The Need for Critical Race Consciousness in Critical Hmong Studies

Hmong Studies Journal

卷:21

关键词: critical race studies;    whiteness as property;    critical hmong studies;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This conceptual paper draws upon critical race theory (CRT) in education and whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) to reflect on the need for critical Hmong studies to include the development of critical race consciousness as an important goal of the field. The paper focuseson the racism within community and campus contexts in Wisconsin and how critical Hmong studies could empower students to successfully navigate race and power within their personal and professional lives. Wisconsin’s racial context includes anti-Hmong hostility, deficit and exotic framings of Hmong culture (DePouw, 2012), and racial triangulation (Kim, 1999) of Hmong Americans as “model minorities” in relation to other minoritized groups such as African Americans, Latinx Americans, or Somali Americans (Ngo & Lee, 2007; Lee, et al., 2017). The common thread is deploying white supremacy through an essentialized and racialized version of Hmong “culture” (DePouw, 2012), not only in mainstream society but also in educational spacessuch as the University of Wisconsin System (UW System). To many educational institutions such as the UW System, a focus on culture or identity may appear less threatening because “culture” allows white supremacy and institutional racism to remain unnamed and therefore uncontested. One of the challenges for critical Hmong studies is to try to maintain institutionalsupport while also educating its students to develop critical consciousness around race and other forms of oppression, and to foster student agency to address issues relevant to Hmong American communities. Critical race studies in education and the analytical tool of whiteness as property (Harris, 1993) are necessary to support critical Hmong studies in advancing the goals of critical thinking and agency within institutional and social context.

【 授权许可】

Unknown