Danny Kim interview
Item
Title
Danny Kim interview
Creator
Kim, Danny
Banh, Jenny
Relation
Central Valley Southeast Asian Successful Voices
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
7/10/2017
Rights
Copyright has been transferred to Fresno State
Identifier
SCMS_casv_00012
extracted text
>> Good morning, Danny Kim. Thank you so much for consenting to be interviewed. If you can actually give me verbal
consent to interview for a new successful southeast Asian voices, if you can give me verbal permission to record you
and put you in our archive.
>> Yes. You have my permission to record for your interview for your study.
>> Great. Please say your name, spell your name and tell me the date.
>> My name is Danny Kim. D-A-N-N-Y, K-I-M, and today's date is July 10.
>> Okay, great. So I usually go in order. What is your gender?
>> Male.
>> Don't tell me the date, but just tell me the year that you were born.
>> I was born in 1975.
>> What is your ethnic group and where were you born?
>> I am Cambodian. I was born in Cambodia.
>> Oh, okay. Do you know where in Cambodia?
>> It would be now what we call Poipet, but it was called [inaudible], which is the border town of Cambodia between
Thai and Cambodia.
>> Oh, interesting. Okay. What was your undergraduate major?
>> Criminal justice.
>> Our most popular major.
>> Yeah, criminology [inaudible].
>> Oh, wow. Okay, excellent. What is your generation in the United States? Are you first generation? Second
generation?
>> My parent came here I was a child, so I'm assuming I would be the ->> How old are you?
>> 12.
>> So I think people would consider you a 1.5 generation.
>> Yeah.
>> Because you're born here, then you'd be second. But you kind of have some life back there.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. What was your family composition, like your brothers and sisters growing up and what's your family
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composition now?
>> Like I said, I was the oldest boy in the family. It was four.
>> Okay.
>> None of my older siblings retain any type of high school diploma or college degree.
>> Interesting.
>> So I was the first child.
>> Ah, so that takes me to my next question. What is your Mom and Dad's highest educational level in Cambodia?
>> I would say none because my Mom was a farmer, and they don't have any type of education. My Dad was a
Buddhist monk when he was a child. I'm sorry, maybe youth, in his youth, 16 years old. So he got married right after he
was [inaudible].
>> Oh, wow. Okay. What is your family composition now and what was your GPA at Fresno State?
>> All my brothers and sisters are holding a career. My oldest sister who never received any high school diploma, but
she went back and received some sort of training and now she's working as a home care service provider. My younger
brother, he also received a master degree in business management.
>> That's very rare that in your family that's ->> Right.
>> Quite rare.
>> Yeah, we actually kind of broke that barrier and the stereotype because we came with nothing, and we both -- my
brother and I, my younger brother, he's two years younger. He's also a police officer.
>> Oh, wow. Okay.
>> We -- maybe two or three of us was able to obtain some sort of official education.
>> Both you and your brother both have M.A., that's very rare. That's like less than one percent.
>> Yes.
>> In the same family. Wow.
>> Right.
>> [Inaudible]. Great. What was your -- what degrees did you get and what was your GPA?
>> I received a Master degree in criminology, administration and management.
>> Oh, wow.
>> My GPA was 3.7.
>> Wow. That's quite high. Did you graduate in four years?
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>> Because I work and go to school, I -- the background was that I received my associate degree in 1998. I didn't go to
school. I didn't go back until 2005 and because of issues with work and family, I postponed it. I went back in 2012, and
I received my Bachelor in 2014.
>> Great.
>> And I went back and received my Master after two years.
>> Wow, excellent. So your high school -- actually when you grew up in your family, did you have a working class,
middle class or kind of wealthy affluent background?
>> When I was growing up in high school when we first came here, I went straight to junior high.
>> Okay.
>> So my Dad and my Mom, they're fairly -- kind of reached their retirement age with no English [inaudible], were
basically on welfare and all of our siblings was in ESL program. I didn't leave ESL program until I reached a senior in
high school, and I think we don't have any working class especially when [inaudible]. I actually was the first person to
have a job.
>> Wow. And then what high school did you go that had ESL?
>> I grew up in Long Beach, surprisingly.
>> Oh. Oh, yeah. That's a huge Cambodian community.
>> I went to Lakewood High.
>> Okay, okay.
>> And I went to too many different high schools in my youth. I went to Jordan High School, Lakewood High School,
and we moved to Stockton, which is another -- a large Cambodian community. I graduated in '93 at Bear Creek High
School in Stockton.
>> Why Long Beach and why Stockton? Why did you even go ->> Why did we move?
>> Yeah.
>> When we first came to the United States, we landed in San Antonio through a sponsorship ->> Okay.
>> Program. So we got there ->> San Antonio, Texas?
>> San Antonio, Texas.
>> Oh, okay.
>> So because of the fear and issues of not being able to communicate and know the population of Cambodians are very
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maybe less than one percent with just our family, and another two or three families that speak Cambodian so we heard
about Long Beach so we moved to Long Beach [inaudible] there's a lot of Cambodian. We do have a [inaudible]
program. They speak Cambodian. So just the fear of not being able to communicate caused our family to move to Long
Beach.
>> So you just called with the telephone and [inaudible] there?
>> We have family that was in Long Beach and ->> Interesting.
>> Some relatives and they said, "Hey, come over and we'll go get you."
>> So when you went to school, was it a lot of Cambodians, your classmates? And do you speak Cambodian?
>> When I was in sixth grade, I guess, I didn't speak English. We were placed with all the minorities, Hispanics,
Vietnamese, [inaudible], Cambodian, had a mixture of all the non-English speaker. It's an ESL, ELD program. And so I
didn't speak English so we were communicating among ourselves and also maybe some assistant, the teacher's aide who
speaks English and Cambodian.
>> Oh, wow. That's impressive. Okay. And then how did you go from Long Beach, which has a huge -- to Stockton?
>> We moved during the Rodney King riot. I'm not sure you're familiar.
>> I am [inaudible], yeah.
>> 1991 because of the Rodney King riot.
>> Really?
>> Family, afraid that we were going to have more issues taking care of the family, the kids wouldn't get hurt. So for
safety purposes and safety reasons, we moved away from Long Beach.
>> But isn't Long Beach kind of far from the epicenter of L.A.?
>> Yes, but ->> Isn't there a 50 minute -- no?
>> Yes. It's far, but it's not that far ->> Oh really?
>> Because we did have some riot ->> Looting there?
>> When we lived in Long Beach, yes.
>> Really?
>> And MLK.
>> Okay.
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>> Yeah, Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, they have a riot and they burned one of the stores down. And as we were
leaving, [inaudible] that we left in got bottles thrown at.
>> Oh, God. Okay.
>> So we actually moved in the middle of the riot.
>> Oh my God. Okay. Oh my goodness. The day of?
>> Yes the day -- the second day of the riot, I think.
>> Oh my God.
>> We still had some rioting because of the African American community that where we live at -- we [inaudible] right
there at 10th and Alamedos, which is one street east of Martin Luther King.
>> Okay.
>> So which is predominantly African American community.
>> So your Mom's like we're leaving.
>> Yeah, we're done, yes.
>> Okay, interesting. And why Stockton? Just to get farther?
>> Family members.
>> Okay.
>> We have family members that live up north. [Inaudible] Stockton wasn't too bad.
>> Okay.
>> It gained publicity on certain things, but ->> Yes. I've heard it.
>> Over in '91 ->> Okay.
>> I graduated in '93. And I went to school there and that's where it started.
>> Okay. Was your high school public or private?
>> It was a public school.
>> So why do Cambodians go to college? Why or why not do they go to college?
>> I wouldn't be able to speak for all Cambodians, but I think what I know from my family, we -- a lot of family who
value higher education will push their children to go to school. Some of the people who escaped the [inaudible] regime
do not see the value of education. I'm speaking to a small percentage of those people -- because [inaudible] they
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murdered and captured and killed all those intellect. And so now they're keeping some of the people who only
[inaudible] mediocracy. We just do what we can survive. We never really strive to achieve higher education. So that's
my opinion on why a lot of people don't really push their children to achieve higher education.
>> Are they fearful that they will be killed or something because of genocide or -- ?
>> No. I don't think because of that because this day, this current society I don't think people were fear to get killed
because they have higher education. I think the belief system that hey you can go out there and make money, money
will give you respect. You can have higher education but with no money. They don't care about your piece of paper that
you can hang on a wall. That is their belief. Some like my family do believe in higher education. They can take
everything away from you. They can take your property, take anything that you own, but the only thing that it cannot
take from you ever is your education. So by imprinting those types of beliefs in the person's mind and also some
evidence along with it because some people may have the education but don't have the ability. It's just like you're giving
a person a tool, a box of tools, but if they can't use it they're not going to be hired. So with higher education, some have
bachelor degree but couldn't get a job because of the personal character or something they don't have to become what
they achieve in school.
>> Right.
>> So [inaudible] the exposure of the community. Some Cambodian male in particular may achieve higher education
such as a B.A., but they couldn't get a job and end up working in the factory. So then they give other people perception
that why am I going to go get a Bachelor degree and spend four years when I'm going to go work like this guy at Foster
Farm chopping chickens? So that might be another reason.
>> Okay. Good point. Do you think that -- what's another reason why -- what are the alternatives? So if you're a
Cambodian male and let's say you don't go to college, what is the alternative to make money then if you don't go to
college? I mean, assuming that you don't get a degree. What is the -- factory? What is the other pull, push?
>> So you were asking what would an Asian man -- a man do without a college degree?
>> Right. How are they going to support themselves?
>> [Inaudible] their family. A lot of Cambodians are business minded. They believe in making -- doing business to
make money [inaudible] be wealthy working with somebody.
>> Okay.
>> So they believe in business and most Chinese descendants believe in business.
>> Are you Chinese descendant?
>> No, no. I'm 100 percent Cambodian.
>> What is Kim? Kim is kind of Korean?
>> Kim is kind of Korean.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm sure my relative may be Chinese or something.
>> Okay.
>> But I am not.
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>> I have something I was going to ask you. Are you Korean?
>> No, no.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah, so Kim is not that common last name, but there are quite a few of us.
>> Okay.
>> But not too common.
>> Okay.
>> I think most of the common job that people -- Asian man would do without education would be business.
>> Okay.
>> Also working like you said factories and some connection to jobs such as chefs and Table Mountain Casino.
>> Is it a lot of money to be at Table Mountain?
>> Casino card dealer? Oh yes. There's quite a few bucks you can make out of there with tips and [inaudible].
>> Oh wow. Okay.
>> So I've seen guys who never have any kind of degree that go to some skill training and was able to do -- to make
more money than I make.
>> Yeah.
>> And also too, truck drivers without any type of degree. You go to skill classes. Mechanic, you don't have to go -- you
don't have to be a master degree graduate to become a mechanic. So those are skills. A lot of men in our generation go
to Hill College and [inaudible] Valley College with skill.
>> Right, right.
>> So instead of going to a typical UC system, which requires as lot of paperwork and blah, blah, blah, you go straight
to certification classes to go on the job right away.
>> Okay. As a police officer, do you see any other legal activity that you could do? That you can -- I was interviewing
[inaudible], and they were saying there's a draw of selling marijuana which is legal. So there's like that pull factor that
you can make much more money doing that instead of going to Fresno State.
>> Yeah, and especially in Central Valley we do have a large number of cultivation cases.
>> It's totally legal now, right?
>> No. No, it's not legal.
>> I thought we voted ->> The consumption and smoking stuff is legal. The cultivation and selling, you must have some sort of license.
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>> Oh yeah, license, yeah.
>> You cannot cultivate and sell for profit, but there's cultivation cases were because of the farmland of the agricultural
base type of society. So people will do that. It's quick money and it makes a lot of money, and it's -- doesn't require
much.
>> Is there a big draw to being a gang member? Is there a long term -- I mean, can you be a gang member for 30 years?
You cannot, right? It's a -- there's a lifetime ->> There's no gang member [inaudible] benefits to be a gang member besides personal issues or personal benefits such
as bragging rights or whatever or just control issues. I don't think a gang member can support his family through gang
[inaudible].
>> Okay, okay.
>> Which I didn't clearly say that, but they do have some sort of benefit by maybe coordinating some sort of illegal
activity such as drug sales, [inaudible] drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and other stuff. But marijuana, also we
have big issues with the Asian community also because they make millions of dollars and undetected for quite some
time because they're losing the focus on the community, the Asian community. And also it is very difficult to infiltrate
the organization because not too many law enforcement officers are Asian.
>> Right. Also, in my interviews in L.A. for the Cambodian community, I had a female and she talked about how her
parents told her not to finish [inaudible] but instead to marry a donut owner. Do you think that's a pull push factor to
work in a restaurant or a donut -- I don't know, a donut store?
>> Well, most Cambodians when we first came to the United States, the donut business was one of the easiest to get
into.
>> Why. Tell me why?
>> Why? Because we -- back the new can purchase 50 pounds of flour and make 500 percent interest out of that bag.
>> Is donuts from Cambodia? Where do they get this donut?
>> You don't need education to make donuts.
>> Okay.
>> You don't need a degree.
>> What do you do? Is it just ->> You go in and [inaudible]. Yeah, you train in bake and you train with the active baker and watch him for maybe a
couple of days, couple of nights.
>> Okay.
>> You'll develop that skill, and you open your own.
>> Oh, wow. Okay.
>> And it's also a cash only type of business [inaudible]. People actually can hide from the IRS and reporting the
income. And also with no education requirement, and for example, I mean I have friends who received a Bachelor
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degree who couldn't find a job and is currently baking donuts.
>> Is it kind of -- but you make a lot of money because you just said there's a 500 percent ->> For example, a guy can -- the baker can get paid 1500 to $2000 a month ->> Wow.
>> For very little work, for maybe two or three days of work or whatever.
>> My goodness. That's pretty good.
>> Yeah, and no tax. Just some maybe under -- just cash. So that's quite a bit.
>> Okay. Great. So thank you for telling me why some Cambodians don't to college and why some do. Do Cambodian
Americans have good relationships with administrators and faculty?
>> Yeah, honestly I don't know. I can't speak for the other, but for me, because of -- I think it all depends on their
character also, but I don't have any problem with professor or faculty members, but I think a lot of men my age when we
came here were [inaudible] in languages and the culture.
>> Okay.
>> Speaking for my age range, we were more shy. Men are ->> Shy?
>> The Asian men are a little bit shy and quiet.
>> Okay.
>> So they're reluctant to participate and engage in some sort of dialog and they have issues.
>> Okay.
>> I'm sure there's other men out there that -- for example, you go to the mall, most men don't ask questions.
>> Thank you. Can you please talk about why is that? Why? Tell me why?
>> Because of ego, men believe that if we ask too much question we're dumb.
>> But if you're in school, you need to ask questions for help.
>> Well, that's common sense, right?
>> Right.
>> But not that we don't have common sense, but we're more like -- it's a macho thing also.
>> Okay.
>> And I'm sure if your spouse or your brother may go to the mall, they won't ask questions. They'd rather spend an
hour looking for something that they could have just asked that one question.
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>> Right, exactly, yeah.
>> Same thing when they go to school, I rarely ask questions to be honest with you.
>> Really? But at this point, I mean you're completely Americanized [inaudible].
>> I'm not completely Americanized.
>> Oh not? Okay.
>> I'm still shy. I'm still quiet. I'm still -- sometimes refuse to ask question.
>> Wow.
>> And it's just like when I first interviewed for the job for my first job in the United States, I kept looking down
because our culture was not to make eye contact with people [crosstalk].
>> Correct.
>> So I think the culture has a lot to do with engaging in society, whether they want to pursue further or want to learn
more.
>> Okay.
>> I obtain most -- I'm just very fortunate that I was hanging around the right people who asked a lot of questions and
those questions were relevant to what I had issues with.
>> Okay.
>> So then I was able to retain those info without me even asking.
>> Right. Okay.
>> So I think some people may not have that ability to obtain that info because they're shy. That can be a huge detriment
in college because your [inaudible]. You don't ask for help, right?
>> And also too, when -- a couple of my friends have also dropped out and ->> Please talk about them. Why did they drop out? Why?
>> I'm sure this is going to be listened and heard by other generations.
>> Once you drop out -- so you talk to them.
>> The new generation may be different. I speak for my generation who's born in the early 80's or late 70's. What
happened was that a lot of men are -- have a lot of weight on their shoulder when they first came here especially when
you're the oldest in the family.
>> Okay.
>> You don't want to spend so much time working -- I mean, going to school and not making any money to contribute
to family.
>> Okay.
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>> So what happened was that why am I spending this and I'm delaying my classes and so forth? I just waste so much
time in school and not contributing to my uneducated, no job, unemployed, on welfare Mom and Dad.
>> Okay, okay. Right.
>> You know what I mean? So with them, it's going to put a lot of pressure on that single man in that family. Why am I
going to school and leave my family hanging on welfare? I've got to quit school and go to work, support them.
>> Okay.
>> And once you go to work, they lose track of coming back to get education [crosstalk].
>> Okay. What about the -- [inaudible], but what about the Cambodian woman? Is it the same pressure or not the same
pressure?
>> A woman is different for that generation. I hate to -- I want to separate the generations [crosstalk].
>> Okay, tell me, yeah.
>> My age generation because I'm speaking for my sisters also, they're older than me.
>> Okay.
>> They were -- they're almost pressured to seek a good spouse, meaning I want to get my daughter to get married
because -- to this guy because I don't want her to go into the gang and meet a gang member and get married and not
[inaudible] with each other. So the pressure for those group of girls [inaudible] ought to marry someone like you said
earlier about a donut shop owner. Because he's wealthy, he's able to support the daughter because since they can legally
get married, they're going to make them get married. Kind of arranged marriage. I know this guy, he's wealthy, blah,
blah, blah and [inaudible] yeah Mom because the culture or tradition allows -- kind of caused the daughter to listen to
parents.
>> Okay.
>> And they will listen because [inaudible] okay, Mom. I'll do it for you. You brought me life. I'm going to do it for
you. So they marry the guy who owns the business or whatever and some daughter might become rebellious and run off
with somebody. And that somebody -- whatever, and now the culture of defiant, now the culture of not believing in
family value and structure. See what I'm saying?
>> Yeah.
>> So it all depends on -- to me the family value and how might they hold it and not losing it. I think my sister was not
forced to get married, but arranged or set up to get married.
>> Okay.
>> All three of them actually.
>> Do they want to go to college?
>> They don't know anything -- they don't know any better because we just came to United States. When they came
here, they were 16, 17, 19.
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>> They had no choice. They had no choice.
>> Yeah, much older.
>> They're not even Americanized. They don't know what society is all about. We don't know. It's almost like dropping
us from a different planet and landing in the United States. So they just follow the decisions that the parent makes.
>> It'll be interesting to see their children, what happens to their children, if they push their children to go to college or >> They have. And they all have pushed their children. All my sisters have kids so they all go to school. One of my
sisters have two sons and none of them go to school because this other contributing factor such as family breakups and
so forth. So I think that's a different case. Now for the marriage, marrying a rich and wealthy person, it's more like
parents concerned about the daughter being with someone who's a dead beat or something and to be with someone
successful.
>> Right.
>> And same thing with Chinese and Vietnamese culture, the same way. They want their daughter to be with someone
successful. And I'm sure my wife, she grew up around Vietnamese people. She speaks Vietnamese.
>> Oh really?
>> Yeah.
>> And is she Cambodian?
>> Yes. She's Cambodian.
>> Okay.
>> [Inaudible] Chinese. She said that the Vietnamese the same way. They're very big on status in the community. In
Cambodia, it's no different. The status is everything and also to make sure that the husband is able to maintain a good
life for their daughter.
>> Interesting. I actually grew up with all Anglo people in the Midwest. I didn't grow up in the Vietnamese community
or Chinese community at all. But thank you. So -- for here we're trying to make the professors more culturally
competent for Cambodians. What makes a good professor? What makes a bad professor to pass a class? What's your
idea of good and bad?
>> My opinion or idea?
>> Well, both.
>> Okay.
>> Make it warmer for ->> My opinion about a good professor I think you want some well rounded person to be a good professor, not a person
who just teach through the book, someone who's out there and reaching out and see first hand or maybe personally
involved in some sort of, like a culture. I wouldn't feel comfortable with a Caucasian teacher teaching Asian culture.
>> That's very common, very common.
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>> I went to academy and did 26 weeks of training, and we have a Caucasian instructor who's teaching Cambodian
gang.
>> You're kidding?
>> Yeah. I'm like okay, well [inaudible] because in order to be a professional or an expert, you'd have to know a little
bit more than a normal person, right? So he was an expert in a sense, but not as an expert as an individual who grew up >> Inside, yeah.
>> In the society in Cambodia who knew the ins and outs of the things on a personal basis. So a good professor, I would
say is someone who actually -- the person themselves in that particular subject such as ->> Like co-ethnic, who's in there. Okay.
>> Or some sort of relationship. Hey, I'm Caucasian but I live in Cambodia for five years or ten years.
>> Okay. What about a [inaudible]or a man? Can they teach?
>> Probably better than the Caucasian, right?
>> You're so funny.
>> [Crosstalk] a little bit similar.
>> It is, yeah.
>> And we as Asians, southeast Asians can also relate to this culture.
>> Right. It is similar. The food's similar.
>> Right.
>> And the culture we carry similar [inaudible] such as bowing down, not looking in the eye and live in society. If you
go to the [inaudible] community and the Cambodian community, [inaudible] community it's very similar.
>> It is similar, yeah.
>> They have [crosstalk].
>> I see it. I'm like very similar. Yeah.
>> They have little garden and you're going around Caucasian community. Your home look like a Caucasian home. So
you don't see flip flops in the front of the house. You don't see gardens in front [inaudible] grass, trees and [inaudible].
>> How interesting.
>> Okay. So I was looking into teaching also, and I was like maybe I should apply for [inaudible] College or something
and teach part-time.
>> You should.
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>> Yeah
>> You should.
>> And I think to be a good teacher, you have to have some [inaudible] common of the subject you are teaching.
>> Okay.
>> That's the best thing I can tell you.
>> In common with the subject, okay. What makes a bad teacher? What makes a bad teacher -- a bad professor that
would drive a student not to graduate?
>> A bad teacher is when you fail to provide guidance and motivation.
>> Okay.
>> There's a lot of things [inaudible] qualify and maybe a successful teacher is to be able to have the ability to promote,
motivate and provide guidance. A teacher is on a ship, and all your students are on that ship. And if you're not providing
the speed and the momentum and the support, everything you can think of. That's my own thinking. If a teacher treat
himself much like a little ship like a Mayflower, everybody on that ship will go to the other side of the coast. But when
we don't allow -- we need to make sure -- in my opinion, I think we need to make sure that teacher has that ability not
just going to school every day and say here's your assignment. I'll see you in about 30 minutes. I think it's almost -being a teacher is like a parent. You never want to give up and when you mention about not being able to motivate and
encourage people to continue, that's [inaudible] teacher.
>> Okay.
>> You don't want to give up on your child either.
>> Right.
>> You shouldn't give up on your student.
>> Okay.
>> Until whatever reason. There's going to be a time where you really can't stop that, but most of the time if you're able
to motivate and encourage and empower students, you will be most likely achieve that goal.
>> That is a great metaphor. Thank you. Okay. So what's your favorite subject? What's your least favorite subject?
>> Since I was growing up, I grew up in a ghetto. I walked to school.
>> Long Beach.
>> Yeah, Long Beach, yeah.
>> I know Long Beach.
>> Take school buses, city bus at one point and then my high school, picked on and bullied because of the race, the race
issue. They tell us to go back to our countries and you get into fights. As victims, I never really picked fights and go out
and cause problem. But I always think that the law is not on our side. I always think that police are taking side. Because
I couldn't speak the language, I had the misperception that maybe these guys don't like me.
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>> Okay.
>> And that's [inaudible] back to becoming an instructor again, just because you know what's in the book doesn't mean
you can teach me because I am the Asian guy and you're the white guy. Why are you teaching me my culture? You see?
So to go back to the same [inaudible] in society when you have someone who's totally not able to continue -- create a
dialog, that separation, that gap continues to further apart. So the same thing as school. When you have no connection,
when you have no faith in the system, you're going to drop out.
>> Really? So if you don't have faith, you said the system ->> Connection.
>> What can we do to connect the second and third generation to the system?
>> [Inaudible]. The feeling comfortable, feeling the care. I have a Cambodian professor, a Cambodian counselor, a
Cambodian worker in this university that I can go to when I have problems. Somebody who can relate to my issues.
Someone who knows where I came from. Someone who -- it's just like the police department. I'm the first Cambodian as
a police officer in Fresno.
>> Oh my gosh. You and your brother?
>> No, just me and my brother in Stockton.
>> Oh, okay.
>> So when I came here, I was overwhelmed with all the questions and wanted to get to know me so they can reach out
because right now let's just say for instance [inaudible] Fresno [inaudible] Cambodian community. So this is me, what I
did. I just [inaudible]. I build a bridge and I open the line of communication among the community, and also decrease
the gap and the trust and increase the trust with the community and the police department. So if you look at the
university issues, a lot of people say you know what? I don't see any Cambodians going there. Maybe something's
wrong with it or ->> Okay. There's tons at Long Beach, [inaudible] Long Beach, like huge and UC Riverside. Huge. That's my curiosity,
too.
>> Maybe they -- I don't know.
>> We have huge [inaudible].
>> I think lack of representation could cause that.
>> Is it the population's not as large?
>> Well ->> Long Beach -- a lot of Cambodians in Riverside [inaudible]. It's pretty big.
>> But then you look at the statistical data and you might see there's a lot of Cambodian that went through here.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Maybe I think there -- I believe that they will have a fair chance of coming here regardless of what race and gender
or whatever. If they're not qualified, I don't want the university [inaudible] qualified. So I don't want them to bend
backward to get Cambodians to go here because that's up to them and I think not having the -file:///C/...east%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/18_Danny_Kim_FresnoPoliceDetective_Cambodian_M.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:08:29 AM]
>> I think that would be the next step, outreach statistics [inaudible].
>> Yeah.
>> Put in their mind.
>> To answer your question why -- what can we do to decrease a gap or get people to come here and ->> And graduate.
>> And graduate. I think what we can do -- my suggestion would be -- have some sort of representation in the
Cambodian community.
>> Cool [inaudible]. What kind of representation?
>> Maybe -- and I'm not sure you have any type of committees or any types of boards or anything like that as a reach
out.
>> We did have a pretty large Asian Fresno symposium recently, and we did reach out to the Cambodian community,
but it wasn't -- there was some -- yeah.
>> Maybe an effective [inaudible] reach out.
>> We did reach out to all the Asian communities, but they didn't come. We tried.
>> So [inaudible] back a little bit of what I do on my days off when I'm not a detective. I am the vice president for the
Cambodian Cultural Preservation.
>> Oh, great.
>> And what I do -- people know me. I'm involved in almost every organization here that does involve Cambodia
because my goal is that -- I don't want to utilize -- I really want to utilize my training experience and my ability to
access city hall, the police department and any way else to try to incorporate people to be involved also, not just -- I
want to bring people to work with the city and be a public servant. When I do speak just with the community, I
encourage students to continue their education, also to come back and serve their community.
>> Right.
>> I think it depends on what their career goal is that will also dictate and determine whether they're going to finish it
through or not. So I think we have -- like Fresno State has a good program with law enforcement, agricultural and so
forth.
>> It's pretty large.
>> Right.
>> So then maybe it's not the interest of the Cambodian men.
>> Okay.
>> Maybe it's career -- maybe those topics or those studies are not popular with Asian men.
>> Okay.
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>> You know what I mean?
>> So as you can see, now when [inaudible]. Now I can start thinking okay, how come I'm on the only police officer or
the first Cambodian police officer in so many years in Fresno? Why? Because Asian men are not either interested in law
enforcement or they felt that law enforcement is not that popular anymore.
>> Okay.
>> Or it's not the same anymore. You know what I mean?
>> Why are you interested in law enforcement? Why do ->> [Inaudible] going back again, I was -- I grew up. I went to law school for a year. It didn't turn out the way I wanted
because it was boring, and it takes so long. So I went to college to study similar -- paralegal and attorney which is the
least. So I [inaudible] police officer involving some conversation that made me interested in it.
>> Were you mentored by a police officer and then it kind of -- ?
>> Yes. I [inaudible]. I was mentored by one of the veteran police officers in the city college I worked for.
>> Wow.
>> Just telling me that you're an asset because you are minority. You're bilingual, you speak multiple languages. You ->> What languages do you speak?
>> I speak Spanish, Cambodian.
>> Wow.
>> And I did take Vietnamese for a year.
>> Oh really? That's impossible.
>> That was a long time ago.
>> That's impossible [inaudible].
>> Right. So then I got involved in law enforcement. It makes it seem exciting. I think this job -- you have to really do it
for the love of it and not for the money like any career because if you do that for money, you won't last long.
>> True.
>> So yeah, that's how I got in law enforcement.
>> So you were mentored by a veteran. Do you think if we had -- let's say we had a southeast Asian male mentoring
program. Do you think that would be effective?
>> Oh yeah, absolutely. I think any mentoring service program -- because you know what? Like we said earlier, it's
about guidance. We -- I think if we provide some sort of guidance to those who are interested and I think that would
help because I think the -- like I said, [inaudible] either macho and not seeking assistance.
>> Right, and not asking questions as you said. So that's -file:///C/...east%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/18_Danny_Kim_FresnoPoliceDetective_Cambodian_M.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:08:29 AM]
>> They're not seeking out help and also they're just kind of lingering in the same crowd. They don't branch out to other
things.
>> So how do we get them? Because if they're not asking for help and they're not asking questions, how are we going to
get them to come here but also graduate. So I mean, we have these issues.
>> [Crosstalk] it's going to be too late for the people my age.
>> Okay.
>> I think we're reaching out to them early in high schools and junior high.
>> Okay.
>> For the new generation that comes over.
>> The second and third?
>> Right. Because right now my age is done. They're over. They're out there working. They can't go back to school.
>> Okay.
>> So I think reaching out early
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consent to interview for a new successful southeast Asian voices, if you can give me verbal permission to record you
and put you in our archive.
>> Yes. You have my permission to record for your interview for your study.
>> Great. Please say your name, spell your name and tell me the date.
>> My name is Danny Kim. D-A-N-N-Y, K-I-M, and today's date is July 10.
>> Okay, great. So I usually go in order. What is your gender?
>> Male.
>> Don't tell me the date, but just tell me the year that you were born.
>> I was born in 1975.
>> What is your ethnic group and where were you born?
>> I am Cambodian. I was born in Cambodia.
>> Oh, okay. Do you know where in Cambodia?
>> It would be now what we call Poipet, but it was called [inaudible], which is the border town of Cambodia between
Thai and Cambodia.
>> Oh, interesting. Okay. What was your undergraduate major?
>> Criminal justice.
>> Our most popular major.
>> Yeah, criminology [inaudible].
>> Oh, wow. Okay, excellent. What is your generation in the United States? Are you first generation? Second
generation?
>> My parent came here I was a child, so I'm assuming I would be the ->> How old are you?
>> 12.
>> So I think people would consider you a 1.5 generation.
>> Yeah.
>> Because you're born here, then you'd be second. But you kind of have some life back there.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. What was your family composition, like your brothers and sisters growing up and what's your family
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composition now?
>> Like I said, I was the oldest boy in the family. It was four.
>> Okay.
>> None of my older siblings retain any type of high school diploma or college degree.
>> Interesting.
>> So I was the first child.
>> Ah, so that takes me to my next question. What is your Mom and Dad's highest educational level in Cambodia?
>> I would say none because my Mom was a farmer, and they don't have any type of education. My Dad was a
Buddhist monk when he was a child. I'm sorry, maybe youth, in his youth, 16 years old. So he got married right after he
was [inaudible].
>> Oh, wow. Okay. What is your family composition now and what was your GPA at Fresno State?
>> All my brothers and sisters are holding a career. My oldest sister who never received any high school diploma, but
she went back and received some sort of training and now she's working as a home care service provider. My younger
brother, he also received a master degree in business management.
>> That's very rare that in your family that's ->> Right.
>> Quite rare.
>> Yeah, we actually kind of broke that barrier and the stereotype because we came with nothing, and we both -- my
brother and I, my younger brother, he's two years younger. He's also a police officer.
>> Oh, wow. Okay.
>> We -- maybe two or three of us was able to obtain some sort of official education.
>> Both you and your brother both have M.A., that's very rare. That's like less than one percent.
>> Yes.
>> In the same family. Wow.
>> Right.
>> [Inaudible]. Great. What was your -- what degrees did you get and what was your GPA?
>> I received a Master degree in criminology, administration and management.
>> Oh, wow.
>> My GPA was 3.7.
>> Wow. That's quite high. Did you graduate in four years?
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>> Because I work and go to school, I -- the background was that I received my associate degree in 1998. I didn't go to
school. I didn't go back until 2005 and because of issues with work and family, I postponed it. I went back in 2012, and
I received my Bachelor in 2014.
>> Great.
>> And I went back and received my Master after two years.
>> Wow, excellent. So your high school -- actually when you grew up in your family, did you have a working class,
middle class or kind of wealthy affluent background?
>> When I was growing up in high school when we first came here, I went straight to junior high.
>> Okay.
>> So my Dad and my Mom, they're fairly -- kind of reached their retirement age with no English [inaudible], were
basically on welfare and all of our siblings was in ESL program. I didn't leave ESL program until I reached a senior in
high school, and I think we don't have any working class especially when [inaudible]. I actually was the first person to
have a job.
>> Wow. And then what high school did you go that had ESL?
>> I grew up in Long Beach, surprisingly.
>> Oh. Oh, yeah. That's a huge Cambodian community.
>> I went to Lakewood High.
>> Okay, okay.
>> And I went to too many different high schools in my youth. I went to Jordan High School, Lakewood High School,
and we moved to Stockton, which is another -- a large Cambodian community. I graduated in '93 at Bear Creek High
School in Stockton.
>> Why Long Beach and why Stockton? Why did you even go ->> Why did we move?
>> Yeah.
>> When we first came to the United States, we landed in San Antonio through a sponsorship ->> Okay.
>> Program. So we got there ->> San Antonio, Texas?
>> San Antonio, Texas.
>> Oh, okay.
>> So because of the fear and issues of not being able to communicate and know the population of Cambodians are very
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maybe less than one percent with just our family, and another two or three families that speak Cambodian so we heard
about Long Beach so we moved to Long Beach [inaudible] there's a lot of Cambodian. We do have a [inaudible]
program. They speak Cambodian. So just the fear of not being able to communicate caused our family to move to Long
Beach.
>> So you just called with the telephone and [inaudible] there?
>> We have family that was in Long Beach and ->> Interesting.
>> Some relatives and they said, "Hey, come over and we'll go get you."
>> So when you went to school, was it a lot of Cambodians, your classmates? And do you speak Cambodian?
>> When I was in sixth grade, I guess, I didn't speak English. We were placed with all the minorities, Hispanics,
Vietnamese, [inaudible], Cambodian, had a mixture of all the non-English speaker. It's an ESL, ELD program. And so I
didn't speak English so we were communicating among ourselves and also maybe some assistant, the teacher's aide who
speaks English and Cambodian.
>> Oh, wow. That's impressive. Okay. And then how did you go from Long Beach, which has a huge -- to Stockton?
>> We moved during the Rodney King riot. I'm not sure you're familiar.
>> I am [inaudible], yeah.
>> 1991 because of the Rodney King riot.
>> Really?
>> Family, afraid that we were going to have more issues taking care of the family, the kids wouldn't get hurt. So for
safety purposes and safety reasons, we moved away from Long Beach.
>> But isn't Long Beach kind of far from the epicenter of L.A.?
>> Yes, but ->> Isn't there a 50 minute -- no?
>> Yes. It's far, but it's not that far ->> Oh really?
>> Because we did have some riot ->> Looting there?
>> When we lived in Long Beach, yes.
>> Really?
>> And MLK.
>> Okay.
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>> Yeah, Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, they have a riot and they burned one of the stores down. And as we were
leaving, [inaudible] that we left in got bottles thrown at.
>> Oh, God. Okay.
>> So we actually moved in the middle of the riot.
>> Oh my God. Okay. Oh my goodness. The day of?
>> Yes the day -- the second day of the riot, I think.
>> Oh my God.
>> We still had some rioting because of the African American community that where we live at -- we [inaudible] right
there at 10th and Alamedos, which is one street east of Martin Luther King.
>> Okay.
>> So which is predominantly African American community.
>> So your Mom's like we're leaving.
>> Yeah, we're done, yes.
>> Okay, interesting. And why Stockton? Just to get farther?
>> Family members.
>> Okay.
>> We have family members that live up north. [Inaudible] Stockton wasn't too bad.
>> Okay.
>> It gained publicity on certain things, but ->> Yes. I've heard it.
>> Over in '91 ->> Okay.
>> I graduated in '93. And I went to school there and that's where it started.
>> Okay. Was your high school public or private?
>> It was a public school.
>> So why do Cambodians go to college? Why or why not do they go to college?
>> I wouldn't be able to speak for all Cambodians, but I think what I know from my family, we -- a lot of family who
value higher education will push their children to go to school. Some of the people who escaped the [inaudible] regime
do not see the value of education. I'm speaking to a small percentage of those people -- because [inaudible] they
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murdered and captured and killed all those intellect. And so now they're keeping some of the people who only
[inaudible] mediocracy. We just do what we can survive. We never really strive to achieve higher education. So that's
my opinion on why a lot of people don't really push their children to achieve higher education.
>> Are they fearful that they will be killed or something because of genocide or -- ?
>> No. I don't think because of that because this day, this current society I don't think people were fear to get killed
because they have higher education. I think the belief system that hey you can go out there and make money, money
will give you respect. You can have higher education but with no money. They don't care about your piece of paper that
you can hang on a wall. That is their belief. Some like my family do believe in higher education. They can take
everything away from you. They can take your property, take anything that you own, but the only thing that it cannot
take from you ever is your education. So by imprinting those types of beliefs in the person's mind and also some
evidence along with it because some people may have the education but don't have the ability. It's just like you're giving
a person a tool, a box of tools, but if they can't use it they're not going to be hired. So with higher education, some have
bachelor degree but couldn't get a job because of the personal character or something they don't have to become what
they achieve in school.
>> Right.
>> So [inaudible] the exposure of the community. Some Cambodian male in particular may achieve higher education
such as a B.A., but they couldn't get a job and end up working in the factory. So then they give other people perception
that why am I going to go get a Bachelor degree and spend four years when I'm going to go work like this guy at Foster
Farm chopping chickens? So that might be another reason.
>> Okay. Good point. Do you think that -- what's another reason why -- what are the alternatives? So if you're a
Cambodian male and let's say you don't go to college, what is the alternative to make money then if you don't go to
college? I mean, assuming that you don't get a degree. What is the -- factory? What is the other pull, push?
>> So you were asking what would an Asian man -- a man do without a college degree?
>> Right. How are they going to support themselves?
>> [Inaudible] their family. A lot of Cambodians are business minded. They believe in making -- doing business to
make money [inaudible] be wealthy working with somebody.
>> Okay.
>> So they believe in business and most Chinese descendants believe in business.
>> Are you Chinese descendant?
>> No, no. I'm 100 percent Cambodian.
>> What is Kim? Kim is kind of Korean?
>> Kim is kind of Korean.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm sure my relative may be Chinese or something.
>> Okay.
>> But I am not.
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>> I have something I was going to ask you. Are you Korean?
>> No, no.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah, so Kim is not that common last name, but there are quite a few of us.
>> Okay.
>> But not too common.
>> Okay.
>> I think most of the common job that people -- Asian man would do without education would be business.
>> Okay.
>> Also working like you said factories and some connection to jobs such as chefs and Table Mountain Casino.
>> Is it a lot of money to be at Table Mountain?
>> Casino card dealer? Oh yes. There's quite a few bucks you can make out of there with tips and [inaudible].
>> Oh wow. Okay.
>> So I've seen guys who never have any kind of degree that go to some skill training and was able to do -- to make
more money than I make.
>> Yeah.
>> And also too, truck drivers without any type of degree. You go to skill classes. Mechanic, you don't have to go -- you
don't have to be a master degree graduate to become a mechanic. So those are skills. A lot of men in our generation go
to Hill College and [inaudible] Valley College with skill.
>> Right, right.
>> So instead of going to a typical UC system, which requires as lot of paperwork and blah, blah, blah, you go straight
to certification classes to go on the job right away.
>> Okay. As a police officer, do you see any other legal activity that you could do? That you can -- I was interviewing
[inaudible], and they were saying there's a draw of selling marijuana which is legal. So there's like that pull factor that
you can make much more money doing that instead of going to Fresno State.
>> Yeah, and especially in Central Valley we do have a large number of cultivation cases.
>> It's totally legal now, right?
>> No. No, it's not legal.
>> I thought we voted ->> The consumption and smoking stuff is legal. The cultivation and selling, you must have some sort of license.
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>> Oh yeah, license, yeah.
>> You cannot cultivate and sell for profit, but there's cultivation cases were because of the farmland of the agricultural
base type of society. So people will do that. It's quick money and it makes a lot of money, and it's -- doesn't require
much.
>> Is there a big draw to being a gang member? Is there a long term -- I mean, can you be a gang member for 30 years?
You cannot, right? It's a -- there's a lifetime ->> There's no gang member [inaudible] benefits to be a gang member besides personal issues or personal benefits such
as bragging rights or whatever or just control issues. I don't think a gang member can support his family through gang
[inaudible].
>> Okay, okay.
>> Which I didn't clearly say that, but they do have some sort of benefit by maybe coordinating some sort of illegal
activity such as drug sales, [inaudible] drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and other stuff. But marijuana, also we
have big issues with the Asian community also because they make millions of dollars and undetected for quite some
time because they're losing the focus on the community, the Asian community. And also it is very difficult to infiltrate
the organization because not too many law enforcement officers are Asian.
>> Right. Also, in my interviews in L.A. for the Cambodian community, I had a female and she talked about how her
parents told her not to finish [inaudible] but instead to marry a donut owner. Do you think that's a pull push factor to
work in a restaurant or a donut -- I don't know, a donut store?
>> Well, most Cambodians when we first came to the United States, the donut business was one of the easiest to get
into.
>> Why. Tell me why?
>> Why? Because we -- back the new can purchase 50 pounds of flour and make 500 percent interest out of that bag.
>> Is donuts from Cambodia? Where do they get this donut?
>> You don't need education to make donuts.
>> Okay.
>> You don't need a degree.
>> What do you do? Is it just ->> You go in and [inaudible]. Yeah, you train in bake and you train with the active baker and watch him for maybe a
couple of days, couple of nights.
>> Okay.
>> You'll develop that skill, and you open your own.
>> Oh, wow. Okay.
>> And it's also a cash only type of business [inaudible]. People actually can hide from the IRS and reporting the
income. And also with no education requirement, and for example, I mean I have friends who received a Bachelor
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degree who couldn't find a job and is currently baking donuts.
>> Is it kind of -- but you make a lot of money because you just said there's a 500 percent ->> For example, a guy can -- the baker can get paid 1500 to $2000 a month ->> Wow.
>> For very little work, for maybe two or three days of work or whatever.
>> My goodness. That's pretty good.
>> Yeah, and no tax. Just some maybe under -- just cash. So that's quite a bit.
>> Okay. Great. So thank you for telling me why some Cambodians don't to college and why some do. Do Cambodian
Americans have good relationships with administrators and faculty?
>> Yeah, honestly I don't know. I can't speak for the other, but for me, because of -- I think it all depends on their
character also, but I don't have any problem with professor or faculty members, but I think a lot of men my age when we
came here were [inaudible] in languages and the culture.
>> Okay.
>> Speaking for my age range, we were more shy. Men are ->> Shy?
>> The Asian men are a little bit shy and quiet.
>> Okay.
>> So they're reluctant to participate and engage in some sort of dialog and they have issues.
>> Okay.
>> I'm sure there's other men out there that -- for example, you go to the mall, most men don't ask questions.
>> Thank you. Can you please talk about why is that? Why? Tell me why?
>> Because of ego, men believe that if we ask too much question we're dumb.
>> But if you're in school, you need to ask questions for help.
>> Well, that's common sense, right?
>> Right.
>> But not that we don't have common sense, but we're more like -- it's a macho thing also.
>> Okay.
>> And I'm sure if your spouse or your brother may go to the mall, they won't ask questions. They'd rather spend an
hour looking for something that they could have just asked that one question.
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>> Right, exactly, yeah.
>> Same thing when they go to school, I rarely ask questions to be honest with you.
>> Really? But at this point, I mean you're completely Americanized [inaudible].
>> I'm not completely Americanized.
>> Oh not? Okay.
>> I'm still shy. I'm still quiet. I'm still -- sometimes refuse to ask question.
>> Wow.
>> And it's just like when I first interviewed for the job for my first job in the United States, I kept looking down
because our culture was not to make eye contact with people [crosstalk].
>> Correct.
>> So I think the culture has a lot to do with engaging in society, whether they want to pursue further or want to learn
more.
>> Okay.
>> I obtain most -- I'm just very fortunate that I was hanging around the right people who asked a lot of questions and
those questions were relevant to what I had issues with.
>> Okay.
>> So then I was able to retain those info without me even asking.
>> Right. Okay.
>> So I think some people may not have that ability to obtain that info because they're shy. That can be a huge detriment
in college because your [inaudible]. You don't ask for help, right?
>> And also too, when -- a couple of my friends have also dropped out and ->> Please talk about them. Why did they drop out? Why?
>> I'm sure this is going to be listened and heard by other generations.
>> Once you drop out -- so you talk to them.
>> The new generation may be different. I speak for my generation who's born in the early 80's or late 70's. What
happened was that a lot of men are -- have a lot of weight on their shoulder when they first came here especially when
you're the oldest in the family.
>> Okay.
>> You don't want to spend so much time working -- I mean, going to school and not making any money to contribute
to family.
>> Okay.
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>> So what happened was that why am I spending this and I'm delaying my classes and so forth? I just waste so much
time in school and not contributing to my uneducated, no job, unemployed, on welfare Mom and Dad.
>> Okay, okay. Right.
>> You know what I mean? So with them, it's going to put a lot of pressure on that single man in that family. Why am I
going to school and leave my family hanging on welfare? I've got to quit school and go to work, support them.
>> Okay.
>> And once you go to work, they lose track of coming back to get education [crosstalk].
>> Okay. What about the -- [inaudible], but what about the Cambodian woman? Is it the same pressure or not the same
pressure?
>> A woman is different for that generation. I hate to -- I want to separate the generations [crosstalk].
>> Okay, tell me, yeah.
>> My age generation because I'm speaking for my sisters also, they're older than me.
>> Okay.
>> They were -- they're almost pressured to seek a good spouse, meaning I want to get my daughter to get married
because -- to this guy because I don't want her to go into the gang and meet a gang member and get married and not
[inaudible] with each other. So the pressure for those group of girls [inaudible] ought to marry someone like you said
earlier about a donut shop owner. Because he's wealthy, he's able to support the daughter because since they can legally
get married, they're going to make them get married. Kind of arranged marriage. I know this guy, he's wealthy, blah,
blah, blah and [inaudible] yeah Mom because the culture or tradition allows -- kind of caused the daughter to listen to
parents.
>> Okay.
>> And they will listen because [inaudible] okay, Mom. I'll do it for you. You brought me life. I'm going to do it for
you. So they marry the guy who owns the business or whatever and some daughter might become rebellious and run off
with somebody. And that somebody -- whatever, and now the culture of defiant, now the culture of not believing in
family value and structure. See what I'm saying?
>> Yeah.
>> So it all depends on -- to me the family value and how might they hold it and not losing it. I think my sister was not
forced to get married, but arranged or set up to get married.
>> Okay.
>> All three of them actually.
>> Do they want to go to college?
>> They don't know anything -- they don't know any better because we just came to United States. When they came
here, they were 16, 17, 19.
>> Oh my -- wow. That's really -file:///C/...east%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/18_Danny_Kim_FresnoPoliceDetective_Cambodian_M.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:08:29 AM]
>> They had no choice. They had no choice.
>> Yeah, much older.
>> They're not even Americanized. They don't know what society is all about. We don't know. It's almost like dropping
us from a different planet and landing in the United States. So they just follow the decisions that the parent makes.
>> It'll be interesting to see their children, what happens to their children, if they push their children to go to college or >> They have. And they all have pushed their children. All my sisters have kids so they all go to school. One of my
sisters have two sons and none of them go to school because this other contributing factor such as family breakups and
so forth. So I think that's a different case. Now for the marriage, marrying a rich and wealthy person, it's more like
parents concerned about the daughter being with someone who's a dead beat or something and to be with someone
successful.
>> Right.
>> And same thing with Chinese and Vietnamese culture, the same way. They want their daughter to be with someone
successful. And I'm sure my wife, she grew up around Vietnamese people. She speaks Vietnamese.
>> Oh really?
>> Yeah.
>> And is she Cambodian?
>> Yes. She's Cambodian.
>> Okay.
>> [Inaudible] Chinese. She said that the Vietnamese the same way. They're very big on status in the community. In
Cambodia, it's no different. The status is everything and also to make sure that the husband is able to maintain a good
life for their daughter.
>> Interesting. I actually grew up with all Anglo people in the Midwest. I didn't grow up in the Vietnamese community
or Chinese community at all. But thank you. So -- for here we're trying to make the professors more culturally
competent for Cambodians. What makes a good professor? What makes a bad professor to pass a class? What's your
idea of good and bad?
>> My opinion or idea?
>> Well, both.
>> Okay.
>> Make it warmer for ->> My opinion about a good professor I think you want some well rounded person to be a good professor, not a person
who just teach through the book, someone who's out there and reaching out and see first hand or maybe personally
involved in some sort of, like a culture. I wouldn't feel comfortable with a Caucasian teacher teaching Asian culture.
>> That's very common, very common.
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>> I went to academy and did 26 weeks of training, and we have a Caucasian instructor who's teaching Cambodian
gang.
>> You're kidding?
>> Yeah. I'm like okay, well [inaudible] because in order to be a professional or an expert, you'd have to know a little
bit more than a normal person, right? So he was an expert in a sense, but not as an expert as an individual who grew up >> Inside, yeah.
>> In the society in Cambodia who knew the ins and outs of the things on a personal basis. So a good professor, I would
say is someone who actually -- the person themselves in that particular subject such as ->> Like co-ethnic, who's in there. Okay.
>> Or some sort of relationship. Hey, I'm Caucasian but I live in Cambodia for five years or ten years.
>> Okay. What about a [inaudible]or a man? Can they teach?
>> Probably better than the Caucasian, right?
>> You're so funny.
>> [Crosstalk] a little bit similar.
>> It is, yeah.
>> And we as Asians, southeast Asians can also relate to this culture.
>> Right. It is similar. The food's similar.
>> Right.
>> And the culture we carry similar [inaudible] such as bowing down, not looking in the eye and live in society. If you
go to the [inaudible] community and the Cambodian community, [inaudible] community it's very similar.
>> It is similar, yeah.
>> They have [crosstalk].
>> I see it. I'm like very similar. Yeah.
>> They have little garden and you're going around Caucasian community. Your home look like a Caucasian home. So
you don't see flip flops in the front of the house. You don't see gardens in front [inaudible] grass, trees and [inaudible].
>> How interesting.
>> Okay. So I was looking into teaching also, and I was like maybe I should apply for [inaudible] College or something
and teach part-time.
>> You should.
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>> Yeah
>> You should.
>> And I think to be a good teacher, you have to have some [inaudible] common of the subject you are teaching.
>> Okay.
>> That's the best thing I can tell you.
>> In common with the subject, okay. What makes a bad teacher? What makes a bad teacher -- a bad professor that
would drive a student not to graduate?
>> A bad teacher is when you fail to provide guidance and motivation.
>> Okay.
>> There's a lot of things [inaudible] qualify and maybe a successful teacher is to be able to have the ability to promote,
motivate and provide guidance. A teacher is on a ship, and all your students are on that ship. And if you're not providing
the speed and the momentum and the support, everything you can think of. That's my own thinking. If a teacher treat
himself much like a little ship like a Mayflower, everybody on that ship will go to the other side of the coast. But when
we don't allow -- we need to make sure -- in my opinion, I think we need to make sure that teacher has that ability not
just going to school every day and say here's your assignment. I'll see you in about 30 minutes. I think it's almost -being a teacher is like a parent. You never want to give up and when you mention about not being able to motivate and
encourage people to continue, that's [inaudible] teacher.
>> Okay.
>> You don't want to give up on your child either.
>> Right.
>> You shouldn't give up on your student.
>> Okay.
>> Until whatever reason. There's going to be a time where you really can't stop that, but most of the time if you're able
to motivate and encourage and empower students, you will be most likely achieve that goal.
>> That is a great metaphor. Thank you. Okay. So what's your favorite subject? What's your least favorite subject?
>> Since I was growing up, I grew up in a ghetto. I walked to school.
>> Long Beach.
>> Yeah, Long Beach, yeah.
>> I know Long Beach.
>> Take school buses, city bus at one point and then my high school, picked on and bullied because of the race, the race
issue. They tell us to go back to our countries and you get into fights. As victims, I never really picked fights and go out
and cause problem. But I always think that the law is not on our side. I always think that police are taking side. Because
I couldn't speak the language, I had the misperception that maybe these guys don't like me.
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>> Okay.
>> And that's [inaudible] back to becoming an instructor again, just because you know what's in the book doesn't mean
you can teach me because I am the Asian guy and you're the white guy. Why are you teaching me my culture? You see?
So to go back to the same [inaudible] in society when you have someone who's totally not able to continue -- create a
dialog, that separation, that gap continues to further apart. So the same thing as school. When you have no connection,
when you have no faith in the system, you're going to drop out.
>> Really? So if you don't have faith, you said the system ->> Connection.
>> What can we do to connect the second and third generation to the system?
>> [Inaudible]. The feeling comfortable, feeling the care. I have a Cambodian professor, a Cambodian counselor, a
Cambodian worker in this university that I can go to when I have problems. Somebody who can relate to my issues.
Someone who knows where I came from. Someone who -- it's just like the police department. I'm the first Cambodian as
a police officer in Fresno.
>> Oh my gosh. You and your brother?
>> No, just me and my brother in Stockton.
>> Oh, okay.
>> So when I came here, I was overwhelmed with all the questions and wanted to get to know me so they can reach out
because right now let's just say for instance [inaudible] Fresno [inaudible] Cambodian community. So this is me, what I
did. I just [inaudible]. I build a bridge and I open the line of communication among the community, and also decrease
the gap and the trust and increase the trust with the community and the police department. So if you look at the
university issues, a lot of people say you know what? I don't see any Cambodians going there. Maybe something's
wrong with it or ->> Okay. There's tons at Long Beach, [inaudible] Long Beach, like huge and UC Riverside. Huge. That's my curiosity,
too.
>> Maybe they -- I don't know.
>> We have huge [inaudible].
>> I think lack of representation could cause that.
>> Is it the population's not as large?
>> Well ->> Long Beach -- a lot of Cambodians in Riverside [inaudible]. It's pretty big.
>> But then you look at the statistical data and you might see there's a lot of Cambodian that went through here.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Maybe I think there -- I believe that they will have a fair chance of coming here regardless of what race and gender
or whatever. If they're not qualified, I don't want the university [inaudible] qualified. So I don't want them to bend
backward to get Cambodians to go here because that's up to them and I think not having the -file:///C/...east%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/18_Danny_Kim_FresnoPoliceDetective_Cambodian_M.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:08:29 AM]
>> I think that would be the next step, outreach statistics [inaudible].
>> Yeah.
>> Put in their mind.
>> To answer your question why -- what can we do to decrease a gap or get people to come here and ->> And graduate.
>> And graduate. I think what we can do -- my suggestion would be -- have some sort of representation in the
Cambodian community.
>> Cool [inaudible]. What kind of representation?
>> Maybe -- and I'm not sure you have any type of committees or any types of boards or anything like that as a reach
out.
>> We did have a pretty large Asian Fresno symposium recently, and we did reach out to the Cambodian community,
but it wasn't -- there was some -- yeah.
>> Maybe an effective [inaudible] reach out.
>> We did reach out to all the Asian communities, but they didn't come. We tried.
>> So [inaudible] back a little bit of what I do on my days off when I'm not a detective. I am the vice president for the
Cambodian Cultural Preservation.
>> Oh, great.
>> And what I do -- people know me. I'm involved in almost every organization here that does involve Cambodia
because my goal is that -- I don't want to utilize -- I really want to utilize my training experience and my ability to
access city hall, the police department and any way else to try to incorporate people to be involved also, not just -- I
want to bring people to work with the city and be a public servant. When I do speak just with the community, I
encourage students to continue their education, also to come back and serve their community.
>> Right.
>> I think it depends on what their career goal is that will also dictate and determine whether they're going to finish it
through or not. So I think we have -- like Fresno State has a good program with law enforcement, agricultural and so
forth.
>> It's pretty large.
>> Right.
>> So then maybe it's not the interest of the Cambodian men.
>> Okay.
>> Maybe it's career -- maybe those topics or those studies are not popular with Asian men.
>> Okay.
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>> You know what I mean?
>> So as you can see, now when [inaudible]. Now I can start thinking okay, how come I'm on the only police officer or
the first Cambodian police officer in so many years in Fresno? Why? Because Asian men are not either interested in law
enforcement or they felt that law enforcement is not that popular anymore.
>> Okay.
>> Or it's not the same anymore. You know what I mean?
>> Why are you interested in law enforcement? Why do ->> [Inaudible] going back again, I was -- I grew up. I went to law school for a year. It didn't turn out the way I wanted
because it was boring, and it takes so long. So I went to college to study similar -- paralegal and attorney which is the
least. So I [inaudible] police officer involving some conversation that made me interested in it.
>> Were you mentored by a police officer and then it kind of -- ?
>> Yes. I [inaudible]. I was mentored by one of the veteran police officers in the city college I worked for.
>> Wow.
>> Just telling me that you're an asset because you are minority. You're bilingual, you speak multiple languages. You ->> What languages do you speak?
>> I speak Spanish, Cambodian.
>> Wow.
>> And I did take Vietnamese for a year.
>> Oh really? That's impossible.
>> That was a long time ago.
>> That's impossible [inaudible].
>> Right. So then I got involved in law enforcement. It makes it seem exciting. I think this job -- you have to really do it
for the love of it and not for the money like any career because if you do that for money, you won't last long.
>> True.
>> So yeah, that's how I got in law enforcement.
>> So you were mentored by a veteran. Do you think if we had -- let's say we had a southeast Asian male mentoring
program. Do you think that would be effective?
>> Oh yeah, absolutely. I think any mentoring service program -- because you know what? Like we said earlier, it's
about guidance. We -- I think if we provide some sort of guidance to those who are interested and I think that would
help because I think the -- like I said, [inaudible] either macho and not seeking assistance.
>> Right, and not asking questions as you said. So that's -file:///C/...east%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/18_Danny_Kim_FresnoPoliceDetective_Cambodian_M.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:08:29 AM]
>> They're not seeking out help and also they're just kind of lingering in the same crowd. They don't branch out to other
things.
>> So how do we get them? Because if they're not asking for help and they're not asking questions, how are we going to
get them to come here but also graduate. So I mean, we have these issues.
>> [Crosstalk] it's going to be too late for the people my age.
>> Okay.
>> I think we're reaching out to them early in high schools and junior high.
>> Okay.
>> For the new generation that comes over.
>> The second and third?
>> Right. Because right now my age is done. They're over. They're out there working. They can't go back to school.
>> Okay.
>> So I think reaching out early
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