A state senator Friday demanded that Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson retract a social media post that she says contains “glowing comments” about someone “who promoted the Communist takeover of Vietnam.”
Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, who fled South Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon, asked Harris-Dawson in a letter to rescind his Instagram post about Ho Chi Minh, the chairman and first secretary of the Workers Party of Vietnam — the predecessor of the Communist Party of Vietnam — given his role in the Vietnam War.
A representative for Harris-Dawson said the councilman plans to respond to the senator directly, but did not offer any details.
Harris-Dawson’s May 19 post, which is still on his Instagram page, is a “This Day In History” message, briefly discussing perspectives on the Vietnam War by three people — Minh and American activists Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama. The post says all three “interpreted the war from three completely different perspectives; each leader’s strong opposition was a direct result of the oppression they experienced at earlier points in their lives.”
“Ho Chi Mihn first emerged as an outspoken voice for Vietnamese independence while living as a young man in France during World War I,” Harris-Dawson wrote. “This experience shaped Minh’s belief that peace could only be achieved without outside intervention.”
In a statement from her office, Nguyen called on Harris-Dawson to withdraw the comments, “given that the dictator implemented policies that suppressed human rights and led to immense suffering.” She said promoting the Communist takeover of Vietnam led “to a catastrophic war and millions of deaths.”
Nguyen argued Minh “terrorized millions of South Vietnamese during the takeover,” causing the United States to get involved in a 20-year war.
The senator described Harris-Dawson’s remarks as “tone-deaf,” coming on the heels of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declaring April 30 as Jane Fonda Day in the county — a recognition the board later shifted to April 8 after complaints that April 30 coincides with Black April, which commemorates the Fall of Saigon.
Activists and some elected officials, including Nguyen, criticized the board, noting that while the honor was intended to honor Fonda’s environmental activism, the actress is still remembered for her visit to North Vietnam in 1972, when she was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft gun. The move led to her infamous nickname of “Hanoi Jane.”
Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis subsequently introduced a motion to move the date of Jane Fonda Day, writing, “Out of respect for community voices who have spoken out regarding the historic significance of that date, Los Angeles County will recognize American actor and activist Jane Fonda on April 8 during Earth Month.”
In her statement Friday, Nguyen said, “Apparently Mr. Harris-Dawson didn’t learn anything when the county was blasted in national news over Jane Fonda. He needs a history lesson.”