against Vietnam, and the bullying he experienced as a child and adolescent. It then pushes back against any sense of victimhood that has resulted from the combination of these forces, to recognize the author’s implication in perpetration of the US War of Aggression against Vietnam, which the author has determined included genocidal elements. It notes the silence in the United States on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the final withdrawal of the United States from Vietnam on April 30, 1975—specifically, the lack of acknowledgment of perpetration and failure to take the ethically-obligated substantive reparative steps that are its ethical obligation. It concludes with a call to consistency, whereby the author’s commitment to advocacy regarding the Armenian Genocide should be matched by action to address the impact of the mass violence against the Vietnamese people, including genocide, that he is complicit in as part of the perpetrator group.

First Page

49

Last Page

54

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge, though not thank, all the bullies who taught me the true nature of violence.

Dedication

To the Vietnamese people who suffered and continue to suffer the impacts of the US War of Aggression against Vietnam.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.19.1.2048

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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