I AM THE FORCE

I must admit I have a few problems with the Chai Vang story. Despite his conviction for the cold-blooded murder of six Wisconsin hunters, Vang remains unrepentant and the Hmong community seems intent on blaming the rest of us.
In story after story, Hmong representatives express the view that discrimination must share part of the responsibility for these killings. This feeling appears to be very deep and heartfelt in the Hmong community, and I find it extremely depressing.

The melting of Hmong immigrants with Wisconsin's population has been a challenge from the very beginning. The shock of leaving the killing fields of southeast Asia for an apartment in Eau Claire has to be tremendous. And everyone has not always been welcoming, I'm sure. Although one would think that the Pathet Lao had to be rather more frightening than the German and Norwegian-Americans of Wisconsin. Regardless, the Hmong have developed an attitude of aggrievement. Cultural differences have remained entrenched, and the Hmong in Hmong-American has apparently remained the pre-eminent identity.

This attitude of aggrievement and cultural dislocation clearly played a role in last November's killings. And instead of moving away from this twisted way of looking at things, the Hmong community seems to be embracing it with even greater fervor. Instead of recognizing our common humanity and working to get to know each other better, many in the Hmong community seem to be pulling even further away. This is all sadly reminiscent of a great book a few years ago called "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down." This work of nonfiction is about an ill Hmong child and her family's frustrating struggle with western medicine. The Hmong parents did not understand or trust the doctors, and the doctors did not understand or trust the parents. The tragedy that resulted was a direct result of that cultural divide. I will not stereotype an entire community of feeling this way, since there were certainly many eloquent denunciations of Vang from some. But make no mistake, there will be many more problems as long as this attitude of cultural estrangement continues.

As someone who was in the woods that day, I would like to hear unequivocal condemnation of these murders from all quarters. Chai Vang is no hero. He's an unstable and despicable coward who murdered innocent people because his feelings were hurt. Shouldn't we all be able to agree on that?

See you in the woods.