Hmong American Center. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – The Hmong American Center in Wausau received a racist letter last week that said to “try to accept our ways and learn English.” Executive Director Yee Leng Xiong posted a letter to his social media to alert the public.
“What made me feel very angry was the fact that many of the Hmong elders here who don’t speak English, they don’t know what nodding means. It’s hard for them to be able to acknowledge individuals if there’s a language barrier,” Xiong told WAOW-TV.
He attributes some of the letter’s contents to being a byproduct of the pandemic and people having pent-up rage inside them, while also not ruling out the recent discourse surrounding the “Community For All” resolution in Marathon County.
Xiong saying things like this letter are not isolated, adding attacks, verbal and physical, have gone up in the past year against Hmong people. “In 2020, several members–dozens of members in the community here have reported to us incidents where they have either heard of, seen, or actually experienced where individuals would go out after them,” he said.
Xiong has one message for whoever wrote the letter: “What I would always say is I’m always curious as to why they feel that way…I always think there’s an educational opportunity for everything here so I would love for the individual who did send us that mail, for him or her to reach out to us and we can help them, have a discussion with them so that they’re able to understand the Hmong culture,” he said.
The letter was sent anonymously.
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