Asian American Dreams by Helen Zia
Chapter 10: “Reinventing Our Culture”
● Acculturation: cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or
borrowing traits from another culture the acculturation of immigrants to American life;
also : a merging of cultures as a result of prolonged contact.
● The CIA promised Hmong soldiers and families resettlement if the US was defeated in
the Secret war in Laos. 140k Hmong and Lao fled to Thailand where they lived in
refugee camps for years. Those who came to the US dispersed where sponsors, “mostly
church-related charities, accepted them.” (257)
● Compared to Vietnamese counterparts, Hmong were farmers and fishers of the “rural
mountains of Laos,” a majority of them entering the US were illiterate w/ few skills in the
American economy.-> became the poorest of all Asianam ethnicities by 1989.
● Traditional marriage in Hmong culture clashed with American law. If Hmong girl did not
agree to her suitor, “he could kidnap her, and once he paid the bride price to her family,
she was considered his wife.” (258) Girls as young as 12-13 were considered
marriageable.
● In America, many Asianam immigrant women must also work to support their families. It
challenges the traditional gender roles of the Laotian clan system, creating problems in
the home- such as domestic violence. Hmong community unfortunately disapproves of
those who seek help, b/c it is “taboo to talk about outside the clan.” (261) The act of
“airing out the dirty laundry,” or speaking up against family/community problems
is prohibited even among the Hmong people.
● 140k Korean adoptees came into the US after the end of the Korean War in 1953.
● “Hapas- mixed race children of interracial couples” (267) are also an emerging Asianam
group, making a name for themselves as artists in American media. Stigmatized as
a”double minority,” usually not recognized by the Asianam community.
● Asianam artists helped build a Pan-Asian culture, yet some producers/curators/critics
didn’t value their art as much as an Asian national’s art; saw their work as corrupted by a
“Western influence.” (270) Lack of support from the Asianam community stems from
their lack of ‘Pan-Asianness’. Many still identify mainly with their own ethnicity, rather
than an Asianam.
○ That is why Asianam artists cannot solely rely on the Asianam audience; to
thrive, it is “imperative that we communicate who we are to a wider American
audience,” accepting the risk that they might misinterpret the artist’s expression.
Chapter 10: “Reinventing Our Culture”
● Acculturation: cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or
borrowing traits from another culture the acculturation of immigrants to American life;
also : a merging of cultures as a result of prolonged contact.
● The CIA promised Hmong soldiers and families resettlement if the US was defeated in
the Secret war in Laos. 140k Hmong and Lao fled to Thailand where they lived in
refugee camps for years. Those who came to the US dispersed where sponsors, “mostly
church-related charities, accepted them.” (257)
● Compared to Vietnamese counterparts, Hmong were farmers and fishers of the “rural
mountains of Laos,” a majority of them entering the US were illiterate w/ few skills in the
American economy.-> became the poorest of all Asianam ethnicities by 1989.
● Traditional marriage in Hmong culture clashed with American law. If Hmong girl did not
agree to her suitor, “he could kidnap her, and once he paid the bride price to her family,
she was considered his wife.” (258) Girls as young as 12-13 were considered
marriageable.
● In America, many Asianam immigrant women must also work to support their families. It
challenges the traditional gender roles of the Laotian clan system, creating problems in
the home- such as domestic violence. Hmong community unfortunately disapproves of
those who seek help, b/c it is “taboo to talk about outside the clan.” (261) The act of
“airing out the dirty laundry,” or speaking up against family/community problems
is prohibited even among the Hmong people.
● 140k Korean adoptees came into the US after the end of the Korean War in 1953.
● “Hapas- mixed race children of interracial couples” (267) are also an emerging Asianam
group, making a name for themselves as artists in American media. Stigmatized as
a”double minority,” usually not recognized by the Asianam community.
● Asianam artists helped build a Pan-Asian culture, yet some producers/curators/critics
didn’t value their art as much as an Asian national’s art; saw their work as corrupted by a
“Western influence.” (270) Lack of support from the Asianam community stems from
their lack of ‘Pan-Asianness’. Many still identify mainly with their own ethnicity, rather
than an Asianam.
○ That is why Asianam artists cannot solely rely on the Asianam audience; to
thrive, it is “imperative that we communicate who we are to a wider American
audience,” accepting the risk that they might misinterpret the artist’s expression.
