Week 3- Toby Lee A03

Toby Lee A03 Week 3

In the essay Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans written by a Kaozong N. Mouavangsou, focuses on education for both Hmong boys and girls. Her essay constantly brings up a statement that continues to be true that Hmong boys are not as academically successful as Hmong girls. What intrigued me the most about her essay is her section on Internal Spaces of Division. She firmly believes that the main reason for this disconnection was because the US education system has separated the Hmong boys that excelled in school versus the Hmong boys that didn’t excel in school. Not only has the education system created this misconception but also Hmong girls also believe that Hmong boys are just not capable of performing well in school. As a result Hmong boys that aren’t in the same class as other Hmong boys are seen as outliers. The rest of the essay is really interest providing different experimental result data to back up her points. Certain points she made about how education is valued greatly within the Hmong community is also relatable to other Asian communities. In many Asian household similar to Hmong households, parents came as refugee and struggled to give them the best education possible for their next generation to succeed.

After reading this article about how Hmong boys are not as successful in academics as Hmong girls, the question I have is why other Asians such as the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese not have the same problem?

Mouavangsou, K. N. (2016). Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans (Unpublished master's thesis). University of California, Davis

Photography, P. (2013, December 21). Polly Photography: Life in Color . Retrieved October 6, 2017, from https://theartofhmongembroidery.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/polly-photography.jpg