In today’s San Jose Mercury News, the newspaper reports in “San Jose City Council approves ‘Little Saigon’ banners:”
“After months of protests, rallies, even a hunger strike, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted to allow “Welcome to Little Saigon”banners to informally recognize a Vietnamese retail area on Story Road. The 10-0 vote brought an end to the incredible uproar over the last several months after the council voted to call the area “Saigon Business District,” enraging thousands in the community who wanted “Little Saigon.”… At the center of the months-long firestorm was Madison Nguyen, the only Vietnamese-American on the council. Activists called her a traitor and a liar for initially opposing the name Little Saigon… Nguyen preferred the name Saigon Business District – even though an official city survey conducted last summer showed Little Saigon was the preferred name…. The ordeal zapped time and energy from the city and sparked unwanted international media attention.”
I have to agree. Hopefully this whole controversy is over for good. Saigon Business District doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue… and it was just crazy how much time and negative energy was sucked into this, in my opinion, senseless mess. There are bigger things to worry about in San Jose than naming a neighborhood – like affordable housing and I imagine, an upcoming budget shortfall that all California cities will be facing due to the decline of the economy.
