Cambodia Town (also known as Little Phnom Penh or Little Cambodia) is the official name for a business corridor along Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero avenues in the Eastside of Long Beach, California. [1] The area has numerous Cambodian restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry stores, and donut shops, as well as churches, Khmer temples, and service centers for Cambodian Americans. There are many other businesses in the area, such as auto repair shops, which are Cambodian-owned. Long Beach has the largest concentration of Cambodians of any city outside of Cambodia.
Prior to the rise of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, Cambodia was a highly agricultural society that endured ninety years of French colonial rule. [2] In 1973, the United States commissioned the Arclight missions. This was a series of bombings targeting the Cambodia-Vietnam border to fight the threat of communism from Vietnam. [3] However, the bombings instead instilled chaos and fear in the civilians of Southeast Asia including Cambodia. These bombings convinced many Cambodians that establishing the Khmer Rouge and a new political system would solve all of their problems. Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge as a communist group who sought to remove all Western influence in Cambodia and create an equal, agricultural society. [2]
The Khmer Rouge was able to capture and destroy the old capital city of Oudong in March 1974. This then led to the Khmer Rouge's next action of forcing the city's 20,000 inhabitants into the countryside. [2] The Khmer Rouge formally took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975, around the time of Cambodian New Year. [3] Cambodia then turned into a classless, institution-less society that forced people to work 12 to 14 hours a day in the labor camps on the countryside. [3]
Shortly after taking over the country, the Khmer Rouge clubbed individuals who showed disagreement towards their regime to a painful death. [2] The Khmer Rouge murdered Cambodians for not working hard enough, showing any signs of grief, or being educated. [2] As a result, the Khmer Rouge killed 300,000 to 500,000 Cambodians. [2] The Vietnamese removed the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979. During this political turmoil, the death toll is estimated to be 2 million out of 8 million people in Cambodia or a quarter of the total population. [3]
In the 1950s and 1960s, the earliest Cambodians to reside in Long Beach were Cambodian students who attended California State University, Long Beach, as part of an exchange program. [4] [5] These students were from wealthy and educated families in Cambodia. A few of these students permanently settled in Long Beach after graduating from college and planted the seeds for a Cambodian presence there. [4] Consequently, the next wave of migration occurred in the mid-1970s with those who escaped when the Khmer Rouge first took over Cambodia. [4] [5]
The last wave of Cambodian arrivals to the U.S. occurred under the Refugee Act of the 1980s, which was after the Vietnamese attacked the Khmer Rouge in 1979. [3] [6] These were mostly farmers from small villages with limited educational backgrounds. [4] These refugees came to America to avoid fear and violence imposed on them as part of the war and genocide. The Cambodian students who had settled in Long Beach in the 1950s and 1960s provided services, such as mental health resources, to assist refugees with adjustment to American society. Overall, these Cambodian refugees came to settle in Long Beach to build a new Cambodian community that was destroyed by violence. Long Beach became a destination that allowed many refugees to start their own businesses and establish cultural legacies due to its affordable property. [4]
As Cambodian refugees arrived in Long Beach, the Asian population increased between 1980 and 1990. [4] By 1990, the Asian population in Cambodia Town was about 35 percent and has declined since then. According to the 2010 census, Hispanics composed the majority of all ethnic groups while Asians composed 20 percent, 70 percent of whom identified as Cambodian. [4]
Over half of the Asians of Cambodia Town are foreign born, and 60 percent of those are US citizens. This process and the rate of naturalization indicates that the community is assimilating into American society. [7]
From April to November 1975, approximately 2,000 Cambodians migrated to Camp Pendleton, a military base in Southern California, for refuge. [5] After their time in this resettlement camp, many Cambodian refugees moved to Cambodia Town, Long Beach in search of support, as well as familiar lifestyle and culture.
Through this process of adjusting to American society, many struggled with various challenges including language barriers, trauma, and violence. Trauma is a highly prevalent issue in the community due to the violence inflicted on Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge. Many Cambodians in Cambodia Town struggled emotionally by having more anxiety and fear in their daily activities because of this trauma. These individuals dealt with insomnia, nightmares, panic attacks, and headaches due to painful memories from the political turmoil between the Cambodian Civil War and the infamous Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot and Khieu Samphan in Cambodia, following the Fall of Phnom Penh in 1975. [8] [9]
Intergenerational trauma contributes to behavioral problems during the adolescent years of Cambodian youth. [10] These problems impact the family dynamic by widening the generation gap between parent and child. As a result, unaddressed past trauma links to various issues, which may intensify the violence within the Cambodian community in Long Beach.
Cambodians received the opportunity to rebuild their lives and community when they came to Long Beach. At the time, Long Beach had many jobs that did not require English proficiency, which granted Cambodians a higher access to work and income. [5] Additionally, cheap and affordable property allowed a few Cambodian refugees to gather funds within their immediate and extended family to establish small businesses, cultural institutions, and homes. [4] [11] The United Cambodian Community (UCC) formed during this time to assist Cambodian refugees with housing, finance, and food. [5] These structures and services helped shape the geographic landscape of the local Cambodian community by creating familiar food, pharmacy, and other stores for Cambodians. For example, pharmacies in Cambodia Town provided traditional herbal medicine from Cambodia. [12]
Cambodia Town's population grew with services, stores, and migration. [5] This population growth created a local network where Cambodian residents could navigate their daily lives while still using Khmer as their dominant language. East Anaheim Street became the main business corridor for these services, restaurants, and resources for Cambodians in Long Beach.
The initial proposal of designating Cambodia Town in 2000 was rejected because many local residents did not support it. The plan was first brought up by a group of Cambodians who "don't live here," leaving the impression that Cambodians who did not live in the area were trying to claim the space as their own. [13] Thus, some community activists preferred the name Little Phnom Penh because the name does not impose a "singular national identity" unlike how the name Cambodia Town implies. [13] Some community members continued questioning any official designation for the area because Long Beach is ethnically diverse. Official recognition for a single ethnic group would reinforce racial tensions between Cambodian and Latino youth that stemmed from cultural differences and social isolation. [10] [14] [15]
The founders of Cambodia Town, Inc. led a successful attempt to officially designate East Anaheim Street as Cambodia Town. Their attempt included the crucial step of gathering support from community and major stakeholders along East Anaheim Street. [13] The proposal received the unanimous approval by the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee despite dissent and concerns that other minority groups had in regards of being displaced. Community members argued that the designation would not displace other ethnic groups by stating that "such designations merely call attention to a neighborhood's unique characteristics". [16] The advocates for the designation also used other established ethnic enclaves as examples of spaces where Asians, Blacks, Hispanics and Whites were able to live and work together. As a result, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the concept of Cambodia Town in 2007 – under the condition that it became a Business Improvement District (BID).[ citation needed ]
Many Latino community members felt intimidated and threatened by the rapid growth of the Cambodian community. [17] Cambodians became increasingly "confronted by the ethnic racial hierarchy" that arises in low-income communities due to the lack of resources. Cambodian gangs began forming as a method of resiliency. [18] Young Cambodians gravitated towards gangs in hopes to reconcile their conflicting American and Cambodian identities. [19] The lack of educational support within the Long Beach school system for Cambodians also contributed towards high rates of gang participation. In addition, gang participation also correlates to mental health because unaddressed intergenerational trauma among Cambodian youth caused many to search for support from gangs as a coping mechanism; 67 percent of Cambodians suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, while 51 percent suffer from severe depression. [4]
Gang activity in Long Beach and Cambodia Town was most active from 1989 to 1995, through street fights, drive-by shootings and killings. [5] In America by the Numbers Pass or Fail in Cambodia Town, one of the interviewees stated that "we had to protect ourselves," when talking about the difficulties of growing up in the United States. [20] In a survey conducted in Cambodia Town, more than half of the participants reported public safety as a major concern. Many of these respondents cited gang activity, theft, violence, and substance abuse as issues that their families continually encountered. [4] However, rates of crime and violence have decreased in the community in recent years. [4] Various community-based organizations such as UCC consistently reach out to the younger generations to guide them towards academic attainment.
The Cambodian New Year takes place annually from April 14 to April 16. In Cambodia, Choul Chnam Thmey traditionally signifies the shift from the height of the hot, dry season to the monsoon rains that will wash away the dust and bring nourishment to the fields. [21] This transformation is said to be accompanied by divine beings, known as Tevoda, who migrate in a cycle to watch over the renewal in nature. [21]
The Cambodian New Year festival in Cambodia Town is a community gathering in the streets and features a cultural parade. This celebration showcases traditional garments and performances (e.g. classical dancing and drumming), flags and symbols of Cambodian cultural pride, and representatives of local organizations and businesses. [22] Additionally, the celebration exhibits the ethnic diversity of the enclave as the event often includes monks, Cambodian and Black Christian ministers, and paleta vendors. [23]
Another well-known local event is the annual Cambodia Town Film Festival which was founded by Cambodian American filmmaker Caylee So and hip-hop artist praCH Ly. The event features films from both established and emerging filmmakers whose works deal with the Cambodian experience. The festival includes screenings, discussions, and question-and-answer sessions with those who were involved in the film productions. [24]
The Cambodia Town business corridor outlines roughly the 1.2 mile stretch of East Anaheim Street just north of Downtown Long Beach and east of the 710 freeway. This location is accessible by the Long Beach Transit bus system and the Los Angeles Metro A Line. The area consists of Cambodian liquor stores, gift shops, jewelry stores, markets, and restaurants. The area also consists of many Latino-owned businesses and restaurants.
One of the most well-known Cambodia Town restaurants is Phnom Penh Noodle Shack, established in 1985. Phnom Penh Noodle Shack started as a modest, family-run restaurant, but over the years has garnered mass appeal from food critic reviews and social media. [25]
The markets within Cambodia Town reflect the diversity of Asian ethnicities in Long Beach and carry key ingredients for a variety of cuisines including Khmer, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food. [26] The stores provide ethnic foods ranging from ready-made Asian meals to cooking ingredients. [26]
Cambodia Town's high poverty rate is partially due to low employment rates caused by language barriers and low educational attainment. [4] In the United States, 54 percent of Asians hold a bachelor's degree, while only 10 percent of Asians in Cambodia Town hold a bachelor's degree. [4] [20] About 43 percent of Cambodians reported to having attended college but not earning a degree, thus implying high drop-out rates. [27] In the United States, less than one-third of Cambodians hold less than a high school degree. [20] Data aggregation consolidates the Cambodian experience with the general Asian population's experiences. Because rates of Asian educational attainment are so high, the low educational attainment of Cambodians is ignored. Cambodian youth are not provided the necessary resources, such as counseling or tutoring, to address specific issues that pertain to the Cambodian community.[ citation needed ]
Due to resettlement, the Cambodian community is currently facing many challenges such as trauma and poverty. Poverty imposes stress on individuals, which creates individual trauma such as having financial insecurity. The complexity and interconnections of these issues contributes to the cycle of poverty and violence by hindering economic mobility. [9] [10] Poverty imposes a challenge for social mobility because other challenges build upon poverty such as educational attainment. [28] The median household income in Cambodia Town is $34,000, which is lower than the $56,000 median income for Los Angeles County. Moreover, Asians in Cambodia Town on average earn roughly $14,600 less than Asians in Los Angeles County. [4] Additionally, one-third of all residents live below the poverty line – about two times higher than that of Los Angeles County. [4]
Income and poverty are both interconnected with employment outcomes such as having labor force participation rate around 34 percent in Cambodia Town. Consequently, Cambodia Town has an unemployment rate of 15 percent. [4]
Few households own a home in Cambodia Town, which highlights the high renter-occupied numbers and the lack of home opportunities. About 61 percent of Cambodia Town residents are renters. [4] Most resident are low-income, which causes many to devote most of their time and income to rent. Individuals with a high rent burden are described as any renters who dedicate more than 30 percent of their income to paying rent; in Cambodia Town, 62 percent of renters have a high rent burden. [4] This prevalence of poverty and inability to purchase homes within the Cambodia Town community may be due to low levels of educational attainment, which can inhibit the ability to attain high-paying jobs. [29] As a result, displacement and gentrification are becoming prevalent issues within the community.[ citation needed ]
Cambodia Town is currently undergoing many beautification projects with public investment in murals, bike lanes, parks, and community gardens, among others. This method of beautification is part of an effort to increase safety within the local community. [30] Although beautification does promote safety, it also increases property values, which imposes a new challenge for locals such as a higher cost of living. [30] Consequently, businesses and residents are at risk of being displaced if rent becomes too high. Taken alongside gentrification, beautification creates dissent from housing community development organizations. These groups petition for policies to protect residents from continually increasing rent. [31]
Phnom Penh is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, industrial, and cultural centre. Before Phnom Penh became capital city, Oudong was the capital of the country.
After decades of conflict, Cambodia's modern era began in 1993 with the restoration of the monarchy and end of the United Nations Transitional Authority after general elections were held. Since 1993, the Cambodian People's Party have consistently been in government, and consolidated power in a 1997 coup d'état. Hun Sen was prime minister until transfer of power to his son, Hun Manet, in 2023.
Cambodian Americans, also Khmer Americans, are Americans of Cambodian or Khmer ancestry. In addition, Cambodian Americans are also Americans with ancestry of other ethnic groups of Cambodia, such as the Chams and Chinese Cambodians.
Chinese Cambodians are Cambodian citizens of Chinese ancestry or Chinese of full or partial Khmer ancestry. The Khmer term Khmer Kat Chen (ខ្មែរកាត់ចិន) is used for people of mixed Chinese and Khmer descent; Chen Khmer (ចិនខ្មែរ) means Cambodian-born citizen with ancestry from China. The Khmer constitute the largest ethnic group in Cambodia among whom Chen means "Chinese". Contact with the Chinese people such as envoys, merchants, travelers and diplomats who regularly visited Indochina verifiably existed since the beginning of the common era. However, the earliest record of a Chinese community in Cambodia dates to the 13th century.
Cambodians in France consist of ethnic Khmer people who were born in or immigrated to France. The population as of 2020 was estimated to be about 80,000 making the community one of the largest in the Cambodian diaspora. The Cambodian population in France is the most established outside Southeast Asia, with a presence dating to well before the Vietnam War and subsequent Indochina refugee crisis including the horrors of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge who took over in Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975. A few numbers of Cambodian people were able to escape and migrate to France before the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia as the Cambodian Civil War came to an end and overthrow U.S.-backed military dictatorship of Lon Nol and the Khmer Republic. His brother Lon Non and the other Khmer officials were arrested and executed by the CPK, the Marxist-Leninist dictatorship that seized power in Phnom Penh. 13 days before the Fall of Saigon and the Second Indochina War ended on 30 April 1975.
The largest of the ethnic groups in Cambodia are the Khmer, who comprise 95.8% of the total population and primarily inhabit the lowland Mekong subregion and the central plains. The Khmer historically have lived near the lower Mekong River in a contiguous arc that runs from the southern Khorat Plateau where modern-day Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet in the northeast, stretching southwest through the lands surrounding Tonle Sap lake to the Cardamom Mountains, then continues back southeast to the mouth of the Mekong River in southeastern Vietnam.
Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of the Cambodian state from 1975 to 1979, under the totalitarian dictatorship of Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. It was established following the Khmer Rouge's capture of the capital Phnom Penh, effectively ending the United States-backed Khmer Republic of Lon Nol. After Vietnam took Phnom Penh in 1979, it was disestablished in 1982 with the creation of the CGDK in its place.
Operation Freedom Deal was a military campaign led by the United States Seventh Air Force, taking place in Cambodia between 19 May 1970 and 15 August 1973. Part of the larger Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War, the goal of the operation was to provide air support and interdiction in the region. Launched by President Richard Nixon as a follow-up to the earlier ground invasion during the Cambodian Campaign, the initial targets of the operation were the base areas and border sanctuaries of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC).
Vietnamese Cambodians refers to ethnic group of Vietnamese who live in Cambodia or it refers to Vietnamese who are of full or partial Khmer descent. According to Cambodian sources, in 2013, about 15,000 Vietnamese people live in Cambodia. A Vietnamese source stated that 156,000 people live in Cambodia, while the actual number could be somewhere between 400,000 and one million people, according to independent scholars. They mostly reside in southeastern parts of Cambodia bordering Vietnam or on houseboats in the Tonlé Sap lake and Mekong rivers. The first Vietnamese came to settle modern-day Cambodia from the early 19th century during the era of the Nguyễn lords and most of the Vietnamese came to Cambodia during the periods of French colonial administration and the People's Republic of Kampuchea administration. During the Khmer Republic and Khmer Rouge governments in the 1970s under the Pol Pot regime, the Vietnamese among others were targets of mass genocides; thousands of Vietnamese were killed and many more sought refuge in Vietnam.
Buddhism is the state religion of Cambodia. Approximately 97% of Cambodia's population follows Theravada Buddhism, with Islam, Christianity, and tribal animism as well as Baha’i faith making up the bulk of the small remainder. The wat and sangha (monkhood), together with essential Buddhist doctrines such as reincarnation and the accumulation of merit, are at the centre of religious life.
Bilateral relations between the United States and Cambodia, while strained throughout the Cold War, have strengthened considerably in modern times. The U.S. supports efforts in Cambodia to combat terrorism, build democratic institutions, promote human rights, foster economic development, eliminate corruption.
Cambodia–Vietnam relations take place in the form of bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The countries have shared a land border for the last 1,000 years and share more recent historical links through being part of the French colonial empire. Both countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Prostitution in Cambodia is illegal, but prevalent. A 2008 Cambodian Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation has proven controversial, with international concerns regarding human rights abuses resulting from it, such as outlined in the 2010 Human Rights Watch report.
Enemies of the People is a 2009 British-Cambodian documentary film written and directed by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath. The film depicts the 10-year quest of co-director Sambath to find truth and closure in the Killing Fields of Cambodia. The film features interviews of former Khmer Rouge officials from the most senior surviving leader to the men and women who slit throats during the regime of Democratic Kampuchea between 1975 and 1979.
Cambodian Australians are Australian citizens who were born, raised in, or from Cambodia usually having Khmer ancestry but also including Chinese Cambodians, Vietnamese Cambodians, Chams and other ethnicities of Cambodia. The term may also refer to Australians who have ancestors that were born, raised in, or from Cambodia & Vietnam.
Little Cambodia or Cambodia Town is a term that refers to an ethnic enclave of people from the country of Cambodia.
Cambodian genocide denial is the belief expressed by some academics that early claims of atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge government (1975–1979) in Cambodia were much exaggerated. Many scholars of Cambodia and intellectuals opposed to the US involvement in the Vietnam War denied or minimized reports of human rights abuses of the Khmer Rouge, characterizing contrary reports as "tales told by refugees" and US propaganda. They viewed the assumption of power by the Communist Party of Kampuchea as a positive development for the people of Cambodia who had been severely impacted by the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War. On the other side of the argument, anti-communists in the United States and elsewhere saw in the rule of the Khmer Rouge vindication of their belief that the victory of Communist governments in Southeast Asia would lead to a "bloodbath."
The Cambodian humanitarian crisis from 1969 to 1993 consisted of a series of related events which resulted in the death, displacement, or resettlement abroad of millions of Cambodians.
The Fall of Phnom Penh was the capture of Phnom Penh, capital of the Khmer Republic, by the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, effectively ending the Cambodian Civil War. At the beginning of April 1975, Phnom Penh, one of the last remaining strongholds of the Khmer Republic, was surrounded by the Khmer Rouge and totally dependent on aerial resupply through Pochentong Airport.
San Kim Sean is a Cambodian martial art teacher. He is often referred to as the father of modern Bokator and is largely credited with reviving the art. At age 13, he studied bokator under Master Khim Leak at Wat Mohamandrey. San Kim Sean also studied boxing under Master Chai Chheng in 1959 and 1960. He studied Judo under Kru So Meng Hong. and Hapkido under Korean master Chhay Yong Ho. San Kim Sean is the founder of the Cambodia Bokator Federation and the Cambodia Bokator Academy.
