Sherry Lee ASAM 15 MWF 10am-10:50am Professor Franklin Ng 23 October 2015 Racial Crimes against the Hmong Hate crimes can happen anywhere, anytime, or to anyone. A hate crime is an act of violence that is prompted towards a person or group of people based on aspects that make them different from a specific group such as race, religion, or sexual orientation. Hate crimes occur when there is a dominant person or group over another. As defined by Merriam-Webster, a hate crime is “any of various crimes (as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation).” A history of hate crimes have begun long before the 1900s, however, the arrival …show more content…
They escaped from oppression in Southeastern Asia. The Hmongs have been in the United States for approximately forty years. Many Hmong reside in California, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. There is about two hundred fifty thousand Hmong people in the United States, however Saint Paul, Minnesota, is where many reside. Even though the Hmong people escaped from oppression in Southeastern Asia, they still face discrimination in the United States especially from those who are in authority. There have been cases of hateful crimes that were act upon the Hmong people such as the case that dealt with Cha Vang, who was a hunter that was murdered and hidden in the woods, and Sao Lue Vang, who was also a hunter that was badly beaten up and hospitalized for many months. The sentences given to the criminals of these victims were unjustified. If the roles of the victims and criminals were switched, the sentences for the criminals would be more …show more content…
Victims could suffer psychologically due to being in a life threatening event that may have caused serious injuries. Author of “Hate Crimes, Oppression, and Legal Theory,” David A. Reidy, stated that violent hate crimes can cause significant psychological harm to an individual or individuals due to the assaults that were received. Sao Lue Vang was severely injured internally and externally, which now requires for him to use a wheelchair to move around. The consequence of having to use a wheelchair instead of his feet to move around would absolutely affect him psychologically. Not only would this affect the victim but the people around the victims as well. As Vang’s daughter, Mai Vang, stated, “He won’t be able to cook for us, and he won’t be able to help us with anything like before because of what Kevin Elberg did to my father (Suab Hmong Broadcasting)…” To not be able to do the things one was able to do before, can be a burden and that feeling of being a burden could affect one’s psychological thinking
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a biographical work on a Hmong family living in California during the early 80’s. While the book is a true accounting of the Lee’s family attempt to secure quality healthcare for their epileptic daughter while traversing the American medical system and the Department of Children Services. The author, Anne Fadiman, takes the reader on a painstaking but necessary journey of Hmong history and culture and how they came to reside in Merced, California. As you learn more about the history of the Hmong people, you come to admire them as a strong and resilient people that have, as a people, overcome many challenges with respect to being conquered, nomadic and always having to start over.
Jim crow laws and segregation were everywhere into the early 1960’s almost 100 years after the civil war. violence against blacks wasn't just confined to the years of slavery either. Blacks were still being lynched and burned at the stake INTO THE 1900’s. The KKK can be held responsible for that. This direct aggressive and violent form of discrimination boiled over in 1912, when in forsyth georgia, three black teenagers were accused of murdering and raping Mae Crow, an 18 year old white woman.
Another example of teetering racial hate is the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. In an article written by CNN, the author says, “March 3, 1991 - Rodney King is beaten by LAPD officers after King leads police on a high-speed chase through Los Angeles County.” (CNN). In other words, Rodney King unintentionally begins one of the most memorable riots in history. This is important because over the next five days fifty people will go on to die with more the two thousand injured.
Roger Daniel’s points out that there is masses of evidence pre dating the 1920s which can argue that hostility toward immigrants was certainly not a new development in America. This is an equally important factor as it shows there was always a flaw with the ‘melting pot’ theory and hostility was always a major part of America’s history. In the 1860s large numbers of Chinese immigrants flocked to America as cheap labour for projects such as the Union Pacific Railroad and by the 1870s there was over 1000,000 Chinese immigrants in the United States. They were often threatened with racial violence and driven out by WASPs who were threatened by the cheap labour they were willing to offer.
The killings of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and a plethora of other Black Americans have shown that the manifestation of hate and fear towards individuals of color is still deeply rooted in the American culture. Furthermore, the systematic maltreatment of groups of people in America has extended far beyond just the black community; it has become painfully clear that members of the LGBTQ, Latinx, and Islamic communities are facing a similar level of
The fact that hate crime is deemed a major problem for a nation makes the Mathew Sheppard and James Byrd act to be implemented at all levels. This act is implemented at the local, state and federal level within a nation. This because the federal. Local, federal and state authorities join forces during investigations and prosecution of these hate crimes to protect the entire nation from violence evolving due to hate among people. Therefore, to mitigate expansion of hate crimes in the nation all authorities are given the power by Mathew Sheppard’s act to prevent hate crimes and prosecuting
Family and group solidarity are important to the Hmong, yet they were forced to split apart during their journey to America. The Hmong also partook in ceremonies, dances, and sacrifices that were important to them and their religion, however, the doctors and other people were wary of these practices and didn’t condone them, especially when it came to patients such as Lia Lee. Lee’s doctors were constantly giving her shots, medicine, and feeding her through tubes. Her parents didn’t approve of this at all and thought that the medicines they were giving her was what was killing her.
For people to show up and make their support present. One student spoke about the fear that marginalized groups deal with everyday due to recent events involving hate. She said acts like these must stop. In Barbara Perry’s article, Hate Crimes, she talks about America’s color-coded society. She explains that whiteness has been constructed to be the normal American standard.
These communities were taught to utilize and take advantage of the education system, the small businesses, and workforce allowing them to be one of the fastest ethnic group with growing economic status. The Hmong people is nowhere near catching up to these ethnic groups because it has only been now, first generation Hmong Americans that are starting the trend of maintain an education and ending the poverty
However, in more recent times, Anti-Asian racism has evolved to take shape in an unprecedented way through the myth of the “model minority”. This idea essentially praises Asians for achieving more socioeconomic success than their other minority counterparts. The myth of the “model minority”
Hate crime What distinguishes a hate crime from other crimes is an underlying motivation based on the victim’s group membership. There has been much debate over the constitutionality of hate crime laws and which groups (if any) should be protected by such legislation. Those against hate crime laws argue that it is a violation of First Amendment protections of free, association, and freedom of thought. The Supreme Court confirmed that freedom of thought is implied by the First Amendment in R.A.V. v. St. Paul which those against hate crime laws argue makes such laws unconstitutional.
Hate Crime is a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” If an African American commits the same crime as an Caucasian it is more likely for the black person to be charged and arrested due to the racial issues we have today. There are many pros and cons towards the issue of racial crime, but hate crime is still a very difficult issue for our country to overcome. In order to overcome the issue of hate crime it would require changing legislation, public and police attitudes.
Locals were technically classified as “Asian Americans, Portuguese, Puerto Ricans, and Native Hawaiians,” meaning use of the word was actually racist, since it “gloss[ed] over and minimiz[ed] the historical differences” between these ethnic groups (Rosa, 101). Thus, this leaves Hawaiians in a rut; the Massie-Kahahawai case opened their eyes to their distrust in the government, loss of self-righteousness, and ambiguous identities, all through being an American territory exposed to a racial hierarchy. Now, we can see another facet of racism not mentioned by Gilmore, as it breaks down people of color by making them self-aware of their lack of power, trust in government, and personal and political
We still deal with racism and hate in our country as stories about acts of hate crime
Hmong Culture The Hmong primarily originated from the “mountainous areas of China, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos” (Purnell, 2014, pg. 236) and immigrated to the United States in 1975 after the Vietnam War. Primarily refugees from Laos, the Hmong people began immigrating to the United States in large numbers “after communist forces came to power in their native country.” (Bankston, 2014, pg. 332) Mainly settling in California, the Hmong began to be dispersed by American refugee settlement agencies across the country in the 1980s, also settling in Wisconsin and Michigan.