Hmong professors and students at UWO said that they are excited for the steps being taken to include Hmong and Asian American history in the Wisconsin education curriculum from grades K -12.
Last spring, Gov. Tony Evers signed Act 266 into law April 4 which stated that Hmong and Asian American history will become a part of the Wisconsin K-12 curriculum.
“The Hmong and Asian American communities are a critical part of our state’s history, culture,
economy and our future,” Gov. Evers said in an April 4 press release. “It’s important that we
celebrate our shared histories and honor the people who help make Wisconsin the state it is today.”
Now, students and faculty from UWO are speaking up about how they feel about the bill being passed and put into action throughout Wisconsin school districts.
“I think this is kind of a long time coming,” Chong Moua, assistant professor of Hmong
Studies at UW Oshkosh, said.
Moua said it was crucial to finally have the policy in formal writing so that educators could
advocate for more resources and college students could come to class with a prior
understanding of Hmong and Asian American studies.
“The possibilities are just so much more,” she said. “I think we’ve been waiting for not having
to start at the beginning all the time, in terms of these courses and in terms of having people
think about, ‘why is it important to learn Hmong history?’”
Moua also emphasized that the curriculum change will allow Hmong students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum and have classmates who understand their backgrounds.
Fong Yang, a senior at UWO and the current president of Hmong student union (HSU), said she believes that it is important for students in Wisconsin to learn about the Hmong people as they are aggregated mainly in California, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
“Growing up as a first-generation Hmong student here in Oshkosh, we were always asked what we were,” Yang said. “All we knew was that we are Hmong and that’s kind of all we know until we learn more about it as time goes on.”
With the bill being passed into action Yang would like more students to be taught the Hmong culture because there are so many pieces of their history missing from the curriculum.
“I hope that students will learn about the hardships we had to go through, so the few Hmong students won’t have to explain or feel excluded while learning about history. There are so many things missing in our history,” Yang said. “Many Americans have a knowledge of their own history such as what they are, where they are from and what their family traditions are and what their ancestors did. That is something we do not have for the newer Hmong generations still to this day.”
As a member of the HSU Yang wants to bring awareness to the Hmong community, so that they are no longer overlooked like their history has been.
“[HSU] strives to make a safe space for Hmong students on campus, somewhere with others like us so we do not have to feel so left out or excluded,” she said. “We not only encourage Hmong students but everyone to learn about us and join our events here at HSU at UWO.”
