On documenting heritage

By revisiting the past, we pave the way for a proud and joyful future

By Mai-Anh Vu Peterson

The process of documenting family history often requires a tremendous amount of resolve and emotional resilience, especially as you navigate subjects you may never have broached before with family members.

It can be very difficult to bring up the past with our elders, especially on the darker side of migration struggles.

“They might not see the value of that history,” explains Suyin, “and that is perhaps a product of being forced to assimilate and being told their histories aren’t valid, in whatever way that kind of racism has manifested.”

It would be naive, of course, to assume that every migration story was a great adventure and nothing else.

However, it can also be hard not to trigger or upset, especially as many things were said in the past when conversations about racism didn’t really happen as they do today. Lee had to take her cue from her mother, even when she had her own personal opinions on what had occurred.

“Why push that on her if that wasn’t her experience? My interpretation of it is that it was racism, but why put that on her?” she explains.

“I am 48 and still don’t know how I feel about my identity,” admits Lee. “It’s in every decision you make, from what you’re going to wear to what you’re going to eat. It’s alway there in every fibre of your being. And I constantly feel like I’m not enough of one or the other. And because I’m focusing so much on my mum’s story, I feel immense guilt that I’m not focusing on my dad’s story.”

On documenting heritage

By revisiting the past, we pave the way for a proud and joyful future

By Mai-Anh Vu Peterson