Tianxing Sun week-3 A02

Tianxing Sun

Week 3

When I was just getting to know the two reading of this week, I was very surprised because in my opinion, the Hmong Americans are minority in North America. Like me, one of my parents is a Manchu, which means I can be considered to have Manchu descent. But I have never shown to anybody in the United States that I am a Manchu: because of the various types of data collection, nationality and ethnicity are always asked, while the nation does not. People around me will not think that I am a Manchu. Whenever I discuss my origins with others, I will subconsciously say that I am from China, Asian, and yellow. So, when I knew the concept of "Hmong Americans," I was surprised, why would other people influence them because of their nationality?

From the article by Manee Moua, we can see that the Hmong identity has indeed affected the life of Moua. According to the author, “In that moment, I did not realize and fully understand that my intentions to work hard in the hope that my advisor would not think I was slacking or not doing my job accordingly would get misinterpreted as not wanting to do research.” We can considered that for ethnic minorities, misunderstandings and stereotype are very common. In conclusion, we should keep our mind on fighting with national stereotype and unfair, as well as paying attention to fewer groups people.

Question: Hmong American are facing lacking of caring and attention. Are there any other groups of people are facing stereotype and unfair treatment?   

Moua. M. Navigating Graduate Education as a First-generation, Hmong American Woman: An Autoethnography. By Manee Moua, in Hmong Studies Journal, 19(1): 1-25.

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