“*This is our home now.*”
- Lang Xiong, President of the Shee Yee Community

The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Hmong Student Association and Asian Student Association sponsored “The Hmong Impact” in the UWM Union’s Fireside Lounge on Friday, April 11.

The lecture and open forum touched on social, political, and educational challenges facing the Hmong community all around the world. The event’s keynote speaker was Lang Xiong, President of Shee Yee Community, a Milwaukee Hmong non-profit organization.

Student representatives from the Asian Student Association spoke on Asian Awareness Month and formally introduced Xiong.

Xiong thanked the audience for attending and briefly talked about his life and background. He told two jokes about “Hmong-lish”, taking a light-hearted approach to the language barrier challenge facing Hmongs in the United States.

Xiong separated recent Hmong history into three phases: pre-1960, 1960-1975, and 1975 to the present. From 1960 to 1975, the national insurgency of the Pathet Lao communist movement in Laos started gaining momentum.

The leftist group finally took control of the Laos government in 1975, forcing many Hmong to flee the country and relocate elsewhere. A large number of Hmongs relocated to Thailand, but many reside in Australia, France, Canada, and the United States.

The first issue was educational history and progress of the Hmong culture. Before 1975, there were only 144 Hmong in the entire world with college degrees. According to Xiong, UWM alone now has about 400 undergraduate and 22 Hmong graduates. He tied education challenges to the next topic, social life.

“It’s coming along,” said Xiong, who came to the America in 1979. “The challenge is that young people speak more English. Many [Hmong] parents cannot help their children in their school work.”

Xiong outlined a number of social challenges facing Hmong people in the United States, such family conflicts, “at-risk” youth delinquency, generational gaps, poverty, and health. Other issues included Hmong political advancements and economic conditions.

Xiong cited recent political victories for local government positions in Eau Claire, Wis., and others in Minnesota by Hmong candidates. He added that more young Hmongs need to attend legal school to advance their political influence, and that the traditional family structure can also help.

“Hmong are very family orientated. The clan structure can create a very strong block vote,” said Xiong.

A popular issue among the audience during the question and answer session was the rising percent of Hmongs converting to Christianity. Xiong described Christian Hmongs as “still Hmong” and stressed respect for each other, but also illustrated in detail the traditional Shamanism beliefs held by Hmong elders.

Xiong concluded by stating that challenges facing Hmongs in America have stemmed from them leaving an underdeveloped country, Laos, and moving to “the richest country in the world”.

“The Hmong have lost a lot but gained a lot, too,” he said. “This is our home now.”

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