The Displaced

The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives

Edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen

When an RA alum informed me that his book is now in print, I needed to add it to my list.  Just finished reading The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Life, edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen.  There are twenty short stories presented by refugees from around the world.  The RA alum, Joseph Azam, writes about coming from Afghanistan and having to struggle with how he chose his name when becoming an American citizen.  Thank you for sharing your personal challenges emigrating and the struggle of being placed in an American education system, a system that does not do a good job of training teachers how to welcome all and ensure that the other classmates understand it is perfectly fine being from another country.  In fact, school should be a place where we share the journey of immigrants and understand the rich cultures and various beliefs of students who may not look like us, speak the same language, or eat the same food. They too should be treated with respect.  Reading the various stories, the same themes emerged: bullying, bringing attention to difference in look/skin tone, accent, and heritage.  Have we not gotten better as a country?  Weren’t we all immigrants at one point in time?  We are at a very precarious time in our country’s history, and yes, history does tend to repeat itself.  The Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and parts of Europe are included based on the lineage of the authors.  This is a book that ALL higher education professionals should read as it underlines the trauma that many of the students coming to our campuses are coping with.  It is our job to ensure we create places of safety and comfort.  We are in a complex world and need to find ways to heal and strengthen those who are considered ‘outsiders’ by many of the people in this country.  Thanks to Joe and the other nineteen authors who braved their experience and were willing to share with us.