Week 2 - Lauren Velasquez A03

Week 2
Lauren Velasquez
A03

In Kaozong Mouavangsou's paper, Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans focuses on Hmong cultural beliefs and stereotypes versus what is taught about the Hmong people in formal US education. Mouavangsou disproves myths about the Hmong people and goes to show how many are miseducated about Hmong history and minority history in general. One part that compellingly stood out to me was when Mouvangsou explained how Hmong families express how important education in America is, and mentions that, "parents and guardians who have children K-12 will get in trouble with the law if their child misses a certain number of school days" and the California Supreme Court believes that "education is essential for not only an individual's life, but has implications for the society as a whole" (Mouavangsou, 13.) Yet, later in her paper, Mouvangsou grew up her whole life believing and "knowing" that the Hmong were "a group of people who have no written language and no country of their own" and this was a fact that had been she " was taught... repeated over and over... ideas that I [she] came to internalize" (Mouvangsou, 32.) The California Supreme Court is correct; if an individual is not properly educated, there could be possible implications for society as a whole, however, it is ironic because material that K-12 students are learning in class today about other societies are inaccurate. Teaching inaccurate information is just as bad as missing school days, possibly worse. Miseducation has the potential to segregate people and plant false ideologies that may foster into something bad. When I read this passage, it reminded me of how the Native Americans were painted as savages in American history books; When "pioneers" would try to explore the "New World," but were stopped short by brown savages, when really, it was the Europeans who colonized the Native Americans' land.

The image I chose relates to this week's topic, because there is a general idea from miseducation, where many people believe that slavery doesn't exist today. Many people believe that since African Americans don't pick cotton anymore, they are not condemned by the system, when in truth, they are just condemned in a different way, as this cartoon depicts as "21st Century War On Drugs." Since there is miseducation about 21st century slavery, many people believe that the Black Lives Matter movement is meaningless, which creates a divide across the nation.

Bendib, K. (2006, December 5). War on Drugs cartoon [Digital image]. Retrieved April 9, 2017, from http://www.bendib.com/newones/2006/

Mouavangsou, K. (2017). Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation Of Hmong Americans.