On the evening of July 29, 2021, american gymnastics queen Biles announced her withdrawal from the women's gymnastics all-around final after experiencing the nightmare women's team final, and the burden of collecting gold for the United States fell on the shoulders of 18-year-old Hmong girl Sunissa Lee.
Under pressure, Sunissa not only continued the glory of American women's gymnastics in this project, but also created history in one fell swoop and became the pride of the American Hmong people.
The Hmong descendant from Minnesota, with an Asian face and an authentic American accent, wears minority labels on her body, but at the same time, she is trying to justify minorities in the United States.
Through the exploration of Sunissa's family background and growth trajectory as a "second-generation immigrant in Laos", we can clearly excavate the current situation of the Hmong people since immigrating to the United States.
From China's great southwest to immigrants to Southeast Asia and then across the ocean to settle in the United States, the current number of American "Miao immigrants" is destined to be full of bitterness and blood and tears.
Therefore, the success of every Hmong in the United States is the best consolation for this history.
From China to the World: The Birth of an International Nation
Unlike other ethnic minorities in China, the Miao people, who have a large population in China, have traveled almost all over the world.
Whether it is the United States, Europe or Australia, there is no shortage of Hmong communities that are thriving. It can be said that the Miao people have actually got rid of the geographical restrictions and truly become a worldwide and international nation.
In mainland China, the Miao people have always been considered to be the descendants of Jiuli, and their ancestors can be traced back to the ancient famous leader Xuan You.
However, from the defeat of Xuanyu to the Central Plains and the forced relocation of Jiuli to the west, to the later because of various ethnic problems, the Miao gradually entered the Yunguichuan area from Hubei.
Then, during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, several branches of the Miao tribe followed different routes into Laos, Burma, Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia.
After all, some of the Miao people, who have lived on the mainland for dozens of generations, have left their homeland and are about to start a new life in another world.
Looking back at this history today, we can see that a large part of the reason why the Miao were forced to move west was due to the fact that the ethnic policies of that time were not friendly to ethnic minorities.
At that time, the regime's jurisdiction over the southwest region was chaotic, which made ethnic contradictions acute, and the Miao people had difficulties in living under layers of exploitation and ethnic discrimination, and had to find another way out.
The Southeast Asian countries, which border the mainland and have a relatively close natural environment, have undoubtedly become the first choice for the Miao people to move west.
Most of the Hmong entered Laos via Yunnan, thinking they could start from scratch in another country, but the ethnic problems that had been bothering them followed.
The indigenous people of Laos are not friendly to the Hmong people who enter their territory, in addition to the natural antagonistic relationship between the local indigenous people and the immigrants, the Hmong people's worship of ghosts and gods and their close tribal relations have also made the Lao natives very panicked.
After the Hmong entered Laos, they brought more advanced production methods and mysterious and devious cultures, so the Laos could only build sharp barriers to resist the "invasion" of this culture, in order to maintain their absolute rule in the local area.
Therefore, although the Hmong population in Laos has been increasing since then, the Hmong still cannot take off the hat of "immigrant" and cannot integrate into the mainstream groups of local society.
And the Miao people, who are tired of exile, can only endure, they believe that there is no way out of heaven, and they are quietly waiting for an opportunity.
After a long wait, the chaos in Southeast Asia after the end of World War II provided an opportunity for the Lao Miao people to make a hero out of the chaotic world, and the chaotic world could also find a way to survive.
Wang Bao, the leader of the Miao people, known as the "lion of the Miao people", was keenly aware that the time that the Miao had been waiting for had arrived in the situation of France's withdrawal from Southeast Asia and the entry of the United States into ownership.
The Miao people can use their years of cultivation in the local area to add a handful of firewood to this cluster of fire, they do not mind being pawns in the hands of others, but they must make their voices heard on the world stage.
From stirring up trouble on the battlefield in Vietnam to fighting against the Lao Communist Party-led Pat Lao Army, the Miao army led by Wang Bao used its own advantages, like a sharp knife in the hands of the United States, and almost determined the outcome of the war in many wars.
The Miao people are brave, and the Miao people who have already cut off their own way are even more broken.
They are eager to exchange their blood and tears and sacrifices for a "bright" future for the Miao.
But it is lamentable that as powerful as the United States, it has also broken on the battlefield in Vietnam, and as a pawn of the United States, the Miao have made great sacrifices, and what awaits them will be the crazy retaliation and counterattack of the Lao ruling party.
Cross the ocean to the United States
The United States favored the Hmong army led by Wang Bao, first, because of Wang Bao's outstanding military talent, and second, because the Miao, as an ethnic minority, were better controlled than the locals.
In a sense, the Hmong army is more like a mercenary army of the United States on the battlefield in Southeast Asia.
On the one hand, Wang Bao was training "special forces" for the United States and actively carrying out "guerrilla warfare" and "blitzkrieg"; on the other hand, he sent his Hmong compatriots to the front line and used his flesh and blood to resist the onslaught of the Butte Lao Army and the North Vietnamese army.
In the war, countless Hmong soldiers died in the war, and countless Hmong civilians died in embarrassment due to desert escape, disease and hunger.
Wang Bao and miao were gambling on a future, but countless compatriots had already left in the dark of night. Since the beginning of the Vietnam War, Wang Bao's army has controlled much of northeastern Laos at its peak.
Wang Bao built 20 airports in northeastern Laos, providing the United States with convenient air supply and leaving the Lao Communist Party helpless.
But since the U.S. withdrawal from Southeast Asia in 1973, the Miao army, which has lost its U.S. support, has begun to retreat.
After the Lao People's Revolutionary Party came to power, it launched a siege attack on Wang Bao's "special forces", and Wang Bao and his troops began to withdraw from Laos, but the Miao civilians who remained in the mountains were not so lucky.
It is recorded that in the course of the Lao government's liquidation of Wang Bao's forces, many Miao civilians who did not participate in the war also suffered indiscriminate military attacks.
At least 100,000 Hmong people were killed in this encirclement and suppression operation, and the persecuted Hmong people had to embark on the road of escape once again, this time targeting the distant United States.
A large number of Hmong people first flocked to neighboring Thailand as refugees, and under the coordination of the Thai government and unHCR, the United States agreed to accept a part of the refugees, and the order of migration was determined by their status among the Hmong people.
Not surprisingly, Wang Bao and his senior military officers obtained legal immigration status in the United States as CIA employees, but for ordinary people, going to the United States is bound to be a difficult journey.
In this situation, 260,000 Hmong people have set foot on American soil, while the remaining very small number of Hmong people have chosen to live in a third country, and some have once again returned to the mountains of Laos to face their tragic fate.
In a sense, the Hmong, who grew up on the East Asian continent, were like the Jews, always struggling to survive migration and massacres.
But the difference between the two peoples is that the Jews are supported by a splendid culture and a high-level education system, which makes them indomitable and extremely high.
The Miao people, who have a relatively poor comprehensive quality, can only engage in low-end production work in different national societies, and they can hardly see the dawn of hope while suffering from the cold eyes of others.
After emigrating to the United States, the Hmong were resettled to Minnesota and the Long Beach area of California under the arrangements of the U.S. government.
Like the migration of their ancestors, the Hmong people could not appreciate the prosperity and wealth of the big cities after coming to the United States, and could only cultivate quietly on relatively barren land.
Although the United States itself is a country of immigrants, there is only a lot more discrimination against Hmong and even Asians here.
The close-knit Hmong community, while increasing its internal cohesion, also needs to deal with the shock of a culture that is completely different from before, and they must adhere to their traditions to ensure the continuation of civilization, but how to reconcile the contradiction between Hmong culture and the "free and outgoing" social atmosphere in the United States in the process is a key issue.
Although the Statue of Liberty is beckoning to the world, can everyone realize their dreams in this land? The answer has always been no.
Hmong, Asian, minorities
From accepting only a part of the Hmong immigrants at the beginning to later revising the immigration policy, the attitude of the US government to these "guides" who walked in front of the AMERICAN soldiers was not friendly.
It can be said that the Acceptance of the Hmong by the United States is only a last resort out of humanitarian assistance and pressure from the United Nations, so the U.S. government has not paid much attention to the problems of life of the Hmong after coming to the United States.
The reality is that the Hmong people with low education and language barriers can be called difficult after coming to the United States.
The self-proclaimed open and inclusive United States is far from the equality and compatibility imagined.
In an American society where whites dominate and have the right to speak, Asians, including Hmong, are often discriminated against and ostracized.
While Hmong elites like Wang Bao can navigate such a society, most Hmong immigrants have to worry about their livelihoods.
Class barriers are erected high in American society, and with the blessing of racial contradictions, ordinary Hmong people pay their lives in exchange for a peaceful living environment.
In the most developed and diverse country in the world, the Miao people may have more opportunities, but at the same time they must bear more pressure and blows.
The arduous journey of the Hmong people to the United States is only a few simple strokes in history, but the past, present, and even future life of the Hmong people in the United States is a profound reflection of the times.
As a member of the Asian-American community, the Miao are discriminated against like all Asians, unlike other groups based on the state.
The Hmong people, who are grouped together based on ethnic groups, have a deeper identity, and therefore a stronger sense of tearing and brokenness, which exacerbates the polarization within the Hmong community and also makes the Hmong people more and more distant from other Asians.
The unequal status of Hmong Americans in American society may explain why Sunissa's victory sparked a carnival within the Hmong community.
Because the healthy, cheerful and powerful image that Sunisha shows is exactly what the Miao people have always wanted to express to American society.
They are gentle and humble, low-key but not pessimistic, they have a traditional Asian introversion, but they have become more extroverted and confident in the process of colliding with the free and open culture of the United States.
In this sense, this may be the most profound change ushered in by the Miao people across the ocean.
The Hmong, who have been a minority for thousands of years, may never have found a way to survive that suits them.
In an environment of contradictions, the Miao people adhere to their own culture and distinguish themselves from other ethnic groups, but in life and secular power, they are eager to integrate into the local society and gain the acceptance and recognition of the majority of the people.
But in fact, culture and belief are the foundations of a nation's independence.
Wanting to succeed in another civilization without abandoning one's own traditions is obviously difficult to achieve.
As a result, the Hmong living in Asia may become increasingly closed under the onslaught of a powerful culture, and after coming to the United States, in a multicultural context, the Hmong are reshaping their national self-confidence.
In reality, however, the entire Asian community, from the Miao, faces this problem: they are not discriminated against because of their work, their mannerisms, or their cultural level, but because of their yellow skin and dark eyes.
"Asians" are the original sin in themselves, and the differences in appearance, regardless of generations of immigrants, make it difficult for them to integrate into the white community from the beginning.
Unlike the fierce resistance of blacks, Asians are accustomed to hiding themselves, and they are accustomed to disguising themselves as an "authentic" American, so that the white community can ignore the differences in their appearance, but this is tantamount to covering their ears.
Is pandering to a cultural nirvana, or is pandering just a façade that is still a solid barrier behind it?
Divisions within the Asian community and the unity of small communities have made it difficult for them to unite into a powerful force, which makes it difficult for them to compete for the right to speak through legitimate struggles, but unfortunately, discrimination is pervasive and even intensified.
Since Trump took office and the covid-19 pandemic spread around the world, the situation of Asian-Americans in the United States has become worse and worse, and news of Asian-Americans being attacked for no reason across the United States has brought in, and Asians living in fear have to rethink their future.
In these news, the people who have been attacked have always been yellow-skinned and dark-haired, and when discrimination occurs, the other races will not once again subdivide the Asian community.
Therefore, for Asians living in the United States, perhaps Asians are the most distinctive symbols in them, and what they should do is to fight for the future of Asians under the call of this identity.
The splendor of the lighthouse nation and the exciting "American Dream" are nothing more than illusory castles in the air, and the "Hmong immigrants" in the United States are excluded from mainstream society, as well as Asians as a minority.
How can I gain recognition from other races for my integrity and independence? How do you earn your place in a multicultural world? In the midst of the resurgence of racism, both foreigners in other countries and those of us living in our own home countries need to think hard about this issue.
Resources
CNKI; From "Miao", "American Miao" to "Hmong American": Cultural Identity Changes of Hmong Groups in the United States; Huang Xiurong; World Ethnic Groups; 2017(02);