No, we like welfare. Really, we like being poor. It�s the best thing that ever happened to the Hmong community next to learning how to farm when we still lived in our backwards and primitive lifestyle in Laos. But, now we are in the �the land of opportunity� and what the hell, we are poor, got welfare, and we don�t even have to work!
Oh, give me a break. You see, it seems like United States has forgotten why we are here. I find it interesting that the tables have been turned on us and now we are blamed for �wanting� to come to the U.S. but not taking advantage of what the U.S. offers.
We have been in the U.S. over 25 years now, yet people don�t even know who the Hmong people are and why we are here. I don�t mean to be arrogant and suggest that they should know who we are because we�re so special, but I think people do need to be aware of our history, of why we are in the U.S. People need to know how the U.S. is partly responsible for our refugee status, for our being in the United States. The tables have been turned because they have been turned to evade and silence the responsibility that the United States has on our presence in the United States. Now, it seems like we are the �wanting� immigrants who fled their land in search of better opportunities but are nothing but unassimilable and welfare-dependent. Technically, we did choose the U.S. but we were limited in choices. The question is: Why do we have to choose? I�m not saying that we blame all responsibility on the U.S. for our current status, but I�m saying that I�m afraid a certain aspect of our history is not being told�an aspect that explains why we are in the United States.
When people find out about our history, they tend to think, �Wow, we are such good allies.� Yet, we don�t ask, �Why was the U.S. in Vietnam anyway? Why was the U.S. interested in Laos? What were they doing recruiting a �secret� army? What�s the secret?� The part of history that is often neglected and untold is the answers to these questions.
Scholars have shown that ever since the end of World War II, the United States� were on a move for �global transformation� and asserting their power on the economic trade in the world. Their interest in Southeast Asia was primarily economically based because Southeast Asia was a possible market for American goods and later, proven highly profitable. In fact, �between 1951 and 1976, the book value of American investments in the Pacific Rim grew from $16 billion to $80.3 billion.�[1] Clearly, the United States had great interest in Southeast Asia, and it wasn�t just the fear of the communism spreading, it was the fear of losing an economic opportunity. The U.S. did not only want to impose their ideas of governmental rule�democracy�but maintain economic control over an area proven highly profitable. Furthermore, bounded by the Geneva Accords, the U.S. wanted to remain �loyal� to this agreement that Laos remain a neutral country. However, North Vietnam�s Ho Chi Minh Trail cut through Laos, and the U.S. felt that this trail needed to be blocked. Hence, the U.S. chose a leader, General Vang Pao, and decided to organize a secret army not of American soldiers but of the Hmong, other hill tribes, and Laotians.
We were a secret never meant to be told. We still are a secret that hasn�t been fully told, honestly spoken, and spoken about too often by other people but us. Why doesn�t history textbooks tell about the Secret Army in the Vietnam War? Our voice is lacking, and we need to speak up, speak out, and tell the truths of our own history. We need to make people aware of why we are here. If we don�t, that truth of our history, our refugee status a product of U.S. imperialism, will be forgotten and under our silence. We were not fighting for our own country. Give me a break. We were fighting for the United States. The tables are being turned to make the U.S look like saviors for helping us and other Southeast Asians come to this country, however, they need to be accountable for their part in our being here. We came here because of their actions and involvement in the war. Our community is growing; we are not all welfare-dependent or gang-bangers. Maybe there are some who are, but that is only a bit of our reality.
-By Choua Vue