Bui doi

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Bui Doi (Vietnamese: bụi đời) means "dust of life" and is a colloquial expression used to refer to people of mixed Vietnamese-foreign parentage.

While Con Lai is the technical term, meaning "mixed-blood," to refer to the children who result from mixed-race unions, for those born during the American War in Vietnam (1965-1975) there is a more popular expression, namely Bui Doi, "dust of life". Many of these children were abandoned by their American fathers or were born after their fathers' one-year tours of duty had ended. Life is difficult for the Bui Doi; they exist only as pariahs in Vietnamese society. The mothers who decided to keep their children are made to feel ashamed by their compatriots, who consider them to be prostitutes and therefore worthless.

This term features heavily in the musical Miss Saigon. The movie The Beautiful Country (2004) describes the life of a fictional Bui Doi and his efforts to become reunited with his American father.