Analysis of "The World & I 17.12"

Stephen Grambow

The Struggle to Maintain Culture

In a passage from The World & I 17.12, James Emery argues that the Hmong community in the United States is losing their identity due to younger generations assimilating to American culture. The three thousand year old Hmong communities from Laos needed very few laws and restrictions in their native villages. Family was a cornerstone to their communities and parents and elders were revered by the youth. In 1960-1975 the C.I.A used the Hmong for the Secret War in Laos against the North Vietnamese. Once the U.S. pulled out from Vietnam the Hmong were slaughtered and exiled from Laos and fled to Thailand to refugee camps to be resettled elsewhere. From 1975-1988 over 100,000 Hmong resettled in the U.S.

The Cultures between the Hmong and America had major differences with family structure, which made it hard to raise children under two contrasting cultures. While the Hmong tries to maintain their culture, they encourage highly populated Hmong communities to teach Hmong as a language like McLane High School in Fresno. Even though the class was offered only 6% of the Hmong teenage population enrolled in the course.  Preserving the Hmong language is essential to the preservation of their culture, but with few of the younger generation making an effort towards learning their culture it is a dismal outlook. Culture practices like  “Bridal Abductions” have been stopped, but others like Hmong Funerals continue despite the cost of the ceremony. James Emery with his vast use of statistics and first person quotes makes the source credible and informative. The piece is a relatively natural piece, but sides with the elders of the lack of effert to preserve culture for the Hmong people.