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Becca Holey
VUSM 280
Marlene Fisher
October 30, 2012
The Latehomecomer
Summary: The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang is about a Hmong family’s journey to
America. The story is told by the author who was born in Ban Vinai Refugee camp. The story
focuses on the struggle of the Hmong people the author's family manly. Yang writes about her
family's struggle during the war, how her parents met and fell in love, families running for their
lives away from enemy soldiers and still found a way to stay alive and happy together.
A question that sparked my attention was what Hmong children are often asked by their
mothers and fathers “what are you” “in the right answer was always, “I am Hmong,” it wasn't a
name or gender, it was a people” (Yang 1). I like this quote/question because it made me think
back to my family when I was growing up, I was never asked “what are you” I was always told
that you can do anything you put your mind to. This question makes me believe that Hmong are
proud people. Even when they had nothing at this time they were still Hmong and they were still
proud. I think that people are scared of change. With the world we live in as a human race we
need to move past our differences and except others for who they are. If during the Vietnam War
we accepted people for how they were and what they believed in even if we did not agree with it
the war would have never happened. It would have saved many lives of innocent people’s lives.
As I started reading this book I felt the pride that Hmong families have for each other even when
they had no food, no country to go back to they still are proud to be Hmong. I feel as Americans
we take so much for granted that we forget about the little things. I have to be careful not to
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stereotype Americans too much but as a country we do forget about little things. We are caught
up in our own lives to think about others. As the book moves through Yang's family journey it
produces stories of facts that I could not start to imagine going through. Her family and others
were separated in the jungles, some villages were bombed and so many Hmong’s were killed. I
thought it was hard being away from my family while I am here college where I can go home
and see them on the weekends when I want. The fear each person went through every day for
years is awful and I cannot even begin to imagine the worry they carried with them in the fear of
not being able to keep their families together.
Throughout history Hmong people have been pushed out of countries like China, and in
this book the Hmong people were being pushed out if Thailand we know this is the Vietnam
War. The Hmong did fight back against the French and many of them were killed. When the
Americans came into the war they were able to recruit someone Hmong people to fight with
them. Another quote that caught my attention is
Hmong people who had seen enough Americans to trust in an idea of democracy: a place
where we could live with each other as if we belonged: a promise of home. Those who
believed took the guns. Those who were still only struggling with their lives saw guns
pointed at them. That explosion of flash, the falling down of heavy bodies to the ground
wet blood soaking the dark of the earth. The North Vietnamese soldiers and the
Communists Pathet Lao soldiers could not and would not tell the difference: Hmong was
only skin deep. (Yang 3)
This is because I feel that people do only look at what they can see and then make a decision on
whether they are going to like them or not. This not only happens to Hmong’s but other races as
well. The Latehomecomer is a good example of just one situation of one group of people
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believing they are better than another group of people. There are many more examples out there
where other people live and deal with discrimination each and every day.
Relationship to the course: The Latehomecomer relates to class discussion and a textbook by
showing how classism and racism can affect a group of people. In The Latehomecomer Hmong
people are being pushed out of Thailand and have nowhere to go but into the jungles. This shows
classism by one group of people forcing another group of people out of the country. The first
group of people believes that Thailand is their country and Hmong do not belong. This is
showing class by one group believing they are superior over another so they can tell them what
to do.
Section 3 in the book Reading for Diversity and Social Justice explains what classism is
and how it affects people. The book explains where the social class and classism came from and
why we still have these today. On page 143 it talks about the obstacles that we have to overcome
with class, “another obstacle to our acknowledging the importance of class and classism in the
United States is internalization by those privileged as well as those disadvantaged by class, of
deeply held denials that class exists in the United States” (Adams 143). Classism does exist in
the United States. When the Hmong arrived in America they knew little English, had very little
money, and were at the bottom of the classes. At the end of The Lathomecomer Yang enters
college, for Hmong woman to be educated is a big deal. By making something out of nothing is
very impressive to me. Americans are stuck in classes and classism you even see this starting to
show in middle school and high school where children who are poor and do not have much, or
children who are different from the other kids will be the ones who are bullied during school.
Whereas in The Latehomecomer when the families are living in the refugee camps all of the
families had very little so they were all the same. But when they moved to America and their
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children entered school the American children treated them differently until they were able to
accept each other's differences.
Our textbook also talks about racism; even though we are free nation, racism is all around
us. Racism happens all the time, and it does not only happen to one specific group of people, I
believe it happens to everyone. Whether you're white or black or Latin American racism is
always around. In the textbook Reading for Diversity and Social Justice in section 2 it talks
about racism “we the people, in order to form a more perfect nation” (Adams 59). This is the
beginning of a quote from President Barack Obama's speech on March 18, 2008. I chose this
quote because we are the people of the future, we as a country need to move past racism and see
people for who they really are. I think this quote relates back to The Latehomecomer because
Hmong people are still people. As I said before Hmong have been pushed around and push out of
countries because they are a minority. This book is a classic example of one race discriminating
against another. Racism not only affects adults but it affects children as well “the impact of
racism begins early. Even in our preschool years we are exposed to this information about people
different from ourselves. Many of us grew up in neighborhoods where we had limited
opportunities to interact with people different from our own families” (Adams 66). I chose this
quote from the book because I can relate to it. I grew up in the country in an all-white
neighborhood; I graduated from a small mainly white high school and was not really introduced
to other races until I entered college. I believe that a country that is becoming as diverse as
United States we as humans need to move past our differences and work together to become one
strong and accepting nation. I know this is easier said than done but wouldn't it be nice if
everyone could get along and accept each other's differences. The Latehomecomer mainly talks
about Hmong people and their struggles for life. Even though this is one example there are many
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more examples out there about racism. Racism is a very serious subject and cannot be taken
lightly we need to do a better job of educating our youth to create a better future because race
impacts our lives every day from the moment we enter preschool.
Personally Significant Segments: A section in the book that I found significant was when the
family was living Ban Viniai Refugee Camp. Yang talks about having fond memories of living
in the refugee camp with her family. Yang lived in the camp until she was six years old to her
this is home. Yang and her grandmother felt the same way about camp, for them this is an ideal
life and they were surrounded by people who love them. Life in the camp was not so bad as long
as they were together and they were happy. Yang tells about the game her and her cousins would
play while passing time in camp, the game was called Vietnamese and Hmong.
We played a simple game. When a Vietnamese found a Hmong and took a shot, the
Hmong person would fall to the ground. Sometimes, a relative Hmong would run past a
fallen Hmong in stock to lament, just like the adults: “Get up. Why have you fallen? Get
up and we will run together.” Of course, like in the war there was no running for fallen
bodies. In the end, if you were fast and you left everyone knows behind, if you stopped
yelling to the other Hmong people: “Run they are coming! Run they are coming!” If you
just looked behind yourself and ran as fast, if you were lucky you escaped and got to live
in a refugee camp (Yang 67-68).
I found this part of the book significant because it shows how the youth was affected by the war.
The children were playing a game where they pretended to kill each other when in reality that is
what was really happening to their people. Being a child during this time and not really
understanding what was going on must've been difficult. As an adult watching the game the
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children were playing most have been hard because they did have two leads some people they
love behind in order to have survived.
In other parts of the book that I found significant was when Yang’s family was leaving
for America and she had to say goodbye to her grandmother. She said “one day, will find our
way to you. This country is big but it is not as big as our love for you” (Yang 134). I find this
quote meaningful because it shows the love they have for each other. Even though they have to
part and go different ways nothing is going to keep them from each other. It may take them
months maybe even years that they will find a way back together again. This kind of love is
found in a family that has gone through everything together. They have lost everything they had,
they have nothing together, but the one thing throughout the whole book that they did not lose
was her love for each other. If anything their love for each other grew stronger throughout the
book. I find this bond in their family touching, and very moving.
When the Hmong made it to America they had to work very hard to provide for their
families. “There was no room to complain in our home about work. It was the only way we could
have a life in America. It wasn't just us. It was what all the Hmong people were doing” (Yang
178). I found this quote moving because they did have to work to provide for their families. They
did not know much English, and they were far away from what the new and were trying to adjust
to American life. Hmong people relied on each other to make it through hard times. When they
started settling in America they would take any kind of jobs that they could get, they would get
hand-me-down clothes from old church basements because they cannot afford designer clothing.
As a family they did what they had to do to make ends meet, all of them knew this so no one can
complain. Everyone would lose out if they did not work together to make ends meet. Whether it
was the children taking care of their younger siblings or parents earning money for food and rent
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they work together to make it. Like the quote said there was no room to complain it had to be
done.
Overall opinions: Overall I enjoyed The Latehomecomer, I liked the details the author put into
the story and how the story was about her family, it gave a personal connection to the book that
you can relate to your own life. Some information that was new to me from the story was that I
did not realize after the Americans left the Hmong were still running for the lives and many of
them were killed by the Vietnamese and Laotian soldiers. For the Americans the war was over
but not for Hmong. Another thing I did not realize was that the Hmong do not have a written
language, they tell stories and pass the knowledge down from generation to generation. This is
why so many Hmong man and women today are trying to preserve the stories of their ancestors
and begin to write them down so generations to come have something to look back on. Also so
many Hmong children are learning English as well so they can learn in American schools. By
writing down the language the children will be able to keep that tradition alive and keep passing
down the stories. This story has shown me the struggles and the horrors Hmong went through
and it has changed my view to that we should treat every person with respect even if we don't
agree with what they believe in their still people.
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Works Cited
Adams, Maurianne. Blumenfeld Warren. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York:
Routledge, 2000. Print
Yang, Kao Kalia. The Latehomecomer A Hmong Family Memoir. Coffee House Press.
Minnesota: Kao Kalia Yang, 2008. Print.