{"id":27436,"date":"2022-05-08T13:36:34","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T13:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/08\/how-doughnut-shops-became-a-sweet-american-dream\/"},"modified":"2022-05-08T13:36:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T13:36:34","slug":"how-doughnut-shops-became-a-sweet-american-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/08\/how-doughnut-shops-became-a-sweet-american-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"How doughnut shops became a sweet American Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The mom and pop donut shops that rip off California malls mostly offer the same delicious pastry delights. But beyond the rows of glazes, chocolate, and sprinkles is another kind of richness, in the stories of Americans behind the counter.<\/p>\n

About 80% of Southern California donut shops, or more than a thousand, are owned by Cambodian refugee families. They arrived in America in the late 1970s and early 1980s in search of security when the communist Khmer Rouge committed genocide in Cambodia’s assassination camps. Millions were executed or disappeared. <\/p>\n

Many of those who escaped settled in California and found work in donut shops. <\/p>\n

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About 80 percent of Southern California\u2019s donut shops are owned by Cambodian refugee families, who arrived in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. <\/span><\/p>\n

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CBS News<\/p>\n

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“We immigrated right after the genocide,” said Teresa Ngo, owner of Blinkie’s Donuts in Woodland Hills. Her family has owned donut shops since the 1980s. “At first, once you get here, you don’t speak the language, and you have a family that offers you a job. And the next thing you know, they’ve I’ve been doing it all my life, and sometimes a few generations at a time. “<\/p>\n

Erin Curtis, an LA historian at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, said refugees were not offered many resources and needed to find out how they could support each other. \u201cCalifornia has had a long history of donut culture,\u201d he said. “And I would say it’s become even more famous in the last 40 years or so, and that’s really because of the Cambodian refugees who came in and really expanded the donut culture here in Southern California.”<\/p>\n

Correspondent Elaine Quijano asked, “Is it fair to say it’s part of American culture?”<\/p>\n

“Yes, absolutely.”<\/p>\n

A culture that now includes the pink donut box. Decades ago, Cambodian store owners overlooked the expensive white boxes for the cheaper pink boxes, which fit perfectly into a dozen donuts. The move not only saved thousands of dollars; he also created a candy icon.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI probably learned how to fold a box of pink donuts before I learned my ABC,\u201d said Dorothy Chow, who now runs a donut supply business. The daughter of Cambodian refugees, she grew up working in several of her parents’ shops and is considered a “donut girl”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a few days I worked maybe 12, 13, 14 hours,\u201d Chow said. “But then, now that I’m older, I can look back with pride. Like, I’m part of something bigger. I’m part of this whole journey that our parents have made. They’ve come here with nothing.” They needed all the help they could with the donut shop. And we were there to help and support them whenever we could. ” <\/p>\n

A story that is now disengaging. Phung Hyunh is a Cambodian-American artist who came to America as a refugee. In his exhibition, “Donut (W) hole,” at Self Help Graphics & Art in Los Angeles, he uses a pink donut box instead of a white canvas to capture a taste of the Cambodian-American refugee experience. <\/p>\n

“This shared donut experience is very American,” he said. “Underneath the sweetness of the donut is intergenerational trauma and pain.”<\/p>\n

Hyunh\u2019s art focuses largely on the second generation. He juxtaposes childhood images of “donut kids” with portraits of adults they have become. “It’s just this generation born in the United States to say to their parents, ‘Look, we want to honor you. You’ve never had time to think about what you’ve been through. And we want to take this time to honor your story. have time to write about it, “Hyunh said.<\/p>\n

One of his portraits: Dorothy Chow. <\/p>\n

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Phung Hyunh\u2019s portraits of \u201cdonut kids\u201d are already big, including Dorothy Chow (above).<\/span><\/p>\n

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When asked to describe seeing his portrait in a pink donut box, Chow replied, “I had a sense of pride. I think maybe for the first time I wanted to grow up in America and maybe make sacrifices that I did when I was a kid I was finally being seen. ” <\/p>\n

Now, as an adult, Chow herself sees things differently, like the pink boxes she folded as a child. \u201cThese donut boxes are an example of resilience and a representation of the refugee experience here in America,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n


For more information:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • Blinkie’s Donuts, Woodland Hills, Calif.<\/li>\n
  • The artist Phung Hyunh<\/li>\n
  • Exhibition: “Donut (W) hole” by Phung Huynh, at Self Help Graphics & Art, Los Angeles (until May 27)<\/li>\n
  • B&H Bakery Distributors, Hayward, Calif. <\/li>\n
  • Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n


    Story produced by Sharaf Mowjood. Editor: Remington Korper. <\/em><\/p>\n

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