Little Vietnam

Little Vietnam

Little Vietnam is a neighborhood within Community Area 3, Uptown.

This neighborhood is mostly populated by residents who had Vietnamese and Cambodian nationality. However, many, if not most, were from ethnic Chinese minorities and, for that reason, became refugees during the Sino-Vietnamese War of the late 1970s. In the span of a few city blocks, Little Vietnam boasts half a dozen Asian grocery stores as well as more than a dozen Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, and Chinese restaurants. The neighborhood should not be confused with Old Chinatown, which is in the Armour Square community area on the South Side of the city.

A noteworthy minority within a minority on Argyle are the Bui Doi, those of mixed Vietnamese and American ancestry. Children of mixed unions had often suffered from discrimination in Vietnam, partly because of hostility to the US armed forces and partly because the women (the unions were almost always of Vietnamese women and American men) were seen as prostitutes. The most discriminated against were those of African American-Vietnamese parents. Uptown was a welcome relief for those who struggled with this oppression.

The neighborhood is centered by the Argyle stop on the CTA's Red Line.