Rethinking "Hmong" American Culture

Hmong Americans are a refugee group with historical origins in Asia. Their history has been marked by multiple migrations and displacements, from settlements in China, to the hills of Laos, to refugee camps in Thailand, to resettlement as refugees in the United States and other locations. Hmong Americans have gained increased attention in recent years through Clint Eastwood’s 2008 film “Gran Torino,” which was filmed in Detroit using Hmong American actors, and Anne Fadiman’s book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,” which has become a staple of medical school curricula focusing on cultural competence and cross cultural sensitivity. With funding from the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, APA Studies organized a series of screenings, panel discussions, and workshops surrounding both the film and the book that were designed to help students and community members to rethink their ways of understanding cultural and racial difference within the context of power.

This idea first arose in a conversation with anthropologist Louisa Schein a number of years ago, in which Andrea Louie mentioned that she taught Anne Fadiman’s book, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” in her Asian American Studies and Anthropology classes. She was surprised that Louie used the book in her class, as it has been criticized by many anthropologists for its characterization of “Hmong cultural difference” in ways that contribute to static and exotic notions of Hmong American culture.

Dr. Schein, who has worked with Hmong Americans and their coethnic Miao in China, and, Va-Megn Thoj, a Hmong American filmmaker and activist, came to MSU in February 2011 to engage in a discussion on Hmong American healing practices, and to show portions of their film ( still in production) titled, “Hmong Healing Worlds” which illustrates the variety of approaches that Hmong Americans take to dealing with medical issues, often through a combination of allopathic and traditional Hmong and other Asian healing traditions. They first gave a general presentation that focused on Hmong American healing practices to a general audience of nearly 60 students and community members. They later gave a similar presentation to 350 first and second year MSU medical students, thanks to the support of Dr. Janet Osuch, the curriculum director for the MSU Medical School, who required that these students attend this event as part of their unit on “cultural competence.” The following day, Louisa and Va- Megn were joined by Hmong American actors and activists Bee Vang and Elvis Thao, who were featured Gran Torino, for a panel discussion of the movie and its representation of Hmong Americans. Bee Vang showed “Thao Does Walt,” his clever parody of the barber shop scene in Gran Torino in which Walt shows his character, Thao, how to “be a man.” A “Behind the Scenes” clip was also shown, illustrating the experiences of the Hmong American actors in making the film. Underlying the panel’s theme was a critique of the film Gran Torino for its narrow and stereotypical portrayals of Hmong Americans, particularly young men, who were characterized as either passive and emasculated (Thao) or as gang members. The panel, attended by close to 100 people, was followed by a reception, during which MSU students, faculty, and staff enjoyed having a chance to meet the actors and talk with the other panelists. The evening was capped off by a spoken word performance by Gran Torino actor Elvis Thao.

By providing students with alternative perspectives on these popular representations of Hmong American culture, we hoped to encourage them to “re-think” ideas of cultural difference and come to more nuanced understandings of people and cultures that they perceive as different from their own. These general understandings of working with and through cultural differences can hopefully be applied to other situations that students may encounter, whether it involves medical students working with patients from different cultural, racial, or religious backgrounds, or taking steps to aid domestic MSU students and international students to move beyond stereotypes of one another.