Jay Gabler/The Current
A Canadian rock band has been met with opposition from Vietnamese Americans for naming themselves Viet Cong. Three organizations representing Vietnamese-Minnesotans have written a letter asking First Avenue to cancel the band Viet Cong‘s upcoming 7th Street Entry show at the venue.
The Viet Cong band has stirred up a lot of controversy for their name. Students in Minnesota are calling for the cancellation of their upcoming show at the First Avenue. (Photo: www.facebook.com/vietcongtheband)
Currently, 201 people have added their names to a letter written by the Vietnamese Student Association of Minnesota, the Vietnamese Organizers of Minnesota, and Pan-Asian Voices for Equity. The letter, which has also been endorsed by five other organizations representing members of local Asian-American communities, criticizes the band for “taking the name of a military group with a direct hand in driving Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian refugees from their home countries.
Viet Cong is a post-punk band founded in 2012 in Alberta, Canada. Viet Cong has said their name was inspired by band member Matt Flegel. He was wielding his bass in a gun-like fashion and the name popped up in conversation and it stuck.
As of March, the band has said they had no intention of offending anyone or changing their name.
To find out more about this controversy, click here:
http://blog.thecurrent.org/2015/09/vietnamese-minnesotan-organizations-ask-first-avenue-to-cancel-upcoming-viet-cong-show/
