Foreword, Lionel Rosenblatt
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Secret War in Laos
Chapter 3: The Pre-1975 Hmong Students in the United States
Chapter 4: The Challenges of Hmong Refugee Resettlement
Chapter 5: The Hmong's Forty Years of becoming American
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Kou Yang is professor emeritus of ethnic studies at California State University, Stanislaus.
Yang (emer., ethnic studies, California State Univ., Stanislaus)
presents a detailed account of Hmong American history, recounting
key milestones in Hmong American life from the first Hmong to
arrive as students prior to 1975 and the refugee resettlement era
following the aftermath of the Vietnam War era in Laos. A
particular strength of the volume is the emphasis on early Hmong
American community life in different locales, including cities in
California; Missoula, Montana; and the upper Midwest, including
Michigan, Wisconsin. and Minnesota. Yang describes experiences with
racial discrimination and obstacles, including poverty. The author
also provides valuable information about Hmong American firsts in
different professions, with biographies and achievements of
numerous Hmong American pioneers and community leaders…. [R]eaders
will finish the book with a much fuller understanding of the Hmong
American experience at both the community and personal level since
the 1970s. This work will be of greatest interest to those
students, faculty, and scholars working in Asian American studies,
ethnic studies, and US ethnic history. Summing Up: Recommended. All
public and academic levels/libraries.
*CHOICE*
More than forty years after the US defeat in the Vietnam War, the
history of the Hmong—who were involved in the ‘secret war’ in
Laos—and their resettlement experiences has remained little known.
Combining important Hmong perspectives with recently uncovered
information about the exclusion of Hmong refugees from the 1975
Indochinese Refugee Resettlement program, Kou Yang’s book offers
insightful reflections on Hmong involvement in the war and their
efforts to be recognized as refugees. Yang challenges the US
perception about the Hmong as unsuitable and too ‘primitive’ to
adapt and resettle in American society. This book is an important
read for anyone interested in the Hmong Laotian refugee generation,
their American-born children, and their various history-making
achievements.
*Ma Vang, University of California, Merced*
This study provides a comprehensive examination of the history of
the Hmong people of Southeast Asia and their resettlement to the
United States and other Western countries.
*Lee Pao Xiong, Concordia University*
Informed by the extensive research of one of the pioneers of Hmong
and Hmong American studies, this study offers an experientially
grounded perspective on Hmong integration into American society.
Kou Yang argues that the Hmong immigrant story is a success story.
Since their days serving as proxy soldiers in the US ‘secret war’
in Laos, Hmong Americans have come a long way to become
contributing citizens to US society as entrepreneurs, educators,
judges, doctors and lawyers. This portrait of Hmong in the United
States stands in sharp contrast to the opinions of US officials in
the 1970s and 1980s, which deemed Hmong refugees to be unsuitable
for admission.
*Vincent K. Her, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse*
In his work, Kou Yang provides readers with informative accounts of
the events leading to Hmong resettlement in the United States,
important milestones in Hmong American history, and an overview of
Hmong American achievements since 1975. This book is essential
reading for those wish to understand Hmong American history and the
Hmong American experience over the past four decades.
*Mark Pfeifer, SUNY Polytechnic Institute*
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