History of Hmong Immigration to the US
Hmong is one of the common Asian American ethnic groups in Laos. In the mid-1970s, Laos began to practice Communism, leading the Hmong group to begin looking for political asylum in the US. IN 2010, A census was done and found that the permanent residents and citizens of the Hmong population were approximately 260,073 (South Asia Resource Action Centre). The Census Bureau report shows that the Hmong population was spread all over the US, but they were mostly found in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, with a population of 91,224, 66,181, and 49,240, respectively.
The relationship between the Hmong and the US began during the Vietnam war from 1964 to 1973. Hmong fought for the Royal Lao Government (RLG), which was in alliance with the US. They were fighting against Communism in the area, and they were recognized as good fighters. Therefore, from this alliance and showing that they were good fighters in Laos, we would wonder if they could cope with the new issues in the US using their combat skills (Faithnibbs and Mavang 64).
Scholars from the early 1970 found out that Hmong usually struggle with social, language, cultural, and unemployment challenges in the US. They find it difficult to adapt to life in the American culture due to culture shocks and barriers; they arrived in the US from Thailand refugee camps. Therefore, to address these challenges, Hmong leaders found assistance from Americans and established several organizations for the provision of social, cultural, linguistic, and employment services to help them to adjust to life in the US (Jenkins62). This paper will therefore try to find out if Hmong Self-Help groups have been successful ever since their formation up to currently.
There are several previous literature reviews that are about ethnic organizations that relate to how immigrant and refugee organizations function to be effective to their clients; to facilitate their adaptation. (Werbner 89), did research that focused on various voluntary associations that are based in Pakistan together with several other existing ethnic groups across Britain. He found out that there is a high chance of sustainability for different associations known to be having very ambiguous missions with high levels of interest in both cultural, social issues together with political issues. However, this is not the case with ethnic organizations with narrow missions and constituencies. Another research was done on various Greek-based ethnic organizations, Turkish, and various immigrants from West Germany who existed in 1980s (Schoeneberg 109). The observation done from this research is that different immigrant-based organizations create the building blocks that are linked to their integration into life within the host country. The organization’s main focus was on the cultural, religious, and language preservation of their clients, in addition to aiding them in adjusting to West Germany. Schoenberg says in this research that these organizations encouraged intragroup interactions rather than intergroup socialization with members of the hosts.
Another research was done by Hein about Indochinese refugee associations. The argument in this research was that ethnic competition explains how the associations were formed in 1980 and early 1990 (Hein 34). Ethnic groups were competing for resources that were carried out in terms of in-kind based assistance, grants, together with several other existing support modes. The researcher found out that ethnic associations that adjusted well to the interests of their clients and funders survived for a long term.
Challenges Faced by Hmong in the US
Another piece of literature is the comparison of Southern Asia refugees together with Eastern Europe immigrant and refugee organizations on the basis of how effectively they help their clients to live in Chicago (Majka and Mulla 237). It emerged that a good number of organizations from the southeast parts of Asia were able to hamper the adjustment process instead of helping with the adaptation of their clients. However, it was noticed that in some social service agencies, homeland political activities intermingled with their missions. The researchers concluded that to a certain degree, the Southeast Asian refugee organizations helped the ethnic group members to transition to the local society; and the East European immigrant and refugee organizations, which were more established, most efficiently and effectively helped in the life adjustment in Chicago, for their clients. Furthermore, the staff of Eastern European groups helped their clients to meet their needs due to their cultural similarities to those they served and higher levels of education (Chicago and Springfield 74).
Additionally, there are previous studies that have been done on Hmong cultural organizations. The most examined topics were mainly; the responsibilities and activities of these organizations, inter-organizational conflicts, and the tension between the older and younger Hmong generation in these organizations. Bui carried out a study on
Different organizational activities by different refugees from the Southeast part of Asia. He studied the types of program services in these organizations that helped refugees to adjust to life in America. Another study compared the Hmong pre-migration model of social organizations with the Hmong American non-profit organizational model (Scott 107). Scott made an observation regarding a specific conflict that is associated with intra-organizational conditions between the young and old Hmong leaders at the Lao Family Community, Inc (LFC) in Santa Ana, California. A conflict was observed between the two generations; the older members from the pre-migration model opted for a top-down model of an organization where the late General Vang Pao made the decisions for the organization, whereas the young Hmong leaders were against the pre-migration model and opted for a decentralized network of American non-profit organizations, where decisions on the basis of clients’ interests were made by the local board of directors independently. Therefore, the study concluded that these differences were the cause of intra-organizational conflicts within the organization (Scott 136).
Another research discussed the development linked to two Hmong associations that existed in Des Moines, Iowa, in the 1980s (Olney 312). With the aid of communal land concept brought about by Weber, the researcher compared two different models of organizations utilized by the two Hmong based organizations. The highlighted models included organizational associations based on different viewpoints that the very first generation that is linked to Hmong was able to develop a clear understanding of various features associated with non-profit based organization. From these models, the researcher concluded that; a dual organization is one that involves both organizational patterns that are almost the same as the host society together with patterns of premigration of a given organization (Onley 316).
Literature Review of Ethnic Organizations and their Effectiveness
(Miyares 92) carried out research that captured Hmong communities known to be residing within California. He asserts that the clan system for the Hmong creates unity among the members hence leading towards the creation of ethnic groups. She also indicates that their culture divides them into various small groups like lineage and many more. lineage has been the major pillar when it comes to the development of various types of Hmong enclaves across different parts of California.
(Hillmer 117), also did a study on various motivating circumstances that contributed to the creation of Several Hmong organizations in the 1990s. The Hmong organizations described in this study include; the Lao Family Communities across the US, the United Lao National Liberation Front, the Hmong National development, the Hmong American Partnership, the Hmong Cultural Centre of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Hmong Youth Association.
A discussion was carried out based on an early development of community organizations linked to Hmong across different parts of Minnesota (Vang 197). The organizations talked about in this study include; the Hmong Christian Missionary Alliance Church, the Association that was meant for the Advancement of different types of Women across Minnesota, and the Lao Family Community of Minnesota. Vang talks about how the leadership of these organizations emerged to consist of both former military leaders who had once represented Hmong together with Hmong leaders known to be educated who represented the resettled Hmong refugees to a vast range of agencies dealing with social services during the late 1970s and 1980s. it came to her realization that various organizations linked to Hmong were being created for the purposes of serving the entire Minnesota (Vang22).. She also says that the organization’s existence is a condition that doesn’t depend of various pre-existing organizations across the entire Hmong society. Instead, quite a number of their practices act as a reflection of Hmong culture’s pre-existing categories.
Therefore, from previous studies and literature, we cannot make an affirmation that the Hmong self-help organizations have been successful since their introduction up to the current moment. Our research will therefore try to find out a conclusion as to whether these organizations have been successful, especially in helping Hmong adapt to the US community.
For our research, we are going to use a qualitative research method because there is no systematic study and enough information for hypothesis formulation and theory building. A qualitative method is suitable since this is exploratory research with unknown theories and variables. Also, we will seek to interview informants and build a picture on the basis of their ideas. Therefore, data collected for this research will be from interviewees. Thus statistical methods cannot be used for data analysis. The interview questions to be used will need the informants to provide detailed descriptions and adequate information.
The purpose of this research is to find out whether Hmong self-help groups became successful over a period of time. Therefore, we studied four Hmong self-help organizations; the Hmong American Partnership, Inc (HAP), the Yang Wameng Association (YMA), the Lao Family Community of Minnesota (LFCM), and the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minnesota (AAHWM). We selected these organizations because they are representative of organizations that provide various forms of social and culturally based services to the Hmong group within the United States. Therefore, interviewees will be picked from these selected groups. We will keep adding interviewees to feed us with information until the point where the informants that we continue adding begin to become repetitive. This follows the saturation and redundancy principle of Egon and Yvonna Lincoln. Twenty-five interviewees were picked from the organizations, and they were classified as follows; seven were board members, four of them were known to be organizational founders, nine were staff members, and five were just members. Approximately five to nine informants were picked from each organization. Identification of interviewees varied with their will; some requested to be identified with either their first or last name, some agreed their full names be used, while others requested to be unidentified.
Previous Studies on Hmong Cultural Organizations
Organizational audio-visuals, websites, speeches, and documents were used in this research to provide the required data. We studied the English organizational documents that were linked to the English language; that is, balance sheets within the field of finance, various reports that are made annually, newsletters, and by-laws. We also listened to videocassette tapes recorded by the organization. We also seek interpretation of documents written in the Hmong and Lao languages. However, the main source of data for this research is from interviews that were conducted in Minnesota. The participants were interviewed individually for a period ranging from one hour to two hours. Once the data is collected, it is organized and analyzed through the development of themes, and concepts, which will then be linked to create theories for understanding the phenomena that our research is studying. The implementation of different coding categories is majorly used in the generation of different forms of overarching themes that makes it much easier to develop a clear understanding of the functions together with the whole structure of different organizations that are still evolving within the Hmong boundaries.
We begin with the Lao Family Community of Minnesota, Inc, which is a Hmong non-profit organization that was created way back in 1977 by an individual known as Vang Pao and has affiliates in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, California, and Fresno. From one of the interviewees in this organization, we found out that the language barrier that he confronted in America affected his survival. To address these issues, LFCM introduced several programs in the 1980s, that is, a service that is associated with social service, program that is dealing with mental health, program that focuses on English as a second language, and a basic kind of a vocational training program (Vang 89).
Another challenge that was identified by this organization was that of healthcare. (Hmong 98) depended on herbal medication and shamanism in Laos, and therefore they found it problematic to adjust to life in America since they were unaware of the American healthcare system. Therefore, the organization introduced a mental health program to inform Hmong patients and refer them to public health care providers. LFCM has also worked with Ramsey County Family Support Project to improve the health care of Hmong refugee children and their families. Services provided by the organization included assessment, support services, information referral, and consultation. According to one of the interviewees, the ESL program for addressing language barrier issues is still intact today. However, citizenship classes were added to the program to educate the older Hmong generation about American culture.
The Minnesota Attorney General’s website provided financial information of LCFM; whereby from 2007-to 2010, they had revenue ranging from 1.8million to 2.5 million dollars. LCFM received $785,884 in direct public support from public and foundation grants and government grants adding up to $1,366,271 (Hmong-American Partnership 124).
HAP was founded by Cristopher Thao and Robert Anderson, whose interest was to achieve Hmong Americanization. The organization wanted to help Hmong to achieve their capabilities in active community participation and exchange of knowledge and values. According to the interview with (William Yang 84), the former executive director, the organization had two programs aiming at making sure that the young generation of the Hmong were assisted to adapt with life across various parts of Minnesota; this entailed a program that dealt with self-efficacy together with a service program that dealt with the youth and family. These programs were integrated with several other existing groups at the local level. On the other hand, an unknown interviewee confessed that HAP has collaborated with St Paul and Minneapolis public schools to help the organization carry out this program (Sao Xiong). The leadership of the HAP organization consisted of leaders from the Hmong group and also American based leaders, where the entire board of officers alongside various directors have been rotated among different professionals from the Hmong and also the ones from America (Ly 123). ls. For the year 2008-2011, the Minnesota Attorney General’s website shows that the organization’s revenue ranged from $4 million to $5.8 million. HAP received $326,931 from both the public together with various foundation grants, $3,440,103 from government grants. Therefore, on the basis of budget size, HAP is reported to be one of the largest social services organizations for the Hmong across the entire United States.
The YWA organization is a clan based national organization that is focused on self-help whose aim is to offer assistance to various clan members to adequately adapt to the new environment in the United States (Schoeneberg 67). This confirms the previous studies that show the importance of clan politics information of these organizations. We find out that the refugees are in a position of retaining specific elements that are linked to their personal cultures and even go as far as adapting to the host society’s culture by taking into consideration both social and cultural modes of adaptation. The organization also adopts a culture preservation program to preserve the Yang’s clan cultural practices for the retention of their culture within the new society of the US (Yang). This information was provided by Yang Dao. However, various financial credentials that are linked to YWA did not exist on the entire website of Minnesota’s Attorney General.
According to (Vang 97), the association’s executive director, the basis for the formation of this organization and its programs is the inequality between the male and female gender; there is unfair distribution of decision making and responsibilities between men and women. She says that in the 1980s, most men in Hmong still believed that men should be dominant in the leadership of the community, even with a lack of experience in America. This threatened the political, economic, and social well-being of the Hmong community and especially women. The mission of the organization was to promote gender equality by strengthening Hmong families through leadership development and education for women (Duprez 45). The organization had three programs; a youth and culture program, a health program, and a community development program (Hillmer 53). The website that is linked to the Attorney General of Minnesota provides information that AAHWM had revenue ranging from $400,000 to $600,000 between 2008-and 2011. In 2011, the organization received $116,250 from public and foundation grants and $292 070 from government grants.
From the data obtained in this research, it is evident that Hmong self-help organizations were very important for them to adapt to the US. This is because the programs in these organizations majorly aim at assisting the Hmong community in adapting to the US. Secondly, these organizations support Werbner’s finding that organizations known to be having missions that are ambiguous together with quite a number of interests in both social, political together with cultural issues have the highest chances of sustaining themselves over a long period. Due to this, LCFM, HAP, and AAHWM have shown sustainability due to this reason. Also, for the Hmong organizations to become successful for a long period of time, there is a need for them to integrate and collaborate with the host community; that is, they should involve the culture and practices of the host community (Orser 67). A good example is adapting to gender equality which is a practice of the US culture which was not adopted by the older Hmong generation.
Another example is integrating the old generation with the young generation in the organization’s leadership. This is important because the sustainability of the organization will be achieved by addressing the current issues in the Hmong community (Miyares 75). The old generation may be unaware of the rising issues in the community, and hence they need a young generation who are conversant with the emerging social, economic, and cultural issues. From the three organizations, it is evident that they have developed various programs over the past few years with the aim of focusing on specific major issues that affect the Hmong communities, such as youth delinquency, health differences, and dependency on chemicals. A good example is when AAHWM introduced programs to help Hmong farmers; the Hmong community never practised farming in the early years of their immigration. Instead, they began in the US. Therefore, this is a new issue for the community that the organization had to address. For these organizations to be successful, they require adequate funding. Therefore funding strategies need to be updated. In our research, we find out that YWA did not last because of its dependence on a specific level of economic support alongside different volunteers originating from its members; whereas LCFM, HAP, and AAHWM, changed their strategies for funding not only depend on government grants and public grants instead, they look for other sources of revenue (Fass 16).
Conclusion
Evidently, there was a need for ethnic self-help organizations in the early years of immigration. Several factors led the Hmong community to quickly adapt to the US; such as language barriers, health disparities and lack of education. It is evident that the Hmong self-help organizations have been successful in addressing these issues and improving the adaptation of the community to the US environment. We found out that there are several factors that led to the success of Hmong organizations in the US. The main factors include; having programs and missions that address their clients’ social, cultural, and economic needs. Also, integration of the organization’s leadership to include both old and young generations and collaborating with institutions from the host community, the US. Another factor is funding; that is, organizations looking for several sources of revenue last for long. Therefore, observation of these factors, the majority of the Hmong organizations are successful and sustainable.
“Charities Search.” Minnesota Attorney General Website. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Charities/CharitySearch.asp. Print
Cha, Dia. Hmong American Concepts of Health. Routledge, 2004. Print
Downing, Bruce T., et al. “Hmong Resettlement Study Site Report, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.” (1984). Print
Duprez, Don. “Claiming Place: On The Agency Of Hmong Women. Chia Youyee Vang. Print
Faith Nibbs, And Mavang, Eds. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 2016, 376 Pp.”.
City &Amp; Society, vol 29, no. 3, 2017. Wiley, Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1111/ciso.12138. Print
Fass, Simon. “Innovations in the struggle for self-reliance: The Hmong experience in the
United States.” International Migration Review 20.2 (2007): 351-380. Print
Hein, Jeremy. Ethnic origins: The adaptation of Cambodian and Hmong refugees in four American cities. Russell Sage Foundation, 2006. Print
Hein, Jeremy. “The urban ethnic community and collective action: politics, protest, and civic engagement by Hmong Americans in Minneapolis–St. Paul.” City & Community 13.2 (2014): 119-139. Print
Hillmer, P. A People’s History of the Hmong. St. Paul: Historical Society Press (2010). Print
Hmong-American Partnership, Inc. (2008). 2008 Annual Report. Retrieved April 26, 2022 from: https://www.hmong.org/resources/1/Annual1%20Report/2008/HAP%202008%20AF.pd. Print
Jenkins, Naomi et al. “Lao family community of Minnesota”. Lao Family.Org,2012, https://www.laofamily.org/. Print
Ly, Shuayee. “Elements of Capacity in Hmong Community-based Organizations.” (2019).
Miyares, Ines M. “Changing Perceptions Of Space And Place As Measures Of Hmong
Acculturation”. The Professional Geographer, vol 49, no. 2, 1997, pp. 214-224. Informa UK Limited, https://doi.org/10.1111/0033-0124.00071. Print
Orser, Joseph. “Hmong America: Reconstructing Community In Diaspora”. Academia.Edu,
2022 https://www.academia.edu/66576252/Hmong_America_Reconstructing_Community_in_Diaspora. Print
Purgato, Marianna, et al. “Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Self-Help Plus (SH+) for preventing mental disorders in refugees and asylum seekers in Europe and Turkey: study protocols for two randomised controlled trials.” BMJ open 9.5 (2019): e030259. Print
Riffel, Brent E. “Hmong America: Reconstructing community in diaspora.” The Arkansas
Historical Quarterly 70.2 (2011): 212. Print
Schermann, Michele, et al. “Exploring travel interests and constraints among Minnesota Hmong.” (2015). Print
Sao Xiong, Yang. “Hmong Americans’ educational attainment: Recent changes and remaining challenges.” Hmong Studies Journal 13.2 (2012): 1. Print
Schoeneberg, Ulrike. “Participation in Ethnic Associations: The Case Of Immigrants In West
Germany”. International Migration Review, vol 19, no. 3, 1985, pp. 416-437. SAGE Publications, https://doi.org/10.1177/019791838501900302. Print
Vang, Chia Youyee. Hmong in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society, 2008. Print
Vang, C. Hmong America: Reconstructing Community in Diaspora. Urbana, Chicago and Springfield: University of Illinois Press (2010). Print
Vang, Chao. “Ecological factors in Hmong American educational success.” (2017). Print
Yang, Mai M. “A study of self-efficacy in a group of Hmong refugees.” (2014). Print
Werbner, Pnina. “The Organization of Giving and Ethnic Elites: Voluntary Associations
Amongst Manchester Pakistanis*”. Ethnic And Racial Studies, vol 8, no. 3, 1985, pp. 368-388. Informa UK Limited, https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.1985.9993492. Print
Yang, Shoua. “The evolution of Hmong self-help organizations in Minnesota.” Hmong Studies Journal 13.1 (2012): 1. Print
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
