Week 3 - Tian Lan

Tian Lan

Section 2

Week 3

In the article titled “Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans”, the author discussed the problems of miseducation of Hmong Americans in American education system. Like many people with other background, Hmong Americans believe that education is the pathway to financial stability and success. However, the division within the Hmong community has a negative impact on Hmong American student. The division comes from external and internal division. The external division is caused from the American education system. American school likes to place the student with similar academic performance in the same class, which makes some high achieving Hmong students feel isolated since the majority of class are white student. The internal division is caused from the general stereotype in the Hmong community that Hmong female student performs better than male student academically though there are some exceptions. Last but not least, the author discusses that there are many misconceptions and misunderstanding of Hmong people in the US history education. For example, not all the Hmong people are allies of United States during Vietnam war because some of them were against the United States.  In addition, the roles of Hmong people in Vietnam war is rarely mention in the history textbook. [1]

This article helps me better understand how American education system can have a profound impact on the new generation of minority groups. We all know that European American dominant in almost all sectors of American society, and they have absolutely the greatest influence on American economy, politics, and education. Therefore, the contribution of minority groups to the American history and society are often being misinterpreted and definitely deserve more public recognitions. The United States of American is a country that welcome all the people regardless of their ethical and racial background, and this country cannot become the world leader in economy and technology without the contribution of the minority groups. 

Question:

What can we (student) do to change the misinterpretation of minority groups in the US history education system?

[2] 

Reference:

[1] Mouavangsou, K. (n.d.). Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans[PDF].

[2] Marek, E. (2010, March 14). Wisconsin Central. Retrieved October 08, 2017, from http://www.wisconsincentral.net/People/People/HmongIntro.html