[Tlc] L-Hmong rebels in SoCal

Wed Jun 6 21:00:40 PDT 2007

Sent by Dr. Karen Adams.
Thanks,
justin

Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 11:27:01 +0000 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: [archive-laonews] 2007-0606 - Star Tribune - Many
Hmong don't back general: 'This is
our home now'

2007-0606 - Star Tribune - Many Hmong don't back general:
'This is our home now'

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1227974.html

StarTribune.com

Many Hmong don't back general: 'This is our home now'

A generation gap tends to shape the community's reaction to
Gen. Vang Pao's arrest. Middle-age Hmong don't hunger to
return to Laos like their parents did, and the younger
generation has a very different dream.

By Curt Brown, Star Tribune

Last update: June 05, 2007 â€“ 11:40 PM
As word of Gen. Vang Pao's arrest rippled across the country,
Lao Lu Hang, of Woodbury, did what countless members of the
Hmong community did Tuesday. He picked up the phone and called
his father, Tru Hang, a former major in Vang Pao's military
brigade now living in Michigan.

They discussed Vang Pao's arrest in California for allegedly
conspiring to topple the Communist government in Laos, and Lu
Hang was reminded of the generational split that divides the
Hmong community's opinion of the former general.

While older folks and veterans remain indebted to Vang Pao's
leadership during the Vietnam War and their ensuing U.S.
resettlement, their kids' respect is more qualified, and their
grandchildren seem ambivalent.

"To my father's generation, he was a great general back in
Laos and his dream has always been to go back, but we're here
chasing the American dream and this is our home now," said
Hang, 40, a vice president of commercial banking at the
Western Bank on St. Paul's University Avenue.

"We don't think going back to Laos through violent means is
the way," he said. "If you want to change Laos, we should go
back and visit and invest in the businesses there. But for
myself and many other mainstream Hmong, it's important for
people to know that not everyone is backing Gen. Vang Pao."

Several people in the Hmong community said the general's 30
years of fundraising often came on the backs of the older
people who could least afford it, while their younger, more
educated children found Vang Pao less and less relevant.

State Sen. Mee Moua, the nation's first Hmong-American elected
to state legislative office, worries that news of Vang Pao's
indictment will tarnish her community's image.

"I have always felt it's generational, and those of us who are
younger professionals have tremendous respect for those
warriors who gave so much service to the U.S. government,"
Moua said.

But that was 30 years ago, and the new charges against Vang
Pao trouble Moua, who flew to California on Tuesday for
previously scheduled meetings.

"I'm concerned about unintended consequences on the
Hmong-American community," she said. "Once again, a small
number of individuals in the community have created a
situation and now the entire community will be scrutinized."

At the Hmong ABC bookstore on University Avenue, kids from the
Hope Community Charter School were grabbing free posters of
the smiling Vang Pao reading a book to support literacy --
only after store owner Yuepheng Xiong told them he was in custody.

'A desperate man'

Xiong said that Vang Pao's bid to raise funds to return to
power in Laos is "old news," something he's been openly
advocating for years. He said Vang Pao's recent motivation to
allegedly buy arms and stage the overthrow might rest in the
plight of the resistance freedom fighters. About 10,000 Hmong
remain in the jungles of Laos and are reportedly being
systematically wiped out by the Communist forces. Their safety
has long been a matter of concern to Hmong in the United States.

"This is a desperate man trying to help the people in the
jungle," Xiong said. "I couldn't believe his arrest because
this man has long been a friend to the American people."

Xiong said the general frequently visits his shop, considered
the nation's first Hmong bookstore, during his regular visits
to Minnesota.

"I respect him as a great leader and general, even though I
disagree with some of what's he's doing," said Xiong, 43.
"We'd all like to go back to Laos freely and without fear."

Michael Yang, a Hmong community activist, said elders and
leaders will meet tonight to discuss how to handle the
controversy.

"A lot of us are frozen," Yang said. "We have kids in school,
people in business, and he's an important person with an
impact on everybody."

Vang Pao was scheduled to attend the popular Hmong sports
festival next month in St. Paul. Organizers say his indictment
won't affect the event, which is attended by thousands of
Hmong from across the country. Construction is scheduled to
start this month on a school in Madison, Wis., which was to be
named after the general. Officials are now considering
changing the name.

All of which has Hang and Moua, the banker and senator,
shaking their heads. Hang remembers when the general visited
his restaurant in Michigan 12 years ago. Knowing he might die
in prison if convicted adds some sadness to many people's
reaction.

"He's 77," Moua said. "You can't help but pity him."

Added Hang: "He's been talking about this for 30 years, but
now all of a sudden the government has some proof against him.
The younger generation doesn't care. The older generation
still respects him, and those of us in the middle don't
believe in going back through violent means. This is our home."

Curt Brown â€¢ 651-298-1542 â€¢ curt.brown at startribune.com

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu