The Strengths Of Refugees

     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

Along with the stubbornness of the Hmong is my last point that the Hmong and Americans have cultural misunderstandings. Fadiman came “to believe that her [Lia’s] life was ruined not by septic shock or noncompliant parents but by cross-cultural misunderstanding” (Fadiman 1997:262). Hmong once believed some crazy things about Americans. “It was said that Hmong women were forced into slavery, forced to have sex with American men … and with animals; that dinosaurs lived in America, along with ghosts, ogres, and

Hmong families, like the Lees in the novel “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” have been immigrating to the United States since the end of the Vietnam War. The majority of the Hmong living in the U.S. are now located in specific cities and regions of California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (Lee and Green 2010). The Lee family moved to the Merced, California in 1980 and has had to adapt to life in a new host country (Fadiman 1997). Acculturation is used to describe how the culture of immigrants changes over time as they adapt to living in a new country (Vang 2013). Fadiman’s depiction of Nao Kao and Foua Lee’s life Merced indicates the couple resisted shedding any aspects of their culture in favor of Western culture, which is typical of first generation Hmong living in the United States. This paper will discuss why Hmong families left Laos, the findings of two acculturation studies of Hmong living in the United States, and a discussion of possible reason(s) why it has been difficult for first generation Hmong like Nao Kao and Foua to adapt to life in the United States.

In both of these articles they talk about refugees. Some families had adjusted a new life after all the bad things that happened to them. When the refugees were being sent away, they felt queasy about where they were going. All the refugees thought they were going to get a document and be U.S. citizens. But they weren't, they were being sent to internment camps. And had to live there.

Social scientists believe that there are anywhere between six and seven million Hmong around the world. The Hmong never had a country that they could call their “home” country and to this day this is still the case. Until relatively modern times, the majority of the Hmong people resided in the mountains of Southern China, Laos, Thailand, and northern Vietnam. As an ethnic group, the Hmong are fascinating in this sense. Today there is a large Hmong population in the United States. However, unlike a majority of the other Asian American communities present in America, the Hmong reached American soil through much difficulty and hardships. As observed in the experiences of many other immigrant groups, becoming a part of American society is not an easy task. In order to understand the circumstances of Hmong Americans today, one must comprehend the different political, economic, and social pressures that may have aided or hindered these people’s integration into American society. The first part of my paper will consist of a brief background of the Hmong. Grasping the background will allow for a thorough analysis of the reasons for Hmong immigration and the issues that they may have faced attempting to establish their own individual identity in the United States.

"I have nothing with which to start a family. I am all alone in this life and land." The common thoughts of Hmong refugees as they began to settle in refugee camps and America are that of deep alienation and uncertainty. When the Hmong first entered the U.S., they were strategically dispersed across the country to promote faster assimilation. However, the stark contrast between the Hmong and America's cultures has made this move backfire. The integration of the Hmong has been especially difficult when compared with other immigrants, leading some Americans to believe that it is the fault of the Hmong. In reality, the problem was that their culture was unlike any of the other immigrants that the America has been exposed to. In order to examine any transition that the Hmong have undergone in America, we first must define, what it means to be Hmong and what it means to be American. Several texts have attempted to answer these questions and I will use them to correct the prevailing misconceptions of the Hmong. It is common belief that Hmong's culture is one of primitivity, dependency, and close-mindedness; I will show that these beliefs are not only false but also propagated by cultural oppression and ineffective resettlement policies.

The betrayals led to many issues both culturally and relationally that would later affect the Lee’s and the care of their daughter. For instance, as a culture group, the Hmong’s are very persistent and “do not like to take orders; that they do not like to lose; that they

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.

Bamboo Among the Oaks is a great selecting book to read and this book will tell us about many interesting things, suprising, and emotional. This book is not just for those who interested in ethic or Asian American studies, but for anyone who wants to know the new immigrants, Americans are transforming not only themselves and their culture but America itself. This is a unique collection of poetry and prose invites us to share Hmong life in America- the sadness for what has been lost in the old culture back in China, Laos, Thailand and all over the world who struggle with what must be learned in the new culture, and the intense conflict between the two. Hmong people started arriving in the United State in the 1970s as a result of the Vietnam

This essay is about the universal refugee experience and the hardships that they have to go through on their journey. Ha from Inside Out and Back Again and other refugees from the article “Children of War” all struggle with the unsettling feeling of being inside out because they no longer own the things that mean the most to them. Ha and the other refugees all encounter similar curiosities of overcoming the finding of that back again peaceful consciousness in the “new world” that they are living in .

The Hmong hold a reputation for being a resilient and proud people. “Hmong do not like to take orders; that they do not like to lose; that they would rather flee, fight, or die than surrender; that they are not intimidated by being outnumbered; that they are rarely persuaded that the customs of other cultures, even those more powerful than their own” (Fadiman 17). It is no surprise that throughout the novel, the Lee family encounters several cultural barriers from the minute that their daughter, Lia, was born.

Displacing and Disrupting: A Dialogue on Hmong Studies and Asian American Studies [on line]. In: Hmong Studies Journal. Volume 16(2), 2015, 24 pp. Available at: (Accessed November 25, 2016).

Education can be a big problem, but refugees usually get a proper education. Another problem is shelter. It’s often hard for refugees to find a home. They also lack water and sometimes family members too. Mental and emotional scars is also a problem. Refugees have to leave thier home knowing they will probably never come back. Finnaly trouble getting into foriegn contries is also a problem because of terrorism.

Refugee issue is a global issue mainly due to wars, conflicts or environmental, political, religious and racial reasons (Gibney & Gil, 2010). In recent years, the turmoil triggered by the "Arab Spring" in many countries in West Asia and North Africa causing numerous refugees, so it has once again attracted the attention of people（Grossman, 2017）. People forced to relocate their homes and even renounce their nationality by war or natural disasters are defined as refugee（UNHCR，2017）.The influx of refugees brings cheap labor forces reducing the cost of productions ,and causes the promotion of economic development. In addition, the increasing population leads to an increase in demand which can increase the income of the host countries and the state tax. It can be argued that refugees are unable to benefit the host nations because refugees increase unemployment rate and occupy resources in education. Although it may be true that there are some negative effects caused by refugees, refugees can benefit the host nation in terms of economy and social advancement.

Hundreds of thousands of people every year are forced to leave their homes. Refugees are defined as people who have to leave their homes in order to survive and be safe. Natural disasters and the folly of man cause masses of people to flee their native countries into neighboring territories to wait until it is safe to go back home or to relocate for good. A refugee refers to a person or people who, outside their country of origin, are unable to save themselves from their country or are unable to return there for fear of persecution (Jastram, 2001). What makes a refugee a refugee? Who deserves refugee status?