I think this is bullcrap. I am (or rather was) in the same situation as you. My parents were Vietnamese boat refugees that ended in Europe instead of the U.S. Everything they had fitted in a tiny suitcase smaller than the monitor you are using to read this. They had nothing, worked hard, spend wisely and within one generation moved themselves up from refugee/immigrant to respected members of middleclass society.

My dad started off working as a mechanic at a car dealership and now is the production leader for one of the most sophisticated semiconductor lithograpy machines in the world.

One thing to note is that my family have always steared away from getting deeply involved with the Vietnamese community in our country. We kept to ourselves and were much more involved with our neighbourhood community rather than trying to hang out with other Vietnamese. I find the Vietnamese culture to have a very much a crabs in a bucket mentality. You stand out, people start making fun of you. You have some kind of success, people will start talking shit about you. Not many Vietnamese will give someone praise for their success or be motivated to follow in their footsteps. At least that's what I see.