Kamala Harris and politics, plus Sunisa ‘Suni’ Lee and Olympics gymnastics, are shining spotlights on Hmong Americans

July 29, 2024 by Joe Grimm Leave a Comment

Click the cover to visit the Hmong book page on Amazon.

Hmong communities illustrate the importance of swing voters in the 2024 presidential race

By JOE GRIMM
Director of the MSU Bias Busters project

Suddenly, after years of invisibility in American culture, Hmong Americans are popping up in news stories all summer long—including this new July 29 profile of Olympic gymnast Sunisa “Suni” Lee in The New York Times that briefly touches on traditions that are common in Hmong families. Now, most Americans have seen media coverage of Suni Lee, because of the massive global interest on the Paris Olympics.

What’s new in this wave of media attention on the Hmong is the appearance of the Kamala Harris presidential campaign in full swing—which means her allies are working to solidify every possible connection the candidate can make with swing voters nationwide. And that includes the potential of electing the first Asian-American president. Among the headlines exploring the Asian roots of Harris’s family is this July 28 New York Times story by Amy Qin, which points out how much Americans still need to learn about her background.

No, Harris is not Hmong, but keep reading because complex cultural connections are popping up every day and there’s more about Harris and Hmong Americans below.

So much to learn! That’s why we’ve published so many books!

This summer, everyone connected with the MSU Bias Busters project is eager to spread the news about our books on American diversity—prepared by Michigan State University School of Journalism students who have been advised by blue-ribbon panels of experts nationwide. Working with those panels of leading figures from these communities to insure accuracy and balance, the students’ nearly two-dozen books now include at least a half dozen volumes that are relevant to these two stories about Lee and Harris that are dominating news cycles as August begins.

And—with each day’s news headlines—the list of the relevant-right-now books in this MSU series quickly expands beyond that half-dozen titles.

Why is that?

These distinct communities are connecting with each other every day!

On July 21, Kamala Harris clinched pledges from the majority of Democratic delegates who will nominate the party’s candidate for president. On July 23, her campaign team and surrogates were working the Hmong Village Shopping Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

That quick turnaround illustrates how much attention candidates and parties pay to voting blocs, even small ones, in swing states where fewer votes can make a difference.

Harris could become the first Asian-American president. Her mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican.

Hmong voters, who number only about 300,000 nationally, are the largest Asian group in Minnesota, a key battleground state in the 2020 election. Speculation about whom Harris will choose as her running mate has included Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Additionally, Hmong people have among the highest rates of naturalized citizenship and voting of all Asian Americans. They were airlifted from Southeast Asia during a brief window starting in 1975 by the United States. We developed close ties with their communities because we had recruited them as allies in the fight against the Viet Cong in Southeast Asia.

Mai Xiong, who runs a produce store at the St Paul shopping center, said many people she knows support Harris—not for her gender or ethnicity, but for her experience. Harris “will get a lot of Asian votes,” Xiong told Sahan Journal. The digital news site focuses on Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color.

Clearly, however, political activists are hoping that an Asian-American ethnic connection may prove persuasive in November. Although Hmong Americans live in all 50 states, their populations are highest in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan—swing states all—and California, where Harris is from.

To illustrate that importance of those cultural connections—a speaker at a St. Paul roundtable was Cincinnati’s Asian American mayor, Aftab Pureval. He grew up in India, and his mother was born in Tibet.

Sahan Journal reported that Pureval said, “You might be wondering, why is the mayor of Cincinnati here in the Twin Cities? It’s because we have an opportunity to elect the first auntie, the first Asian American president in our country’s history.”

100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More, was published in July. It addresses the Hmong journey to the United States, their high rates of naturalized citizenship and voting. For an easy overview of the entire series, simply visit MSU Bias Busters project at Amazon.

Here’s a helpful guide to religious freedoms as schools become a political-religious battleground

July 1, 2024 by Joe Grimm

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters project was founded in an effort to “bust” myths about minorities that complicate and in some cases seriously harm the lives of American individuals and families.

Click the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

By JOE GRIMM
Director of the MSU Bias Busters Project

Legislation in two states and reporting by Pew Research have brought disagreements about the relationship between religion and government into sharp focus this month. Schools are the battleground.

State actions have been taken in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have sued to stop a new law requiring that every public classroom in Louisiana from elementary schools through colleges display the Ten Commandments. That would start in January.

In Oklahoma, PBS reports, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters has mandated that public school classrooms from grades 5-12 have copies of the Bible and that all teachers must teach from it. This also would begin in 2025.

In the midst of these actions, Pew reports that supporters of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who backed the Louisiana law, disagree sharply on the proper role for religion in government. This party-line split has been similar for years.

According to Pew, 71% of U.S. voters overall said religion should be kept out of government. On the other hand, 28% said government should support religious beliefs.

Among Trump voters, 56% said religion and government policy should be separate from government policy while 43% said government policies should support religious values. A larger majority of Biden supporters, 86% to 13% said religion and government should be separate.

The Secular Coalition of America advocates for “the equal rights of nonreligious Americans” and “the separation of religion and government.”

The coalition calls the Louisiana Ten Commandments law “discriminatory against religious minorities and non-religious individuals” and “a clear breach of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

Religious freedoms are explored in 100 Questions and Answers About the Religiously Unaffiliated: Nones, Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, Freethinkers, Secularists and Skeptics, a guide from the the Michigan State University School of Journalism. This series of more than 20 books helps people get to know the many groups that comprise American society.

American Dreams: Hmong hope to free themselves from ‘The Model Minority’ myth

July 1, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Some Hmong artists made and sold story cloths to help families earn income. Major themes are legends or fairy tales, everyday life before the war, the war, and being forced to flee across the dangerous Mekong River to Thailand. This cloth shows Hmong people attempting to cross the Mekong River from Laos into Thailand and its refugee camps. At upper left is a tree with monkeys in it. Photo courtesy of Joe Grimm.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters project was founded in an effort to “bust” myths about minorities that complicate and in some cases seriously harm the lives of American individuals and families.

By JOE GRIMM
Director of the MSU Bias Busters Project

Hmong Americans have asked the U.S. Census Bureau to reclassify their ethnicity as Southeast Asian, rather than East Asian, in part because of The Model Minority myth.

Click the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

According to the Pew Research Center, this stereotype originated after World War II and depicted Chinese and Japanese Americans as automatically successful people. The stereotype implies they naturally follow rules, work hard and have found economic and educational success. These qualities were attributed to factors including respect for parents and authority figures.

The myth was extended to include all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

All stereotypes are incomplete and accurate. Even positive ones can be problems. Hmong Americans cite some harms as they seek reclassification. Hmong Americans, who began arriving 50 years ago in 1975 as refugees from Vietnam, suffer in the model minority comparison. Their pathway to the United States is generally far different from most other Asian immigration stories.

Hmong people fled a place that was not their homeland and where their protection from enemy soldiers evaporated when the United States pulled out of Vietnam. Hmong people fled to refugee camps or were flown to the United States. Most had little formal education or English, or relevant job training. Money and even suitable clothing for new homes in places like Minnesota, Wisconsin, California and Michigan was scarce. Important ties to family and belief systems were severed.

Even so, Hmong people are getting education and jobs and contributing in the United States. They are still building their new communities and lives. Is there average income as high as that for people with East Asian roots, many of whom arrived more than a century ago? No. Not yet.

The Model Minority myth hurts all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders it is applied to. The myth implies that people can be successful without even working. But with more than 20 ethnicities in this group, that is logically impossible. Eddy Ng, professor of equity and inclusion in business at Queen’s University, Ontario, points out that all Asian American and Pacific Island people started at the same point. Even within a single ethnicity, people are different. the myth can fault some people for not measuring up to this stereotypical measuring stick. People’s authenticity as a member of that group can be questioned.

A 2018 Pew Research Center study showed that, of all broad groups, Asian American and Pacific Islander groups showed the widest disparity n wages. South Asian Indians make, on average, 10 times as much as Burmese, Samoan, Native Hawaiian or Hmong people. Each ethnicity has its own story. They have different histories and are at different stages in their development n the United States. They can also take different directions.

A 2023 Pew study showed how widespread the stereotype is known among the people it is applied to and how they feel about it.

The myth has also been used as a wedge that pits larger groups against each other. The question seems to be, “why can’t the people in your group be as successful as the people in this other group?” The answer, again, is that individuals start from different places and have different opportunities or challenges. This is why some Hmong Americans say it is more accurate to classify them as Southeast Asian, where they came from.

Asian and Pacific Islander people in general have dealt with fewer racial barriers in the United States than African Americans have, but they also have less political representation than anyone. All these measures continue to change.

Bottom line: Stereotypes are a poor, broad-brush way to describe or understand people. Their individual stories, as well as those of others, can help.

100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More, addresses issues specific to the Hmong American experience. It will be available on Amazon on July 2. It addresses many questions tied up in Hmong identity and history and the U.S. Census Bureau’s decision. The guide is published by the Michigan State University School of Journalism as part of its Bias Busters series of guides to cultural competence.

MSU Bias Busters project highlights Hmong Americans, still struggling for recognition half a century after the Vietnam War

June 24, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Click this cover image to visit this new MSU Bias Busters book’s Amazon page.

Hmong Americans disagree with a U.S. Census classification

By JOE GRIMM
Director of the MSU School of Journalism Bias Busters project

Nearly 50 years after their evacuation to the United States from Southeast Asia in significant numbers, Hmong Americans are still fighting for an accurate portrayal by the U.S. Census.

Hmong people, who fought in the CIA’s Secret War, were hurriedly flown to the United States and fled to refugee camps when the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam. Today, they are fighting for proper recognition of their origins.

In March—as the Associated Press reported—the U.S. Office of Management and Budget announced several revisions in the way the census categorizes people. It plans to classify Hmong people as East Asians, according to one Associated Press article. Representatives of the group say this is a misclassification that ignores their history and amounts to an erasure of their ethnic group. It can also perpetuate the Model Minority Myth.

The issue is keenly sensitive to Hmong people, whose history has left them without a homeland, in part because of the way they were treated in China.

A second Associated Press article explains the problem. Hmong people say the federal government has incorrectly decided Hmong people originated in China. the big player in East Asia. However, Hmong origins are older and farther north than their years in China. The nomadic Hmong people are asking to be recognized as coming from Southeast Asia, where they settled and fought for the U.S.

The East Asian classification stings because their trek through China led to persecution. Their written language was banished. They were not allowed political standing. They kept searching for a home and fled south into Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia—places in Southeast Asia. Having never had an opening to establish a homeland of their own, Southeast Asia is the closest thing Hmong people have to one.

The issue is about far more than history and identity, which are important in and of themselves. Given the way the U.S. government uses Census data to allocate federal resources there is a practical reason to be correctly classified. According to the bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey, income among Hmong people in the United States was about $26,000 per person. For East Asian Americans, it was almost double that. Being put into the East Asian category buries this important disparity and could cost Hmong people opportunities once again.

In AsAmNews, Valentina Lewis quoted Southeast Asia Resource Action Center Executive Director Quyen Dinh: “One of the biggest harms is the mistrust that now exists within the community from the youngest generation to the elders, who don’t even want to be counted in the next census 2030.”

The Census Bureau reports it is reviewing decisions about how Hmong people will be classified by the 2030 census.

“100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More,” will be available on Amazon on July 2. It addresses many questions tied up in Hmong identity and history and the U.S. Census Bureau’s decision. The guide is published by the Michigan State University School of Journalism as part of its Bias Busters series of guides to cultural competence

Michigan’s JCRC-AJC diplomatic seder: As Passover approaches, affirming that peace is a global value

April 21, 2024 by Howard Brown

Click on the image to enlarge it for easier reading. (Photos by John Hardwick, used here courtesy of JCRC-AJC Detroit.)

‘Confronting all forms of hate is everyone’s responsibility.’

By HOWARD BROWN
Author of Shining Brightly

In the midst of a world of strife and daily tragedy, I was thrilled to co-chair our annual Jewish Community Relations Council-American Jewish Committee Detroit (JCRC-AJC) “model seder” that represented a global gathering of religious and diplomatic leaders affirming our shared goal of peace. Each year, Jewish communities around the world host “model seders” before the start of Passover so non-Jews can experience the ancient rituals and themes we celebrate with family and friends.

The seder is a traditional retelling of the biblical account of God leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. The meal features symbolic foods that remind us of everything from the bitter tears shed in slavery to the taste of unleavened bread, or matzah, during the long journey that followed.

For many years, the Detroit JCRC-AJC has hosted a combined seder for representatives of the global diplomatic community—in particular the Consular Corps of Michigan—and also dozens of our interfaith partners. This year, more than 100 people—including Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus—attended the program. Among the nations represented were: the UK, Germany, Poland, Italy, Austria, Jordan, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, and Japan.

Our honorary chair, who spoke about the need to protect vulnerable minorities, was Yusuke Shindo, Consul General of Japan for Michigan and Ohio.

I served as co-chair of the planning committee along with Carol Ogusky, who has long been active in building interfaith partnership and writing about the importance of this work.

What impressed me this year was that, despite all of the conflicts around the world and the horrific rise in antisemitism, this circle of global leaders gathered with us once again to affirm our unity in praying for peace.

Anyone who has been to a seder knows the question we ask: “Why is this night different than all other nights?”

At the end of our program, we answered that question by reading aloud together a portion of “A Prayer for This ‘Different’ Seder 2024”, written by Rabbi Noam E. Marans, Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations for the American Jewish Committee.

In unison, we read:

We pray for the victims of horrific terrorism and their families whose lives have been shattered.
We pray for the hostages and their loved ones, who continue to live through unending horror.
We pray for the innocents who are victims of war, human beings created in the image of God. We pray for the dead, the injured, the hungry, and the displaced. …
We pray for the purveyors and deliverers of humanitarian aid who endeavor to do what is right and needed.
We pray for the peacemakers. May they bring shalom to all.
We pray for the world to wake up and say: There is no place for antisemitism in our society. Confronting all forms of hate is everyone’s responsibility.
Shirah chadashah:
Let us sing to God a new song, a hymn that longs to extol our deliverance from despair to joy, from mourning to celebration, from darkness to light, from enslavement to redemption, from war to peace.

Also, at every table, we made available my own discussion guide, titled: Interfaith Bridge Building—Why do this work? If you would like a copy of that discussion guide yourself, you can download a PDF of it for free at my website, ShiningBright.com by going to this page, then scrolling down to the navy-blue section that lists discussion guides.

Carol Ogusky and Howard Brown (at right) with Consul Generals from Michigan at the model diplomatic seder 2024. On the far left is Sam Dubin, interim executive director of JCRC-AJC Detroit.

Historic Dallas Jewish nonprofit honors George A. Mason as Pioneering Partner

April 13, 2024 by David Crumm

The Rev. Dr. George A. Mason with the National Council of Jewish Women Dallas Section annual Pioneering Partner Award. (Scroll down to see more photographs from the event, provided for this story by Gail Brookshire.)

Highlighting the importance of ‘dependable allies in the struggle for freedom, justice and equity’

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

George Mason—author of The Word Made Fresh—continues with his courageous messages about the need for good people to support each other and the most vulnerable among us in our communities. He has spoken about this urgent need on national podcasts, in short videos, at major conferences coast to coast—and he offered that same timely call to compassion again in Texas before the 111-year-old National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) Greater Dallas Section.

The occasion was the NCJW’s annual Pioneering Partner Award and the group’s leadership asked the 2023 award winner—nationally known Latino advocate, attorney and public policy advisor Regina T. Montoya—to present this prize to Mason.

In presenting the award, Montoya said:

Today NCJW recognizes the Rev. Dr. George A. Mason, the founder and president of Faith Commons, a nonprofit that promotes public discourse rooted in the common values of many faiths. Faith Commons aims to inspire more people to participate in public life with mutual respect, hospitality and generosity.

The Rev. Dr. George A. Mason is a Christian theologian and Baptist pastor here in Dallas, Texas, where he served as senior pastor of the Wilshire Baptist Church from 1989 to 2022. … He participates in numerous local and global ecumenical and interfaith endeavors. He is a contributor to the Dallas Morning News on subjects of public interest that intersect with religion, such as public education, racial justice, predatory lending, and climate change. He is truly a shining star—a gift and a treasure to us here in our community.

Then, Mason rose to accept the award and said:

Thank you so much to NCJW for this remarkable award! Receiving it from this organization is significant to me because we live in such perilous times. Democracy itself is under siege. And having dependable allies in the struggle for freedom, justice, and equity is crucial these days—whether we’re talking about the endangered rights of women on all fronts, the full dignity of the LGBTQ+ community, the right to be safe from gun violence, the opportunity for a good public education that promotes critical inquiry and is free of religious control—or simply the most fundamental right of all—to vote.

NCJW is always on the job—and we salute you. The testimony of the recently murdered Russian dissident Alexei Navalny continues to echo in our hearts. From his isolated prison cell in Siberia, he told us that the forces of evil always want you to feel alone in your struggle for freedom and democracy. But we are never alone—despite how it sometimes feels. And, if you sometimes do feel that way—look around this room.

In these days, I know that many of you here have felt the agonizing tension between your deepest moral convictions and your spiritual and communal bonds. I want you to know tht we see you and stand with you in that tension.

In my own religious world, the fissure caused by Christian Nationalism continues to widen—and it is a threat that must be addressed from within our own community. Any religious ideas—even from our own faith—that deny or diminish the humanity of others or that endanger the planet we all share must be opposed.

George was interrupted by applause.

Fortunately, I c0me from a long line of radical Baptists—little noticed at times.

Interrupted by warm laughter.

Nonetheless, we believe that dissent can sometimes be the highest act of loyalty. For 35 year, I have had the privilege of serving or being part of a Baptist church like that—a church that believes it and practices it: Wilshire Baptist. And for the past six years, I have served through Faith Commons—alongside my peerless and fearless partner in that nonprofit, Rabbi Nancy Kastin.

Interrupted by applause.

We have gained inspiration to persevere from people like you in this room—people who believe that and practice it.

So keep the faith—and keep up the struggle faithfully.

And I’ll end with these words from the late minister of Riverside Church in New York City, William Sloane Coffin:

“The world is too dangerous for anything but truth.
And too small for anything but love.”

Applause.

Care to learn more?

The Rev. Dr. George A. Mason’s most powerful messages from throughout his long career at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas are collected in the new book, The Word Made Fresh, which is available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle from Amazon.

Timely help for all of us: Mindy Corporon talks about spiritual and emotional resilience in the wake of tragedy in Kansas City

March 3, 2024 by Howard Brown

Talking about reclaiming “hope” at a 10th anniversary—and in the wake of fresh shootings

By HOWARD BROWN
Author of Shining Brightly

My podcast is heading toward 100,000 downloads—which means I feel a deep responsibility to my listeners around the world, each week, to continue providing inspiration and keys to resilience and hope.

Especially in the wake of fresh wounds from shootings in Kansas City, I am providing this special, slightly longer, podcast No. 68 with a woman who knows a great deal about living with such scars: Mindy Corporon.

In introducing Mindy for this podcast, I say, “We have to deal with the darkness in our lives to shine brightly once again. … Mindy Corporon is the co-founder of Workplace Healing and the Human Recovery Platform. She helps employers transform how they support an employee experiencing a life disruption.” And, she is the author of her own memoir about finding resilience after deep trauma, Healing a Shattered Soul.

Mindy is pursuing this work, today, because her own life was transformed by the savage attack by an antisemitic mass shooter who killed her father and her son outside a Jewish center near Kansas City—even though her family is not Jewish.

As we share Mindy’s wisdom about such tragedies in the podcast, I say, “Mindy, I hope that we are honoring their memory by speaking of them today.” We both felt emotional and humbled, because we were talking about that attack at the 10th anniversary—and yet we found ourselves once again needing to talk about coping with a mass shooting in Kansas City.

“It feels like yesterday and it feels like forever ago,” Mindy said. Those memories now are an indelible part of her life. “This changed the trajectory of where I would go in my life over the past 10 years.”