New Faces, Accents Reshaping County
Immigrants Steadily Transform Political and Economic Landscape

By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 27, 2006

You won't find Le Van Hung Avenue on a Fairfax County street map.

It's actually not a street but a row in the parking lot of the Eden Center, the extraordinary shopping village off Wilson Boulevard in the Seven Corners section of Falls Church, where you can get a world-class Vietnamese meal or a herbalist who will listen to your pulse for free on the weekends.

Every row in the massive parking lot carries a name that resonates in some way with Fairfax's 23,000 Vietnamese residents. Hung was a South Vietnamese Army general who committed suicide on April 30, 1975, rather than endure surrender to the North Vietnamese communists.

But a map isn't necessary to understand that diversity is remaking Fairfax County. In 1950, the U.S. Census recorded 88,712 whites and 9,700 African Americans in Fairfax, constituting 99.8 percent of the population.

A third category, "Other," totaled 145.

A half-century later, Fairfax is a community of "Others." By 2004, one of every four of its more than 1 million residents was foreign-born, according to census estimates. Among its 140,000 Asians are 28,000 Koreans and 17,750 Chinese. Its 106,000 Latinos include 20,000 Salvadorans and 12,000 Mexicans.

Nearly 40 percent of Fairfax's children under 18 have at least one foreign-born parent, twice the national average. More than 100 languages are spoken by families with children enrolled in public schools, from Spanish to Twi (Ghana) to Marathi (western India, including Bombay).

Their story has become an integral part of the political conversation in Fairfax. At an April 4 budget hearing, School Board Chairman Ilryong Moon, a former Korean ESL student, ended his plea to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for additional funding on a vivid autobiographical note. Speaking of himself in the third person, he recounted his family's financial struggles and the two jobs his mother held, including one as a janitor in a small private school on Little River Turnpike.

"On one day, during his eighth-grade year, when he was under heavy pressure from his school to bring tuition that his family did not have, his mother took him to a jewelry store in the market, took from her fingers the rings that were cherished gifts from her husband, and sold them to come up with the money," Moon said. "His parents believed that, when times were hard, we might eat less and we might clothe less, but we should never educate less."

His audience and many other politicians are aware of the power of such appeals. The path to elected office runs through the county's immigrant communities. On election night 2003, victorious Democratic candidates took turns thanking various groups for their financial help and grass-roots support. "I love Korean people!" exulted Del. J. Chapman Petersen.

"I met with Pakistanis, Muslims, Somalis, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Palestinians, Hispanics, Laotians, Chinese . . ." said Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D-At Large), recounting his campaign. Wedged among the corned beef and cabbage on the buffet table at his annual St. Patrick's Day fundraiser last month at the Kena Temple in Mantua was a bowl of hummus, courtesy of Marwan Burgan, an Arab American on the staff of Supervisor Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason). Burgan brings it every year, as a symbolic tribute to the changing face of the county.

Diversity also marks the Fairfax economy. The Census Bureau reported last week that the number of African American-owned businesses increased by more than 52 percent between 1997 and 2002 to 5,091, a bigger increase than the national average of 45 percent. Hispanic-owned firms grew by more than 47 percent in the same period, to 7,302. In each case, more than 90 percent of the enterprises are sole proprietorships, according to the census.

But it isn't all small business. Six of the country's 100 largest African American-owned companies are headquartered in Fairfax, according to Black Enterprise magazine. They include Thompson Hospitality, the food service firm, and RS Information Systems, a major federal IT contractor. Eleven of the largest Hispanic-owned businesses, such as MVM Inc., a multinational security contractor, also make their home in the county, according to Hispanic Business magazine.

Diversity's geography in Fairfax is shifting as well, spreading beyond the well-known enclaves, such as Koreans in Annandale, Hispanics in Baileys Crossroads, Vietnamese in Seven Corners and African Americans in Gum Springs -- where freed black slaves settled before the Civil War.

This month, over environmental concerns expressed by the county planning staff, the Board of Supervisors approved a proposal by the 4,500-member Korean Central Presbyterian Church to build a massive home along Route 29 in Centreville. The first phase calls for a 2,000-seat sanctuary, a 500-seat chapel, a nursery school and a K-through-2 elementary school.

"The diversity is moving west," said Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully), who voiced support for the proposal.

But the story of diversity in Fairfax has another side. It is also about fear and resentment of the "Others." Those seeking to sink deeper roots here often hit rocks.

Herndon's debate over the establishment of a publicly funded day labor center, to help immigrant workers connect with employers, made it a flash point in the national debate over who comes to the United States, how and why. It triggered the intervention of such groups as the Minutemen.

Trinh Linh, director of the Springfield office of the Vietnamese Voters League, has lived in Fairfax since 1982 but said there has always been a palpable chill compared with her first American home in West Hartford, Conn.

"Here, it is another story," she said. "I used to say, 'Hi,' and no one would even look at me," Trinh said. "Here, people are facing you on the street and they just walk right by."

Trinh also said it has been difficult to persuade people in her community to become more active in the county, principally because of the perception that they are not welcome.

"There's a feeling that it is hard to get involved," she said.

A few years ago, the county surveyed eight immigrant communities with children in public schools. They included households where Spanish, Korean, Kurdish and Farsi were spoken.

More than 90 percent of each group said they regarded Fairfax County as their home. Just as many said they were willing to volunteer time to improve their neighborhoods.

Yet their presence in Fairfax's civic life remains scant. Few serve on the county's more than 70 appointed boards, authorities and commissions -- although it is often difficult to find anyone to fill certain vacancies, let alone someone from a racial or ethnic minority.

A handful, such as Moon, have made it to elective or appointed office. Former School Board chairman Isis M. Castro was Virginia's first Hispanic elected official; Rita Thompson, an African American, held an at-large seat on the School Board; Young Duek Ahn, a Korean, lost a run for Mason District supervisor in 2003. Rick Gonzalez, a Latino immigrant, made an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid to oppose state Sen. James K. "Jay" O'Brien (R).

Some of the hurdles they have faced include economic and language barriers. Newcomers and their offspring are devoting their energies to establishing their own lives, with little left over to scale the ladder of PTAs, neighborhood associations and campaign work that often leads to appointed or elected positions.

Catherine M. Hudgins, the county's lone minority supervisor, said more can be done to bring new citizens into civic and political life.

"We have to help people feel comfortable and make sure that the welcome mat really does mean welcome," said Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill).

She said she would like to see the county expand citizen training programs such as Neighborhood College, which offers classes in how local government works.

Arlington County Board member Walter Tejada (D) said there is no substitute for immersion into what he called "the culture of politics" -- building coalitions, working on issues, finding a candidate to get excited about.

"Leaders don't just pop up," he said. "At the end of the day, these things don't come out of the blue."

Tejada said what was most exciting about the recent burst of activism over national immigration policy was the galvanizing effect it seemed to have on young people.

"Today we march, tomorrow we vote," he said, borrowing one of their rallying cries.

Burgan, the aide to Gross, has studied immigrant voter turnout in Fairfax and said participation by new citizens is growing.

"I believe we have a responsibility to participate in the political process in our newly adopted country," he said.

"You have a responsibility to give back."