Forging new paths, confronting new challenges: Hmong Americans in the twenty-first century

Author(s):

Yang, Kou

Format:

Book section

Publisher:

Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2012.

Language:

English

Abstract:

During the summer of 2010, many Hmong American families celebrated their thirty-fifth year in the United States. From a population of about five hundred at the end of 1975, the Hmong American community has grown to about three hundred thousand persons in 2010, making it the largest Hmong population living outside of Asia. Today, Hmong Americans are an ethnic group whose lives have been woven into the social, economic, and political fabric of this nation. Yet, their status as a double minority - a minority within the Asian American community and in American society-remains. Compared to that of other immigrant groups, Hmong integration into American society has been equally remarkable, under going rapid and progressive changes within a short time. In a 2006 plenary address at the First International Conference on Hmong Studies, I divided the Hmong American experience into three phases: The Refugee Years (1975-91); The Transitional Period (1992-99); and The Hmong American Era (2000 - present). This third phase of Hmong adaptation to American society is a promising starting point to explore two crucial aspects of understanding Hmong identity formation: namely, the educational experiences of Hmong Americans and recent developments in Hmong studies as a scholarly, global field of inquiry. To encourage critical reflection on the complex lives of Hmong Americans in the twenty-first century, I begin this chapter with a discussion of how Hmong people have been represented in the media and scholarly publications1. © 2012 by the Minnesota Historical Society. All rights reserved.

ISBN:

9780873518482 (ISBN)

Identifier:

HmongStudies3825