Essay - Hmong (Asian) Culture When America Went to War in Vietnam...

Hmong (Asian) Culture

When America went to war in Vietnam, there were many victims. Among the most tragic were the Hmong people. Thousands fought and died for ***** Americans, taking orders and duties that were often the worst in the army, with little or no compensation. (Hmong FAQ: Immigration) When ***** Americans left, the veterans of their campaign in Laos under***** systematic extermination at the h*****s of the ***** *****y had been convinced to fight f***** the *****, tens o***** th*****usands *****. (Oroville Mercury Register) Many of these veterans and their families attempted to go ***** America, where they were not welcomed by those who did not know of their sacrifices: "many Americans do not welcome refugees who ***** not speak English. They know ***** many are unaware of how the Hmong took orders from Americans, cooked food for them, guarded *****, carried them when they were wounded, wrapped ***** bodies when ***** were killed." (Hmong FAQ: Immigration) Nonetheless, Even an unwelcoming shore is better than the oppression and genocide they experience in other countries, and Americans of Hmong extraction are "among the fastest growing of the ********** groups in the U.S...[they] grew from a total ***** 94,439 to 169,428 in 2000." (Pfeifer) The Hmong people are closely knit, even ***** global d*****tance between them, ***** because of their animistic ancestral worship (which persists in 80% of immigrants) they hold great reverence for their ancestors and elders. (Hmong FAQ: Lineage) Most of the immigrants to America have settled in Wisconsin, Minnesota, ***** California. (***** FAQ: Immigration)

Among the Hmong there are many examples ***** value systems and characteristics which set them apart ***** dominant culture, and provide for increased misunderstanding. One example is surely their persistence in deep clan ties and their ***** religion and ritualistic ancestral *****. In part because of clan practices and *****, the Hmong have been outsiders in ***** countries in Asia as well as *****. (***** FAQ: Immigration) Family and gender relationships are ***** prime importance. Sacred Ancestry and the fate of one's immortal soul (in reincarnation) is tied to patriarchal family lineage, both males and fe***** are expected to marry young and raise very large ***** maintaining close ***** to their lineage ***** clan elders. Extended families would live communally. Boys are valued ***** their ability to maintain the line, but daughters will bring a bride price, ideally, and be helpful labor. This mindset is common ***** first generation *****, however, in causes tension not only with their Americanized children, but with society at large. Polygamy was acceptable. (Lee) This sort of religious/family structure functions *****st, if not exclusively, ***** agrarian cultures, and clashes ***** the urban American life th***** immigrants ***** forced to adopt. "In America, *****y can***** practice slash-and-burn agriculture... Clans elders no longer control how land is used or when clan members should move..."(Chan) ********** d*****ruptive, however, is ********** *****lesale destruction ***** the family. Due ***** housing and fire codes, government and landlord restrictions, and ***** controls: "Most Hmong in *****