Hmong, Asian American, Culture

Hmong, Asian American, Culture

Hmong Americans have roots from China, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Laos who are one group of Asian Americans. Hmong Americans migrated to America fearing the effects of war in their respective countries. Upon the arrival of Hmong Americans to America, some were killed and persecuted while others were officially received as refugees. The Hmong Americans had no access to education because most of them were interested in farming. According to the US Census of 2000, the Hmong people were the most uneducated people in the country. (Ramakrishnan,7) Despite being a small community, Hmong American poets have voices, which brings diversity to the literacy landscape in the United States. Kao Kalia yang started singing Hmong song in her native Laos at the age of 12 years and stopped composing in 2003 when her mother died. In the Hmong culture, a song poet is an important person in the community who keeps the history of the people and invokes spirits. Song poet among the Hmong community is also a person who holds people’s history alive and invokes the homeland. Kao Kalia Yang is a great Hmong poet whose memoir song is evaluated and the research narrative developed from the song.

In his song, Yang starts by giving a short history of the Hmong people where readers got some knowledge about Hmong Americans. From the song, Yang reveals the challenges he underwent being fatherless. His challenges are relevant to problems, which most young people experience nowadays. In his song, Yang reflects on the Hmong members who lost their lives in the war. From the Memoir of his father, one can learn that war was the factor which led the Hmong to migrate to America where they lived as minorities. Kao Kalia grew up in the Thailand refugee camp when the war erupted. From the song, it is clear that Kao Kalia was much perseverance because he was brought up in a refugee camp and defeated all the challenges to end up becoming one of the well-known poets in the United States of America. From the song, it is clear that the Hmong people were not well received in the United States of America. The poet narrates that, “walked between walls of frozen snow, huddled in jackets that did not fit, shoulders hunched high against the bitter cold as we made our way to the loud, jarring factories…The saddest.” From the song, we learn that the Hmong people upon their arrival in the United States of America, they lacked basic needs such as food, clothing, and education. The song reveals that the Hmong people embraced education because even with all the problems they underwent through, they managed to take their children to school. Kao Kalia Yang was fatherless, and her mother who had no job managed to educate her to the level where Kao Kalia became a writer and published a book “The Latehomecomer,” which won the Minnesota Book Award. The fact that Kao Kalia Yang came from a humble family and managed to go to school and later became a great writer drove me to research on the education system of the Hmong Americans.

I went on a digital library and searched for keywords like “Hmong,” “Immigrants,”  “education,” and I found the article “The Educational Achievements of the St. Paul Hmong” and studied about the education system of the Hmong Americans. After interviewing both the parents and the students, I made several conclusions about the education of the Hmong Americans, which helped in understanding the minority community in depth. The Hmong students did not afford all the basic needs because of depressed economic conditions experienced at their homes, but the study report showed that they had higher academic aspirations than Non – students, which showed that the Hmong students were hardworking. Even though most of the Hmong parents have not achieved socioeconomic success in America, they provide necessary support and encouragement to their children. The research report obtained after interrogating Hmong parents showed that since the coming of the Hmong people to the United States, 66 percent of the mothers and 81 percent of the fathers have studied English in a classroom setup and can speak English fluently. Hmong parents value academic achievements, and they like encouraging their children to succeed in academics. The fact that Hmong parents values academic results does not mean that they have positive opinions about the American education structure. The Hmong students face several challenges trying to cope with the American education system, and most of the Hmong parents demand changes in the education system to fit both the Hmong students and the American students.

In conclusion, the Hmong Americans migrated to the United States of America from their respective countries because of the effects of war. Some Hmong people were killed upon their arrival in America while others were received as refugees. Hmong practices farming as their main economic activity and they are considered as a minority community in America. The Hmong community values their song poets as they believe that the poets have the ability to keep their past alive and to invoke spirits. Hmong people have great aspirations for academic achievements.