Week 3 - Tiffany Nguyen

Tiffany Nguyen
ASA2 A01
Week 3

This week, I read "Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans," by Kaozong Mouavangsou. The reading touched on how students of different ethnic backgrounds can be misinformed of their own culture under the American school system as well as how gender roles within the Hmong culture can affect one's idea of education. Because of the misinformation that happens in the American classroom on different ethnicities, this tends to cause an individual to look down upon their own culture as inadequate or subpar according to western standards. For example, Mouavangsou said in the article how she usually described Hmong as a culture that has no language, one that is "primitive" and "illiterate." However, as she did deeper research in her college years, she realized that the perseverance of Hmong people to carry on the culture is quite impressive, considering that there is no official Hmong written language. Reading Mouavangsou's experience on learning about her own culture through American lenses felt parallel to mine as a Vietnamese-American as well. I remember distinctly reading a chart in elementary school that labeled Vietnam as a third-world country. My teacher said shortly after we examined the chart that third-world countries are typically dirty, substandard, and have poor education. I was stuck with the mindset that I came from a "dirty" and "uneducated" people, not taking into account until much later on that these qualities could be attributed to the political turmoil that takes place in Vietnam. I thought that in order to be cool, I needed to conform to White America and reject my culture as much as possible. However, I now have more pride in my culture since I have been removed from the K-12 classroom system, and am liberated from the idea that everything "American" is right. I realize now, like Mouavangsou, that some things within Asian culture that could be considered ridiculous by Western society have true meaning and history behind it, and just because it is different, does not mean it is wrong.

Question: How come in Hmong culture, women are expected to be better in their studies? If education is key to a successful career, and men are typically the "breadwinners" in patriarchal cultures, shouldn't the men be also be expected within that culture to perform well in order to provide for their families?

References:

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

Yang, G. L. (2016, September 30). American Born Chinese [Digital image]. Retrieved October 7, 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/this-chinese-american-cartoonist-forces-us-to-face-racist-stereotypes/