Hmong and American: From Refugees to Citizens

Abstract

Her, Vincent K., & Buley-Meissner, Mary Louise. Hmong and American: From Refugees to Citizens. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2012, 278 pp.While much research has been done on the Hmong, few studies have focused specifically on Hmong American identity. Vincent K. Her's and Mary Louise Buley-Meissner's Hmong and American is a contribution to this area of Hmong Studies as contributors to this anthology examine Hmong identity within the American context. The topics covered in this volume are diverse and include history, gender and sexual orientation, age, education, and the arts. Her and Buley-Meissner creatively weave together an assortment of academic, artistic, and community voices to articulate the changing, and often challenging, facets of the Hmong American identity. Taken together, all of the essays in Hmong and American convince us that the Hmong are indeed making America their permanent home and are redefining the Hmong diaspora and Hmong identity altogether.The book is divided into three parts: identity and history, family challenges and community transitions, and cultural integration through education and the arts. The neatly crafted sections of the book display a chronological analysis of the Hmong experience. Various authors and contributors to the volume argue that the Hmong community is indeed a global community. Every generation retains their "Hmong identity" and sense of community through their reimagination and participation in homeland narratives, entrepreneurial initiatives, and education. This section also presents some new and pressing questions on the implications of these constantly remade and shifting forms of Hmong identity for the Hmong American community and America more broadly. Vincent Her explores Hmong student involvement at university campuses and the impact of this engagement on academic programming, racerelations, and student activism. Keith Quincy questions how intermarriage will affect the Hmong community, while Gary Yia Lee assesses the effects of the consumption of Hmong costumes, videos, and other cultural products on the Hmong diasporic identity. Although the authors only begin to explore these questions, they nonetheless challenge us to rethink the complexities of Hmong American identity. The authors in this section refer frequently to Hmong life in Laos. There are also recurring allusions to the Hmong refugee narrative in several of the essays. While these issues are vital to Hmong identity formation, they do become repetitive and serve to distract readers from the central theme of the anthology, which is focused upon Hmong identity formation in contemporary America.Perhaps the greatest strength of the anthology may be found in Part II. The authors in this section detail under examined, and sometimes controversial, topics associated with Hmong identity including gender, sexual orientation, and age. Taken together, the essays in this section explicate the heterogeneity of the community and its very real consequences for Hmong America. Ka Vang contends that men and women eating together at gatherings may serve as a first step in ending gender inequality while Bic Ngo argues for a reexamination of sexuality as being central to Hmong American social life. …