Week 3- Sabrina Gomez A01

Sabrina Gomez
ASA2
Section A01
Week 3

Upon reading "Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans", I almost all at once felt the relevance of the title towards not only the Hmong community however throughout other Asian American demographics as well. The sequential process of education leading to financial stability and ultimately happiness is a well known notion that plagues all students throughout the country, and all mostly had that notion inflicted upon them from their parents. In my point of view, the reasoning behind this notion must be even stronger from those with immigrant parents, and on top of that parents that did not receive a college education. Because of the hardships faced without a college education it is logical for the parents to be even more motivated to put their children in a better disposition than they were. This leads into the portion of the article that really resonated with me personally. My parents were not raised speaking their native language because even though their parents were fluent, they were pushed to learn English in order to continue to strive in the American school system. A repercussion of this being that myself and my siblings did not learn our native language either. A downside however that I was not mentioned in the article, is that this will now continue down in our family. My children will most likely not learn our home language, or at least it will be considerably more difficult for them to do so. I believe that it should definitely be addressed so generations to come still have the ability to learn and keep ties to their home language while still having the academic capacity to thrive. While the prevalence of this issue in the Hmong is definitely one to be noted, another perspective to view this instance of marginalization is how it can be seen in other communities in our country. If these issues exist today in the Hmong community, and not included in history as it is, that may say a lot about other communities that are academically and financially struggling everyday without any recognition. 

Question: What are affective ways for the generations of students to come to still focus and thrive in the American school system while still learning their home language and ultimately maintain a connection to their cultural identity? 

References: 

Amer, L. (2015, November 18). Globalization: Crimes, Terrorism, and Loss of Cultural Identity [Digital Image]. Retrieved October 7, 2017 from https://amh2091473373.wordpress.com/2015/11/18/globalization-crimes-terrorism-and-loss-of-cultural-identity-bylama-amer/

Mouavangsou, K. N. 2016. Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans. Retrieved October 2, 2017.