Hmong Refugees in the New World: Culture, Community and Opportunity

This book presents Hmong history and describes the journey of the Hmong people from eastern to western countries. Prospective and current educators need to understand how war-displaced Hmong refugees came to the United States instead of wondering why they are here or what brought them here in the first place. The features in this book provide prospective and current educators with clear approaches to learning not only about the history of the Hmong but also to appreciating their journey in search of freedom. The Chinese Hmong were war-displaced refugees and immigrants, but the Laotian Hmong are only war-displaced refugees, not immigrants. The Hmong in the West are war-displaced refugees from China and Laos. Over the last two centuries, misidentification has portrayed Hmong refugees as of an ethnic group other than Hmong. This mislabeling has caused massive confusion about Hmong history. They have been erroneously called Miao, Meo, Miaozi, Meng, Mu, or San Miao. The truth is Hmong have a history and rich cultural traditions that have yet to be understood by the American public. The topics in this book help clarify some of the misconceptions about Hmong refugees and Hmong migration. It is a high time to de-Miao-ification to reclaim Hmong true identity.