Week 3_Section_4_Julia Wells

When I started to read the readings, I did not know what Hmong was. I google searched the word and eventually, the definition Hmong came up in the readings. Hmong are an ethnic group that lived in Southeast Asia. These people have their own history, culture, economy, and language just like any other ethnicity, however, their history is either untaught or wrongly taught by miseducated Hmong people. In Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans by Kaozong Mouavangsou she shares her story and research about Hmong Americans.

                Looking back at my own middle school and high school education, I was mostly around white people. I grew up in a small white community and then moved to a semi-mixed high school of African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Whites. Since I was used to be being around white people, I was a little bit culture shocked when I experienced diversity in high school. Thinking about this encounter, I was comforted in knowing that I was not the only colored person at school.

                From the reading, I realized that the education that I received was mostly about the United States. It was surrounded by how the United States got what it has, why the United States did an action, and what the United States stands for. I did not really learn any world history unless it involved the United States. I did not get to learn about other cultures.

                Like Mouavangsou said, “seeing the problems within the American education system itself” would begin the reformation of American education. From the lecture, Professor Valverde talked about Social engineering. This process conditions and trains thought of the people and the people who began this process was the White Men in power with the money and authority. With my own experience of controlled education, I did not really question the teachings, I just went along with the system. But doing just that is the problem. Mouavangsou says that “constructing America as great has been done at the expense of devaluing other cultures”. Connecting this with social engineering and my I own experiences; I agree with this statement. The only times I have really learned about other countries and their history was in college.

It was said in the reading that Hmong males are less academically challenged in school and their scores are worse then Hmong females. With that in mind, does that mean Hmong females are more valued in their family or are Hmong females still fighting to be equal within their family?

Sources: Mouavangsou, K. N. 2016. Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans. Retrieved October 6, 2017.

               Hands Diverse Diversity Ethnic Ethnicity Variation Unity Concept. 123RF Stock Photos. https://www.123rf.com/photo_38482688_hands-diverse-diversity-ethnic-ethnicity-variation-unity-concept.html. Accessed January 20, 2019.

               Human hands raised up, isolated on white. 123RF Stock Photos. https://www.123rf.com/photo_13713750_human-hands-raised-up-isolated-on-white-.html. Accessed January 20, 2019.