Native Americans: Indians But Different People, Just Like the Hmong

Junior Discusses Nationality, Ethnicity. “Some of you may ask, “what’s the difference between the two?” Well, you could look at it more like the Native Americans who lived in America before the whites came over. They were all considered Indians but were different people. For instance, the Cherokees and the Iroquois Indians were both considered Indians but they lived different lives and cultures. Just like the Hmong, we are labeled the same but are different in our customs and beliefs.”

Junior Discusses Nationality, Ethnicity

Thao describes differences, explains confusion | By Joshua Thao, | Writer | November 8, 2012 | Www.Thefeather.Com

While in Chinese 1, a student asked out of curiosity what the difference was between someone’s ethnicity and nationality. Although I already knew the difference between the two, it surprised me that people did not know the difference. Not long after, a few other students asked the same question. Our Chinese 1 teacher, Dan Harris, decided that it was time we knew the difference, so we spent a few minutes of class discussing the differences between the two. Sometime later, one of our substitute teachers, Myster Holliman, asked me if I knew the difference between the two. He told me that a few of his Hmong friends were offended when he told them they were Laotian while they lived in Laos. I told him [Holliman] that although they were Laotian then, they were still Hmong. He already knew the difference between the two words and was just testing to see whether I knew; I was glad that I passed his test.

A lot of people ask, “what is the difference between someone’s ethnicity and nationality?” Nationality refers to what country you live in. For instance, many Hmong-Americans do not know that while our parents and ancestors moved from country to country, our nationality changed. When we [Hmong people] lived in Laos, we were Hmong-Laotian and while we lived in China, we were Hmong-Chinese. Thus, the country in which you live in is your nationality. Since many of us moved to America, we have become Hmong-Americans. Someone’s ethnicity would depend on their own culture. For example, I am Hmong, and American. Thus, I am referred to as a Hmong- American. However, both my parents are a different kind of Hmong. My dad, Chia Thao, is a white Hmong, while my mom, Marsha Yang, is a green Hmong. “Some of you may ask, “what’s the difference between the two?” Well, you could look at it more like the Native Americans who lived in America before the whites came over.

They were all considered Indians but were different people.” – Joshua Thao, ’14. Some of you may ask, “what’s the difference between the two?” Well, you could look at it more like the Native Americans who lived in America before the whites came over. They were all considered Indians but were different people. For instance, the Cherokees and the Iroquois Indians were both considered Indians but they lived different lives and cultures. Just like the Hmong, we are labeled the same but are different in our customs and beliefs. If we wanted to be more specific about ethnicity, we could use someone with several cultural backgrounds. Junior Jonathan Agao would be a good example to further explain my point. His mom, Lisa Agao, is half German, a quarter Irish and another quarter Scottish. His dad, David Agao, is half Filipino, one quarter Welsh and an eighth English. This makes Jonathan one quarter Filipino and German. He would also be an eighth Welsh, Irish, English, and Scottish.

Thus, someone’s nationality refers to the country they live in, while ethnicity refers to cultural backgrounds. For more opinion articles check out Broadway star speaks in series, shares career path.