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Payton Lund

Lee, S. J. (2002). Learning "America": Hmong American High School Students. Education and

Urban Society, 34(2), pp. 233-246. doi:10.1177/0013124502342007

Lee, M. (2017). Effects of Different-Race Exposure in School and Neighborhood on the Reading

Achievement of Hmong Students in the United States. Urban Education, 52(10), pp.

1255-1283. doi:10.1177/004208591559592

Rationale: I chose the Hmong ethnic group for my analysis because I think they are an

interesting group that does not get as much attention or study as other ethnic groups or races. The

Hmong’s not getting as much attention made me want to learn more about their ethnicity.

Learning about Hmong people is also valuable to me because there is a highly-concentrated

population of Hmong people in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and I may encounter Hmong students

in my teaching in the area. I have already come across students who are Hmong in my time

volunteering at Kid’s First in Winona. Hmong students will likely be in my future in teaching, so

I had a vested interest in learning more about them.

Author Credibility: Stacy J Lee is a professor in Educational Policy Studies and a faculty in

Asian American Studies at University of Wisconsin Madison. She attended University of

Pennsylvania for an Anthropology of Education PhD, New York University for a MA in Political

Science, and Vassar College for a AB in Political Science. She researches on the role of

education in immigrant’s immersion into the United States. Other than this essay, Lee has written

Unraveling the Model Minority Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth and Up Against

Whiteness: Race, school and immigrant youth and has done extensive research in her field of

study.
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Author’s Motive: In the United States, Hmong Americans are in the process of adjusting to the

American culture. The way that they are adjusting is through the public-school system. Other

students and educators are influencing Hmong students’ culture and teaching them how to be

‘American’. “In terms of working with Hmong American students, it is important to recognize

that the Hmong culture, like all cultures, is fluid and responsive to larger social conditions

Schools need to commit themselves to teaching the history of Asian Americans and other non-

White Americans as an integral part of US history, not simply as ethnic window dressing” (Lee

S, 2002). Lee calls educators and other students to make a change in the way they are teaching

Hmong American students about the culture of America and being ‘American’. She stresses that

there are multiple ways to be ‘American’.

Central Argument: “First and Second-generation Hmong American youth gather much of their

information about America and “being American” from their experiences attending school. This

ethnographic study explores the way Hmong American students at a public high school in

Wisconsin interpret what it means to be Hmong in the United States. It examines the way the

culture of Whiteness at the school shapes Hmong American students’ experiences and their

understandings about being American. This article addresses such questions as What is the

school teaching Hmong students about America and being American?” (Lee S, 2002)

Section 1

Hmong students in American public schools learn much more than the curriculum that is

taught. They learn about the culture of American people and how that culture is similar and

different from their own. “One of the first lessons that immigrant students learn about life in the

United States concerns the existence of the racial hierarchy that places Whites at the top of the
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heap” (Lee S, 2002). Stacey Lee’s research in a Wisconsin public school highlights Hmong

students’ culture in the time that they are learning American culture and being influenced by it.

Hmong American students remain cautious toward students and teachers who do not

share ethnic identities with them. The students would often speak Hmong instead of English

when discussing sensitive topics. This type of behavior indicates that they are not comfortable

with American culture and fear judgment. Even with Stacey Lee, a Chinese-American woman

who shares a racial category with Hmong students, was an outsider to the Hmong students and

did not gain their favor until months into her research. Two students kept their marriage a secret

from Lee until two months after her research began. Hmong American students are culturally

cautious and leery when it comes to other cultures and ethnic groups.

High school teachers often suggest that cultural differences between Hmong students and

white students cause difficulties for Hmong students in their academics. Teachers cite language

as one of the major culture differences that contributes to Hmong students lack of educational

advancement. Some Hmong students are recommended to English as a Second Language (ESL)

courses, or are placed in special classes to improve their language skills. For some students,

language is the problem, but others speak English very well, but still do not participate in classes

much. Language is not the only culture difference that teachers attribute to Hmong students’

difficulties.

Teachers often blame Hmong parents and student’s attitude toward education as the

problem. Hmong students do not value their education the same as other students. One teacher,

in Lee’s research, claimed “a lot of them are not intellectually motivated… they don’t have a

background of working hard academically” (Lee S, 2002) and assumed that Hmong students’

academic difficulties were due to not valuing education enough.

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Lastly, a cultural practice of early marriage is thought to derail Hmong girls’ education.

Hmong men and women often marry much earlier than the American culture accepts. American

educators commonly blame struggles in school on early marriage. Hmong girls who get married

at a young age are thought to disengage from their education after their marriage. This is a

cultural practice that is very different from that of American culture. Because of this cultural

difference, Americans criticize it and attribute it to Hmong people’s problems. “The Hmong

have learned that aspects of their culture seem primitive or offensive to many Americans, they

have become reluctant to talk to outsiders about them” (Lee S, 2002).

Section 2

Hmong culture is often blamed wrongly for students’ educational struggles. Lee explains

that there are other factors, societal factors, that contribute to Hmong students’ lack of success in

school and their lack of success in being ‘Americanized’ and adapting to the culture in America.

Hmong students are commonly socially isolated from the mainstream of schools. In her research,

Stacey Lee found that only three of sixty-five Hmong students participated in extracurricular

activities at a high school in Wisconsin. This lack of inclusion in activities outside of the

classroom is a societal factor that negatively impacts the Hmong ethnic group. At the same high

school, the Hmong Club was unable to find a sponsor from the high school staff during the

school year. Not having as staff sponsor meant that the Hmong Club was not an official club and

that a club that Hmong students likely would join, was not offered to them.

Another societal factor that negatively impacts Hmong students is poverty. Some teachers

in Lee’s research believed that “Hmong students were falling into negative patterns as a result of

living in poverty. Here, the problem was seen as being related to social class and not the Hmong

culture” (Lee S, 2002). Students living in poverty, in no fault of their own, are not given as many
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opportunities as students in the middle or upper classes. Poverty of the Hmong students, in Lee’s

research, led teachers to prejudge the students and some even thought there was a Hmong gang

because of the clothes that the Hmong students wore and the way that they talked. Poverty, is the

number one societal impact on the Hmong ethnic group and students’ troubles in school should

be attributed to it instead of cultural differences.

Section 3

There are a few examples of educational strategies or interventions that could help

Hmong students in American public schools. One example that is given in Lee’s article is that of

ESL. English as a Second Language classes can be helpful, to an extent, for Hmong American

students. Learning English better can absolutely be helpful to some Hmong students who don’t

know enough English. However, Lee indicates that ESL can, in some cases be bad for Hmong

students, “students are born and educated here and still don’t feel part of the mainstream

curriculum, the mainstream school activities… I don’t think those students should be counted as

ESL students, because that makes them more different, that separates them more” (Lee S, 2002).

While language can be a barrier for Hmong students to overcome, it is not the most challenging

barrier and knowing English well is not the only solution to help Hmong American students.

A second strategy that was offered by teachers to help Hmong students was to wait for

integration into the mainstream culture. “Teachers simply assumed that once Hmong American

students became more ‘Americanized’ they would be integrated into the mainstream…Here, the

assumptions seemed to be that Hmong American students will inevitably assimilate into the

dominant culture and that once they do they will no longer have problems” (Lee S, 2002). Lee

rejected this idea that integration in to the mainstream culture would help the students, and

instead argued that losing their sense of culture would in fact hurt Hmong American students.
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Lee argued that the best educational strategy or intervention was that the school system

needs to better serve the Hmong community. Instead of focusing on the cultural deficiencies,

educators need to look at how schools might do better to serve the Hmong community. Schools

need to work with Hmong students to involve them in the school and make them an accepted

part of the community without forcing them to integrate and lose their own culture. For schools

“it is important to recognize that the Hmong culture, like all cultures, is fluid and responsive to

larger social conditions” (Lee S, 2002). Schools also need to “commit themselves to teaching the

history of Asian Americans and other non-White Americans as an integral part of US history, not

simply as ethnic window dressing” (Lee S, 2002). Schools should take more responsibility to

help Hmong students and stop blaming their disappointing educational levels on the Hmong

culture. If schools are able to implement these educational strategies and interventions, the

Hmong community will see improvements in their quality of education.