The Hmong American Center in Wausau, Wisconsin received an anonymous racist letter that said “they should try to accept our ways and learn English.”
The letter accused the Hmong people, who came to America as refugees who fought the CIA’s secret war against the communist in Laos, of failing to even acknowledge a nod as people walk by them.
Yee Len Xiong, the executive director of the Center, asked the letter writer to come forward so the two could have a dialogue.
“Although Marathon County has made a lot of progress in the last few decades, there is still so much work to do,” he wrote on his Facebook post.
“I hope that after our discussion, you will learn about our cultural practices and our experiences, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll gain a little insight into the challenges that many of the Hmong community members still face.”
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Xiong wrote he is not “offended or angry” about the letter, but later acknowledged to WAOW-TV he indeed was annoyed.
“What made me feel very angry was the fact that many of the Hmong elders here who don’t speak English, they don’t know what nodding means. It’s hard for them to be able to acknowledge individuals if there’s a language barrier,” Xiong said.
Back in March, Madison365 reported a vandal scrawled the letters “FU” in black paint on the center’s van along with a vulgar drawing.
He said several community members have had people actually “go out after them.” Xiong blamed the letter on the pandemic and “pent up rage.”
He called the timing of the letter “irony” because it comes after a “community for all” resolution in Marathon County.
“What I would always say is I’m always curious as to why they feel that way…I always think there’s an educational opportunity for everything here so I would love for the individual who did send us that mail, for him or her to reach out to us and we can help them, have a discussion with them so that they’re able to understand the Hmong culture,” he said.
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What grace and compassion. If all humans of all colors held such love in their souls, what a wonderful world it would be. What also struck me when I read the racist note was the word ‘English’ and how this is the language of England – a foreign nation and is the racist aware of that? America is not England. America is a land of many languages. It would be better to understand that America might have a shared language but it – English – has never been legally adopted as our National language. We are a nation of many languages. In Europe not England, people can speak 2-3 or more languages fluently. There is the joke about tri-lingual, bi-lingual but what is a person called who speaks one language? American. It is time for white Americans to embrace other languages.