Before I begin, I just want to say that this History research class has opened up my mind to a whole new way of learning. Normally, I would sit down and just listen to the instructor talk about past history. Even though I'd normally do well in my previous History classes, I can't say that it was the most entertaining classes to attend. This class actually lets us find out history that we didn't know existed. I love the fact that we could choose our own topic to research on and that just opened up so many possibilities to venture on. To be honest, before taking this class, you could say that I didn't put in the effort to learn about my family's history to go along with the Iu-Mien race in general. I'm glad to have taken this course because it reminded me of how I got here. My family sacrificed a whole lot for my generation to get to the United States and ultimately excel in a environment that gives us the opportunities that my parents, uncles and grandparents could only dream of back in their days. Now let's get to this week's blog!!
What is the significance of your research, of your story, outside of the fact that it happened? What bigger story does your research help us understand?
When I first started doing this research, I really didn't know what to expect. I knew that I wanted to find out some history about the Mien people, but never did have a clear understanding of why my story is of any significance to you readers. Even now I don't think that I have a definite answer but it has become a little clearer as I've did more research. I think my research is significant because it I found out more about my personal identity which can also relate to most of you guys. What I mean by that statement, is that yes, this may seem like a simple history research for a letter grade but it's much more deeper then that. I can't speak for everybody but the environment that I grew up in, I've learned that most kids in my generation don't really know anything about their family's history or how they're able to live the life they're living right now because of those who made that all possible including myself. All of my life I always knew that my parents, uncles etc all had a tough past but I never really paid much attention to it because they've complained about nothing. Everything came in full circles when I interviewed my uncle. The stuff he said they went through just to get to Thailand really got to me. The struggle and fight they endured really gave me a reality check because they've never once complained about any of this and we (my generation) complain about little things like class being too long. Anyways this is the point I'm trying to make. You can find out your personal identity by learning about your family's history (not everybody of course). Your family's past could be one of great accomplishments, struggles or tragedy all of whom play a part of who you are. My example is that my family worked so hard to get to the U.S and worked even harder when they were in the U.S. From that, I try everyday to better my life and further my education because I know none of them had any realistic chance of attending college due to their circumstances. Look into your family's past, ask you parents or just do a random Internet search for what it's worth. You are going to find out more about your family and yourself then you may expect to.
Historical context: what does your research reveal about the era in which it took place? How does the era in which your story took place shape our understanding of the evidence you’ve found?
I may be stating the obvious, but my research reveals that during this era, it was a major struggle for immigrants (and even today with the Arizona ruling which will be appropriate to talk about in another course). It was a struggle just for the people to survive in a Communist driven country and arguably just as hard when they got to the U.S. As my uncle stated, the refugee camps were not the best of living conditions to go along with thousands of people bunched up together. Then there was the case of those people getting randomly chosen to get a chance to get out of Thailand and to the United States. The lucky ones who got to the U.S had to face racism and discrimination from the natives on a daily basis to go along with language barrier and lack of money. Overall from 1965-1982, the immigrants in the U.S and in particular the bay area were fighting for their lives everyday and endured a lot just to get to the U.S. There was no time for rest and even had to adopt to a whole new world if they were the lucky ones to immigrate here.
· In what ways is your story a Bay Area story? Is it unique to this area? What else have you learned about the Bay Area’s past that helps you understand and contextualize your work? Consider the themes we’ve discussed in the reading…
I think this is definitely a Bay Area Story because many of the immigrants came over to the Bay Area during those waves. Many of those immigrants furthered their lives here in San Francisco, Oakland, Hayward etc. including my family. My family's story isn't really in the city of Hayward but in San Francisco and Oakland. I did however find numerous news articles about Vietnamese refugees in Hayward which did relate to that of my uncle's story and could possibly relate to Mien people in all. I found this research to be interesting because of numerous reasons but one in particular. Not too many people know of the Mien people and there aren't that much history on my people. So it is most definitely the case that there was history left out that should of been recorded. That reminded me of the Chinese immigrants article that we read about. Usually when we talk about agriculture in the U.S, we don't talk about how the Chinese helped with the cause but how the White people did all the work. That as we found out, wasn't the case as the Chinese helped a whole lot with the evolution of agriculture. That got me thinking like what if the Southeast Asians who immigrated here helped with something significant here in the U.S that we don't know of? I'm sure due to the pressure of the natives and to preserve American History with it's consistent run thus far (history mainly being told by Caucasians), there were positive things left out about the Southeast Asians.
What questions are you left with? What has your research uncovered, and remains to be discovered?
I'm left with SEVERAL questions!! Quite frankly, there's much more research to be found about my topic. I don't really know how to find out more due to the lack of sources but I'm sure there are ways to find out.
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