Situated in the north-west of the United States and 30 miles away from
Boston (state of Massachusetts) the post-industrial town of Lowell
houses the second largest concentration of Cambodians in the country
of Uncle Sam, right behind Long beach, also known as "Little Phnom
Penh", situated on the other side of the continent, in California.
Among the 120,000 inhabitants of Lowell, some 30,000 are originally
from Cambodia.
In other words, this minority is the best-represented in the city,
which settled in the historical neighbourhoods of "Acres" and
"Highlands".
But the question is: how did this town, founded in 1826 by a group of
industrials and enjoyed prosperity thanks to several waves of
immigration, become a welcoming land for Cambodians?
The arrival of the first Khmer immigrants in Lowell
With the creation of the city of Lowell came a network of textile
factories which drew to the city many women-farmers living nearby,
lured by a better offer in salaries. But the increased rate of work
and the low salaries set in a context of harsh competition soon
brought their dreams of fortune down. The factory workers' discontent
grew and gave way to serious strikes and protests which were never
dealt with and finally led these women to leave, only to be replaced
by new immigrants. Among them, French-Canadians and Europeans (Irish,
Greek, Portuguese, Polish, etc. ) who quickly found it hard to adapt
to the difficult working conditions. Several decades passed, and the
industrial sector, which was then the main source of employment in the
city, collapsed. This caused Lowell to sink into stagnation and its
population to decline.
Long after this episode, Puerto Ricans and Colombians arrived in their
turn in the city in the 1960s and 70s and raised the number of
inhabitants.
The first Asians, among whom a majority of Cambodians, came to Lowell
in 1979 as part of a housing programme created by the New England
Agency for Refugee Resettlement (NEEAR), i.e. the Boston branch of the
American Fund for Czechoslovak Refugees. Local churches also offered
their help to the new immigrants, who were mainly Cambodians.
In 1980, NEEAR launched the "Khmer Cluster Project", created to
reorientate Khmer refugees towards a dozen towns situated on the
continent, but other than those located in the south of California,
already overcharged and where the mass arrival of immigrants started
to trigger hostilities.
A suitable labour force
Boston was one of the towns chosen to welcome the rehoused refugees,
first because of its reputation of a dynamic job market, and secondly
because of its cheap accommodation and efficient social services. The
neighbouring little town of Lowell, struggling to get out of an
economic and social crisis, was not put down on the list of the
welcoming cities of the Cluster Project. In 1983, the Khmer community
of Lowell only boasted a thousand souls. It is only two years later
that Cambodians started pouring into the crisis-stricken industrial
city. The settlement of several electronic components factories, and
of the imposing Wang Laboratories allowed the city to slowly
re-emerge. Khmer refugees consequently seized the newly created job
offers and became component assemblers, a job which required neither
training nor a thorough knowledge of English.
However, the economic miracle was short-lived: indeed, the electronic
factory withdrew its premises from Lowell at the end of the 1980s, but
nevertheless left hopes of a possible economic integration for the
young Khmer community. Besides, survivors of the Khmer Rouge tragedy
generated movements of sympathy on the part of their American hosts.
Help came in various shapes towards the refugees, from local voluntary
organisations, churches or federal institutions, but also from the
state of Massachusetts, which proved to be uncommonly liberal when it
came to the issuing of reintegration policies for the refugees.
In the middle of the 1980s, Michael Dukakis, governor of the state at
that time, gave the impulse to the creation of the Massachusetts
Office of Refugees and Immigrants (MORI) which helped establish ethnic
Mutual Assistance Associations (MAA). The Cambodian branch of these
associations soon became one of the most active in the state. At the
beginning of the 1990s, the Khmer community was large enough to push
entrepreneurs of the same nationality to come to Lowell and open
businesses just made for Cambodians. Today, Lowell shelters about a
hundred Cambodian businesses. One of the most popular "Cambodian"
commercial areas in Lowell is the "Pailin Plaza", which hosts a
supermarket, a restaurant and various shops. Meanwhile, Cambodians
started building their own pagodas in the city.
A "model" community
The Khmer community of Lowell soon triggered a particular interest on
the part of the local media and universities. Defined as important and
dynamic, this community quickly found its way and imposed itself as "a
model minority group", hard-working in a very cosmopolitan city. In
Lowell, some people have gone so far as to call them "the new Irish",
as Amy Stitely, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, pointed out in her study entitled "Beyond celebration, the
Cambodian struggle for Cambodian representation in Lowell ".
Nevertheless, this community, not devoid of problems such as poverty,
youth crime and a low level of education, showed enough strength to
command respect among others, particularly with the development of
community workshops of expression, or through the organisation of
cultural events, most of the time aimed at provoking a revival in the
traditions and arts of their motherland, but also at offering a
positive image of their minority group.
And this is how the Cambodians imported the traditional Water Festival
in Lowell, organised every August since 1997 on the Merrimack river.
The growing popularity of the festival has turned it into the ultimate
must-see event for tourists coming to Lowell. The "Angkor Dance
Troop", which performs classical Khmer Ballet and received several
awards, also boasts a fine reputation and goes on tour all over the
continent. The festivals and cultural events have allowed the Khmer
community to leave its imprint in the identity of Lowell.
Seeking political integration
In 1999, Rithy Uong, a teacher at Lowell High School, spurred surprise
with his smooth election at the City Council. It was only the second
time that, in the United States, an American citizen of Khmer descent
won the elections. The information was quickly relayed by the media
throughout the country. Rithy Uong served the interest of the city
until 2005.
His fellow-citizens now dream of seeing a Cambodian candidate run for
the November 2009 election as a City councillor again. But this may
only happen provided that more Cambodians show up at the polls: most
of them neglect their electoral duty.
The American dream: shattered in front of reality
Some leaders have emerged from the Khmer community of Lowell, and,
drawing on their success in their host country, they do not fail to
help their peers. But the reality is different for most of the
community members, who never saw the American dream come true. A
Cambodian Community Health Study, carried out in 2002 among Cambodians
aged 25 years and above, showed that 25% of the polled
indicated an annual household income of less than US$15,000. As a
matter of fact, over 40% live below the federal poverty level
according to the U.S. Census, the study precised. In Lowell, a large
part of the community still depends on the social services to obtain
medical treatment.
The generation gap creates turmoil within the minority group, torn
between its elders who survived the Khmer Rouge regime, and its youth,
now fully americanised. Youngsters are easily enrolled by gangs, and
last August, fifteen Cambodian delinquents have been arrested. They
now face deportation to Cambodia, as stipulated by the American
deportation policy.
Most only know Cambodia through the stories told by their parents.
Deported Diaspora, an advocacy group, focuses on the question of the
deportation of immigrants by the American authorities to their home
country and tries as much as possible to inform Khmer families of this
legal disposition which most members of the community have no
knowledge of yet.
The unemployment crisis in Lowell is greatly affecting its minority
groups, while the United States are already facing rampant inflation
and the sub-prime crisis – those famous but risky mortgage loans for
home buyers. The current Council is trying to put new life into the
little town and intends to succeed with the Hamilton Canal District
Project , which would need more than US$50 million and should, within
the space of 5 years, rehabilitate 15 hectares of waste land and turn
it into accommodation, businesses, offices... Will the Khmer community
benefit from this project? Now that Cambodians have been successful in
smoothly integrating their community in this north-eastern American
town, they still have to make their mark within the decision-making
bodies of the multicultural city, to which they are without a doubt
one of the main assets.
Khmer Community in Massachusetts
In "Kampong Lowell", one out of four is Khmer
By Stéphane Janin (Lowell, USA)
10-09-2008
