Week 2

Annika Altura
Week 2 Readings

I am very lucky to have grown up in the country of my ethnicity, since there I was able to learn about my people's history and culture. As a youth I was very confused as to why my cousins living in the States never knew Tagalog or much about Filipino history. I figured at least that their parents would have taught them a little bit. I now realize that without content being included in the education system, there is no opportunity to learn. It is the government's and the department of education's choice as to the content of which students learn. With Kaozong writing that Hmong was a culture of "no written language" and "no country", I understand that it is especially difficult to learn an education that can't be tracked. With Filipino alone, I already realize that it is difficult to know something that you do not have access to.

This is why ethnic studies are important, and the readings available display that the American educational system values only a single story, their story. On the flip side, I know nothing of American history because I grew up in a country where having this kind of knowledge was not valuable. The reason that it is important for schools in the US to teach the practices and histories of different cultures, is because the States is not composed of a singular group of people. It is almost as though the States is a place of no singular language as well, because of the melting pot that belongs to it. In order for people to be close to their identities and to be able to define themselves within the countries they belong, they must have access to ethnic education.

Works Cited

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

Revision notes on Race and equal. (n.d.). Retrieved April 09, 2017, from http://www.s114478754.websitehome.co.uk/llwrevision_notes_on_race_and_equal.htm

American Professor and King of Nothing. (n.d.). Retrieved April 09, 2017, from http://onemanbandwidth.com/wordpress/2007/07/18/secret-asian-man/