Unveiling the fighters of the "Secret War"

In May, MinnPost shared a compelling article about the fight of local Hmong veterans, who played a vital role in the Vietnam War, to achieve full military honors and burial rights in U.S. national cemeteries. As members of a division known as the Special Guerilla Unit, these veterans took part in the so-called “Secret War” by aiding the CIA to prevent passage of supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos. After the war, many former SGU members fled persecution in Laos, eventually emigrating to the United States. They now make their homes in the country whose military they helped to support and whose soldiers they risked their lives to rescue.

Traditionally, however, U.S. military burial rights are only given to American servicemen and women. This means that currently, despite the thousands who fought and even died alongside American forces almost as an extension of the U.S. military itself, Hmong veterans are not awarded the same opportunity for interment in national cemeteries as their American counterparts.

According to MinnPost, Take Action Minnesota has been involved in the recent push to bring the issue to the public forefront. In the article, organizer Dai Thao concisely explains the importance of extending military burial rights:

"Hmong vets gave up their homeland to defend American freedom," he states. Affording burial rights to this group, says Thao, "will show that the bonds forged by Hmong and American veterans are real, and are not forgotten."

Now, after years of lobbying from SGU member organizations and supporters nationwide, California legislators have come through. This week, they introduced a bill to Congress that would give full military funeral honors to Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War. The bill in many ways recognizes the story and monumental sacrifice of these veterans--a sacrifice so often obscured by history--on a national level for the first time.

With an estimated 7,000 Hmong potentially affected by this bill, the challenge now rests with legislators to build congressional support for fighters and allies who have long been forgotten by, or never even revealed to, the American public.

Asian American history needs more than just a month

MUsings may not have been around to celebrate Asian American History Month in May, but that doesn't mean we need to wait until next year to recognize the long, storied, and oftentimes shocking history of Asians in the United States. In May, change.org highlighted a list of 10 facts about Asian American history that emphasize the social injustices and discriminatory practices that Asians have experienced in the last 250 years. As incredible as these facts are, it is even more surprising how few people are aware of them.

As the article states, Asian American history is grossly overlooked in our educational system. Despite entire units devoted to World War II in middle and high school level history classes, for example, most students graduate with extensive knowledge of the Jewish concentration camps in Europe but may never learn about the injustices that occurred in Japanese internment camps right here in our own country. While the advent of Asian American History Week in the late 1970s, and its subesquent expansion to Asian American History Month in recent years, provides some recognition on a national level of the contribution of Asian Americans, it is only a small step toward a much larger need for public education in the part that Asians have played throughout the course of United States history.

If there were one thing that you could teach all students today about Asian American history, what would it be?

Jeremy Lin is no Yao Ming

Lin is an undrafted 6’3 point guard who recently graduated from Harvard University. Ming is a 7’6 Chinese national and former number one overall draft pick with the Houston Rockets.

Yet the American-born Lin will soon join Ming in the NBA, having just signed a three year contract with his hometown Golden State Warriors.

Asians in the NBA, or any North American professional sports league for the matter, are as common as balmy winters in Minnesota; you just never see one. The ones that do come along, like Ming and Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, are already established foreign-born stars, vehicles for the NBA and Major League Baseball to market their brands to global audiences, including immigrant communities in the United States.

I doubt Lin will receive any huge endorsement offers anytime soon. But that doesn’t make his achievements any less compelling: an unknown Asian American kid from California who played his butt off at Harvard and earned a spot with the Warriors thanks to pure merit and hard work. In other words, the stereotypical Asian American experience.

If the NBA really wants to reach Asian communities in the United States, perhaps they should keep an eye on Lin, especially if he gets really good.

Will he become the Asian Jackie Robinson for basketball? Too soon to tell. But like Robinson, he’s already seen the ugly side of the race barrier.

In an interview with CNN this weekend, Lin said he heard racial taunts throughout his career at Harvard. The only real surprise, he said, was the abuse he took as a freshman when he didn’t even play that much.

Lin took it in stride. “I accept it as part of the game,” he said. “They’re just trying to get into your head.”

It’s sad that Lin has to accept it as part of the game. Everyone expects a little trash talking. But racial taunts? Whatever happened to “your mother wears combat boots”?

Black players endured the same thing before breaking into baseball and basketball. Today, black players are the majority in the NBA. One can only assume (or perhaps hope) that fans don’t scream “nigger” at games. If they did, which player are they trying to mess with?

Here’s hoping Lin can excel in the NBA not as a novelty or race pioneer but as American kid who got game.

by Thomas Lee

Welcome to our MUsings

For the past few years, we in the Mu Performing Arts office have been passing around the idea of starting a blog. After all, the ranks of Mu artists, staff, board, and friends are teeming with talent, ideas, and unique perspectives from the Asian American community that deserve to be shared. As an organization whose mission is driven by seeking out and expressing "the heart of the Asian American experience," who is better suited to provide a place for sharing those perspectives than Mu?

Although Mu is a theater and taiko company, MUsings is about more than just Asian Americans in the arts. It is a home for stories, news, reviews, profiles, and commentary that provides insight into what it means to be Asian American and, by extension, what it means to live in an increasingly diverse society. We will feature a variety of regular and guest bloggers from a broad spectrum of backgrounds who will each have his or her own voice to share. It is our hope that as MUsings grows, we will become not only a blog, but a hub where people from all walks of life can connect with one another, engage in discussion, and build a community around a common purpose: to journey into the Asian American experience in all its forms.

Without further ado, welcome to MUsings!