Week 2

Emily Trang
A01
Week 2

Kaozong’s Mouvangsou’s master thesis “Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation Of Hmong Americans,” highlights the importance in education in many cultures. As a Chinese American, similar to the Hmong culture, my family always noted that receiving our education and college degree was a must. We would not be successful without it. When Kaozong discusses how Hmong males were not as academically successful as Hmong females, I thought this connected to the patriarchal system in the culture. It made me wonder that perhaps, since in Asian culture, males were generally seen as more important and naturally smarter, that this caused males to feel as they can slack off since the nature of them being male makes up for it. Whereas the females do not have that male privilege, so they have to strive even harder to succeed in the eyes of others. When Kaozong wrote about the American education system and the amount we are educated about Asian history, it highlighted many points that I thought about as I was growing up. I always deemed it unfair that Asian cultures were never accurately discussed and learned about in class, even though America is so largely affected by Asia. 

In my SOC 2 class last quarter, we watched a documentary called "Death of a Shaman" which walked through the journey of a Mien immigrant family. Kaozong's thesis reminds me of this documentary because it discusses how culture is often loss when people move to America and there is no longer much understanding between generations. 

Question: What ways could everyone be more educated about all Asian minorities, not just the Hmong culture?

References:
1. Mouavangsou, K. N. (2016). The Mis-Education of the Hmong in America (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Davis).
2. Malin Films. (n.d.). Retrieved April 09, 2017, from https://malinpongsapipatt.wordpress.com/page/2/