Hmong Coming To America Case Study

The Hmongs are an ethnic race, originally migrated from Eurasia and settled in river plains of China. The Chinese hated them, calling them ‘Miao’ or ‘Meo’ meaning barbarians and tried to gain mastery over them but the Hmongs wanting to be left alone began to migrate. By the beginning of the 19th century, half a million Hmongs had migrated to Indo-China. Disliking persecution, some settled in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. They detest being ordered or bullied, do not like to lose, are fighters who would rather die than surrender. Though they never possessed a country of their own, they have marched through the pages of history as free men desiring personal liberty. The Lee family travelled to Merced, California along with other Hmongs who fled to Laos in 1975, when their country became a prey to communism.

The memoir, The Latehomecomer, written Kao Kalia Yang, presents the oppression and persecution of the Hmong people. Yang is a Hmong woman, who was born in a Refugee Camp in Thailand. Since then, she moved to the United States, graduated from Columbia University and wrote The Latehomecomer. Her book gave her audience a glimpse into the not as recognized topic, the history of the Hmong people, when Laos by Laotian and Vietnamese soldiers forced them out of Laos and into the United States. She wants people to know the harsh times of the Hmong people, and let the future generations of Hmong know what their ancestors had to endure. Yang

The Hmong women living in America are able to develop their own identity and a greater self-worth (Long 2008). This was made possible due to the freedom found in America that pushes for equal rights and the pursuit of the American dream (Lor 2013). Rather than being stay at home moms, many Hmong women found themselves working where they were able to develop professional skills, earn money and improve their own lives. From such experiences as these, Hmong women were able empower themselves to gain leadership roles whether in the work place or in the local community and even a voice within their immediate family (Lor 2013). The societal influence found in America greatly changed the lives of Hmong women because it encouraged them to break through their cultural confinements. Furthermore, Hmong women are much more successful in American when compared to the Hmong women living in their oppressive homeland (Long

The Hmong are a group of people who originally lived in the mountains overlooking Laos, China, Vietnam, and Thailand-- though most have since emigrated to other countries and areas due to political conflict. They have valued self-sufficiency and resisted authority throughout history, as they have constantly been the minority and often seen as the Other and persecuted for being such. Still, many have managed to survive and preserve much of their culture, such as religious beliefs and shamanic healing practices.

Chapter one of the The Contemporary Asian American Experience: Beyond the Model Minority, provides a great overview of the Asian American immigration history to U.S. and the aspects leading to the arrival of refugees from Asian countries. Since the early 1800s, hundreds of thousands of Asians have been migrating to America. As with many other immigrants, they were viewed as low class workers. Asian immigrants had very dangerous and low paid jobs that the majority of whites did not want to do. As a result, many white employers took advantage and exploited them. What strikes me the most is that Asian Americans participated in very important jobs but they were not recognized for their crucial contribution to the prosperity of the United States.

Hmong involvement in the Vietnam War led families like the Yangs to immigrate to the United States. Yang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, (Yang, pg. 53). Like some Hmong families, she was relocated to the United States. Yang was considered lucky because many other Hmong families were left behind in a country that considered them traitors, (George, 2010).

“Role loss” occurs when people lose their roles that they have within their families and/or society. These roles give us a sense of identity, it is essentially who we are and what we do. Moving to America had many consequences for the Hmong. They went from being self-reliant farmers to people who rely on the government for food and health care. The Hmong despised the idea of being on welfare, but when it pertained to work, the only things they knew how to do, there were no jobs for. Consequently, the fathers could not provide for their families. The mothers, who traditionally would teach their children in the home were required to send them to school. Several of their custom traditions were looked down on in the U.S, and therefore the Hmong

Even though there is a slight gap between acculturation, the younger groups still maintain their traditional Hmong lifestyle that their ancestors withhold by attending Hmong New Years, weddings, speaking the native language and eating Hmong food. Most parents aren’t accustomed to their children’s lifestyle and create fear that their children will completely disregard their Hmong heritage. Most adolescent to younger adults identify themselves American compared to their parents because they were born in America and been exposed to institutionalization. While their parents are still holding on to Hmong cultural beliefs and values, they feel as though it doesn’t apply to them.

In the 1960s, to the 1970s, the U.S. entered the war with the South Vietnamese against the Vietcong (which is known as the Vietnam War), but there was also an unknown ally that backed the United States during this time. They were the Hmong. “For thousands of years, the Hmong” was a self-sustaining, remote group of people who lived in the mountains of Laos (“The Split Horn: The Journey”). The Hmong were able to stay out of conflicts with others until the Vietnam War literally reached their doorsteps, in which forcing the Hmong people out of their homeland and had them seeking refuge in the U.S.

Firstly, increasing one’s cultural competence is instrumental to becoming a more empathic and understanding person and teacher. Cultural competence involves understanding another person’s culture without judgement and realizing that even if their ideas or beliefs are different, that does not mean they are wrong. If one learns about their students’ cultures and backgrounds, they will be able to speak and interact with these students in an appropriate way. If the students are refugees and come from a traumatic past, teachers should approach any personal questions they have sensitively. Sometimes people have prejudices or believe stereotypes and they may not even realize it. The Hmong people were widely dispersed and no two Hmong people will be the same. It is crucial that teachers do not assume that each person has the same values and

In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, there are many different intercultural misunderstandings. A Hmong girl’s life was forever changed because of these misunderstandings and some things could have easily been avoided, had each side taken the time to better understand the other.

The Hmong were well known for being a self-sufficient people producing their own food, making their own weapons, hunting their own game including birds, monkeys, deer, wild pigs, tigers, and more. They fished, gathered fruit, wild vegetables, and honey. These individuals were farmers and have very intimate relationships with the natural world(pg 120). Foua Yang grew up in a mountainous clan such as this. She had revealed that everyone in her village performed the same tasks therefore causing no class system. “Since no one knew how to read no one felt deprived by the lack of literacy.” They believed that anything of importance that the children needed to know could be learned through spoken word or by example. The elders were essential for teaching the younger generation among many things how to hold sacred their ancestors, play the qeej, conduct a funeral, how to court a lover, how to track a deer, and how to build a

In the summer of 2007 I served a Hmong child who had pain and limited movement in his left arm.. The emergency room physician ordered an x-ray. While performing the X-ray, I talked to him in Hmong. He answered my questions and told me the whole fiasco that led up to his injury. He had fallen off his bike while attempting to jump a home made ramp and landed wrong. He threw his left arm to attempt to break his fall, however, his body landed on top of it causing a snapping/popping noise to occur. He told me his story, all the while looking down towards the ground with little eye contact. He guarded his injured limb closely, preventing me from positioning or moving it to accommodate the X-ray specifications. Instead, he insisted on

     The Hmong had trouble adapting to American life. With no driver’s license or bank account, they had to make a living doing whatever they could. Not knowing the language in a foreign land doesn’t help either. The Hmong women adapted much more quickly than the men did because of the fact that they interacted more with English-speaking people. While the men were at work, the women were spending time interacting. The Hmong men also refused to change more that the women did. This shift of power caused a lot of changes in Hmong households. What even caused more of a power shift was the fact that the Hmong children learned about the culture easier than the women did. Instead of the father having control over the family like it was back in Southeast Asia, the children now had the upper edge. The children could communicate, interact and even drive with Americans. You could see a 16-year-old Hmong

Immigration has been a major topic since the beginning of the United States of America. This phenomenon is what helped the establishment of this country; and even today it continues to have an impact in in most aspects of the lives of North American’s. The subject has also brought much criticism and created divided opinions about its immediate and long term impact. Migration itself it’s not a problem, but the modern dilemma of who is allowed to migrate and reside permanently in a country “legally.” It is interesting to explore this subject under three basic theories that Sociology deals with: symbolic interactionism, conflict theory and social functionalism. Each theory brings us closer to understand some of the reasons why “illegal immigration” is controversial today. The purpose of this paper is not to persuade but to explore and expose some ideas on a recurrent social issue.