The Latehomecomer – A Reflection

The Latehomecomer - Before Reading

In my eyes, the Hmong culture is mysterious. I know little about its origins and customs. I am aware that they are a group of people without a country, who call parts of Asia their home. Personally, without a country, the Hmong culture seems more like a religion and system of beliefs. I believe they have many traditions that go back centuries and are still practiced today. Many Hmong have come to America seeking opportunity, similar to people from all over the world. I am looking forward to reading The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang and learning more about the Hmong culture.

While reading The Latehomecomer I went through a range of emotions and an adventure of learning. Honestly, I was not sure what to expect before opening the pages of the book. Initially, I felt compassion for the author and her family. Yang created an environment that surrounded the readers with everything Hmong. Her writing made me realize the severity of the catastrophic events that happened to the Hmong people. I felt sorrow when their family group, seeking safety in the jungle, was ambushed by North Vietnamese soldiers. The group, many of whom were relatives of Yang, were placed in a refugee camp, and Yang’s mother and father were separated for a long period of time.

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In fact, all the men were separated from their wives, which in turn caused readers to better understand the suffering. On the other hand, Yang’s novel also made me feel pleased. I very much enjoyed reading the section of the book about Yang’s family traveling to the United States, and I felt as if I developed strong relationships within the family. For example, I felt as if I could relate to the bond between the author and her grandmother. However, when the grandmother passed away as the novel came to a close, I felt a feeling similar to that of guilt. Yang’s grandmother could not be buried according to with traditional Hmong practices, which was something she had always desired. I felt as if in being an American I had some part in taking away what she wanted most: to be back in Laos. Reading The Latehomecomer was an experience that I won’t soon forget.

After reading The Latehomecomer, I now realize truly how little I knew about the Hmong culture. Even after completion of the novel, I feel as if I have only scratched the surface of just how much there is to learn about the Hmong. Hmong people live everywhere. I developed the misconception that they live in Asia because that is where they originated. However, during the fighting in the Vietnam War, the Hmong people were forced to find a new home. Rather than being a religion, being Hmong is being part of an ethnicity. According to The Latehomecomer, “Hmong is an ethnic minority.

[They] don’t have a country. [They] are here looking for a home.” (Yang, 2017, p. 4). I was also wrong about saying that many Hmong traditions are still practiced today, when in reality, many Hmongs were forced to leave their traditions and customs when they left their homes. However, some Hmongs have enriched America by bringing some traditions with. Through my extended research, I learned that “many Hmong have enthusiastically continued artistic traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation.” Hmong people rely heavily on oral tradition to pass down tales and folklore, which is one factor that keeps the Hmong culture alive (Hmong Culture).

The world as we know it today once started as small societies that blended and developed to create the people on today’s earth. Overall, early agricultural societies have many similar characteristics. The Hmong society is comparable to other societies worldwide. One characteristic is in the holistic approach to medicine. In The Latehomecomer, Yang’s grandmother is a Shaman. Shamanism is defined as “an ancient healing tradition” and a “way to connect with nature and all of creation” (What is Shamanism). Shamanism is in fact so common that it has ancient ties to almost every ancient group. Another characteristic that the Hmong have in common with other early societies is in the farming practices. The Hmong’s reliability on rice as a staple crop is similar to that of the Tarahumara group’s reliability on corn. The Tarahumara is a tribe from Mexico.

They use corn in nearly every meal, and the success of their group depends on the success of the crop (McDougall). This is similar to the Hmong in the way that they grew rice. Before they were forced to leave their land, the Hmong relied heavily on the rice crop for their survival. Hmong people can also be compared to most other minority groups throughout the world in the way that they assimilate. Assimilation, is defined as “the process by which a subordinate individual or group takes on the characteristics of the dominant group” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 24). Hmong people and all other minority groups have shown signs of assimilation during their growth. As we can see, the traditional Laotian society of Hmong people is very much comparable to that of other early societies worldwide.

Prejudice and discrimination are not new concepts; in fact, they’ve been around as long as people have been different from one another. It is important, however, to realize that discrimination affects different groups in ways specific to their situations - the discrimination faced by Asian-Americans and Native Americans, for example. The Hmong as a group experienced, and still do experience discrimination today. In their case, instability, prejudice, and war in their homeland caused many to flee in search of a better life. While many weathered these events while trying to make a go of life in their homeland, still many others left. However, the idea of “going someplace else” or being a refugee was never an option for most Native tribes. Native Americans have been treated as an undesirable trait of frontier America. A trait that needed to be eradicated or transformed to fit what we now view as American society. Where the Hmong experience discrimination in a strange new home, Native Americans have had to watch theirs be taken. While the obvious, negative effects of difference show up in both cases - loss of culture, ostracization from local communities, and poverty - it is extremely important to note and make other aware of the differences in every situation.

Learning about diversity is vital to any student as they further their education process. As humans, we must practice empathy towards our companions on this world. One of the best ways to gain such empathy is to be educated in diversity. If we are aware of the aspects that make each person different, we can then learn to respect and embrace the differences. While reading The Latehomecomer, I became much more empathetic to the Hmong people. I learned about their struggles and successes, and how their original society got to where they are today. I can now take this knowledge and apply it to other minority groups that I encounter throughout my life, in order to develop the same amount of respect I now carry for the Hmong. Introduction to Diversity Studies helps young adults bring awareness and empathy to those of minorities. As world leaders and public figures become increasingly more insensitive to the importance of diversity, it is important that the average citizen learns how to acknowledge and embrace differences.

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