Westminster council condemns OC nonprofit for ‘whitewashing’ Vietnamese history

Members of the Westminster City Council in Orange County, California, voted on Sept. 24 to condemn local nonprofit VietRISE after a workshop on Vietnamese history featured slides quoting Ho Chi Minh. Officials said the presentation, later posted on Instagram under the title “The August Revolution: Vietnam’s Fight For Freedom,” glorified the former communist leader and disrespected refugees who fled his rule.

Ho Chi Minh led the communist revolution in Vietnam and served as the country’s founding president. While he is officially revered as the father of national independence in Vietnam, for many Vietnamese Americans, particularly those who resettled in the U.S. after the fall of Saigon in 1975, he symbolizes the regime they fled.

Councilwoman Amy Phan West introduced a resolution denouncing the presentation, saying it “promoted a distorted historical narrative that glorified Ho Chi Minh and the communist party, whitewashing decades of dictatorship, political repression and human rights abuses.” She argued the workshop risked indoctrinating young Vietnamese Americans.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen also criticized the slides, saying, “Touting Ho Chi Minh as a hero is, they really don’t know their history. He’s a dictator … he’s the reason why my family is here.” Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen also called the presentation “deeply offensive and historically inaccurate.”

The motion passed with a 4-0-1 vote, with Councilmember Carlos Manzo abstaining. He said, “I’m not going to condemn somebody when there’s all this information missing. By trying to suppress people’s voices here in this country, that is communism.”

Several residents defended VietRISE, rejecting the claim that the workshop disrespected families who escaped communist Vietnam. One speaker said, “Organizations like VietRISE do really important work when it comes to helping low income and marginalized communities.” Another called the resolution a “targeted, petty attack,” criticizing council members for focusing on political disputes instead of community needs.

VietRISE did not retract the slides and rejected the accusations in a statement, calling the resolution a “politicized attack” against its advocacy work. The group said, “The blatant attacks from MAGA politicians are a direct response to VietRISE’s long-term vision.” In its statement, the nonprofit accused some councilmembers and officials of coordinating efforts against the nonprofit.