What Unites Us Now?
Conversations over pho are usually really good. During my last pho conversation, a friend and I ended up talking about the Hmong community and two questions emerged. The first question was about division, more specifically — is division embedded in the Hmong DNA? The second, how do we bring the Hmong community together? As our conversation concluded, the answer remained elusive. After this conversation I spent some time thinking about these two questions.
It seems Hmong history is riddled with division and betrayal. Ya Po Cha states in his book, “An Introduction to Hmong Culture”, “Throughout history, we have learned that many Hmong leaders have fallen into the hands of our adversaries because of traitors among us. There were those willing to sell our leaders and the Hmong people for personal gain and security.” He goes on to share the story of the “Hmong King”, Wu Pa Yia, who was betrayed by his own cousin. Based on this assessment, it would seem that division is embedded in the Hmong DNA. Naturally, the next question is why?
Within our community there seems to be an underlying suspicion of each other, particularly those who are leaders or positions of power. It’s become somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy, that Hmong people are power hungry and selfish. As a result of this suspicion we lack collaboration and cohesiveness. Division may also be a symptom of our clan system but perhaps more so due to our history. As the Hmong American experience grows richer and more complex, the lines of division continue to multiply. When the first wave of Hmong refugees arrived the community seemed to be divided between the HTT/ESL and the mainstream. Then it was the gangbangers (menyuam laib) and the goodie goods. Lines of division continued be drawn. There are the Christians and non-Christians, traditionalist and progressives, educated and non-educated and now the patriarchs and the feminist. More recently we are further divided by mainstream issues and politics.
From the conversations I’ve had with my dad over the years, the only times the Hmong community have been able to collectively come together are in times of persecution and tragedies. This pattern can be traced back as far back to when our ancestors fled China and to the Secret War in Vietnam. In more recent times, we’ve rallied as a community for Fong Lee, Chai Vang, and Dylan Yang. We also came together in 2007 when General Vang Pao came under fire for allegedly planning a coup in Laos. Other unfortunate events include the recent shooting in Eau Claire that claimed of the life of a vibrant Hmong woman. And yet, these moments come and go. What is the fabric that sustains and sows us together? This leads to the second question, what unites the Hmong community? What is the one thing that transcends all our differences?
During the summer of 2017, I helped run a summer program at a local elementary school in Saint Paul. This program was specifically designed for Hmong and Karen elementary aged students. During one of our planning sessions, a Karen teacher shared a lesson plan about the Karen flag. She shared the values attributed to each color — red is for bravery, white for purity and blue for honesty. As I listened to this teacher share the lesson plan, I also saw the agreement and pride from the other Karen teachers. I could tell the flag resonated with them. It was something they were proud of and it unified them. More than that, it was something tangible that could be passed from one generation to the next. It was in this moment it dawned on me that the Hmong people don’t have anything like that. There is nothing in the Hmong community that has that same type of unifying power.
In my lifetime, the most prolific Hmong leader and unifier was General Vang Pao (GVP). He was the patriarch that led the Hmong community through the most current era of Hmong history. From 1976, GVP led the Hmong community through war, transitioning into a new country and providing direction as the community assimilated to the US. GVP was able to speak for the leaders, command the respect of the 1.5 generation and though my generation, the second generation, did not have much contact with him, we knew who he was; we respected him. Since his passing in 2011 there has been a void of leadership.
As a community we’ve seen a number of individuals rise to prominence. Our first senator was a Hmong woman. The largest Hmong nonprofit in America is led by a Hmong Woman. In California we had our first Hmong mayor elected. In 2018, Minnesota sent eight Hmong individuals to elected office. Just this year we had a Hmong gymnast win gold in world competition. We’ve made gains but do any of these individuals have the aura that GVP did? I’m not sure. With that being said, GVP was perhaps the last true unifying Hmong symbol.
In the absences of unifying individuals, institutions have filled the gap. For a time, Lao Family was that organization. It was a hub where culture was discussed and preserved. It was a place where the community found support and was a rallying place for the Hmong community. It also was responsible for hosting events that brought the community together including the Freedom Festival; the largest gathering of Hmong people across the US. But since its pinnacle, it’s been rot with corruption, lawsuits and “shady business”. Lao Family is a shell of its former self. In the 1990s another Hmong non-profit, Hmong American Partnership, was founded. HAP’s founding caused a rift in the community as it became a direct competitor to Lao Family. Although HAP continues to operate and do work on behalf of the Hmong and all refugee communities in the Twin Cities, its influence on the Hmong community waxes and wanes. The Hmong charter schools are not without their own scandals, power struggles and have continued to underperform.
Even the Hmong churches have not been immune to division. In the mid-90s, when the UCLE church was at its peak, the church splintered due to the same symptoms of other Hmong organizations; corruption and power struggles. From the UCLE churches we now have different church including the Hmong Alliance Missionary Churches and the Assembly of God Churches. Other churches include the Baptist’s, Catholics and Presbyterians.
Along with the shortcomings of these institutions, we have seen the gradual decline of community events like the Hmong New Year and Freedom Festival. Instead of these events bringing the community together, these events have been colored as corrupt money events to line the pockets of those in charge while others complain about pricing, poor organization and a lack of transparency.
As a community, we all find our roots in journey of the Secret War, but we are at a junction where we are three to four generations removed from this event. To be very clear, this is not to trivialize the journey many, if not all, of our parents and grandparents took. But it is to say that the story is losing its luster. What I mean by that is that the current and future generations won’t be able to “touch” it. To make a Lord of the Rings reference, Lady Galadriel says in the opening of the Fellowship of The Rings movie, “And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge.” That is what’s happening with the “Secret War”.
Aside from the Secret War, we don’t have a country or “homeland” to claim as our own. Within three generations of arriving, our language is being lost. And perhaps the one trend that will prove most consequential is the erosion of the family unit and family ties. If family cannot unite us, what can?
To bring this full circle, do I think division is imbedded in the Hmong DNA? No I don’t. But at the same time I’m not sure what the transcendent unify item is for the community. Perhaps I’m too pessimistic. That’s very possible. Perhaps I’m out of touch. But as I think more about it, I believe the answer to these questions lie at the foot of the fundamental question…
“What does it mean to be Hmong?”
