By TERRY TANG and MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
The federal government recently reclassified race and ethnicity groups in an effort to better capture the diversity of the United States, but some groups feel the changes miss the mark.
Hmong, Armenian, Black Arab and Brazilian communities in the U.S. say they are not represented accurately in the official numbers. While the revisions were widely applauded, these communities say the changes have created a tension between how the federal government classifies them versus how they identify themselves.
The groups say money, political power and even health could be at stake. Being lumped into the wrong column can mean a gain or loss of government funds that are distributed based on data. For some, it’s about their identity and feeling seen by their own country.
The Office of Management and Budget said the working group that oversaw the revisions held 94 “listening sessions” with many advocacy groups, academics and the general public, and it will continue to reach out to communities.
HMONG AND THE SECRET WAR
During the Vietnam War and unbeknownst to the American public, the CIA recruited Lao and Hmong people to fight the spread of communism throughout Southeast Asia. Tens of thousands of Hmong soldiers died while others fled to the U.S. as a result of what became known as the “secret war.”
By the 1970s, many Hmong had resettled in Minnesota, Wisconsin and central California. Today, Hmong in the U.S. number more than 300,000. Some states recognize Hmong and Lao veterans with annual ceremonies, and in April, the Wisconsin governor signed a law mandating that Hmong American history be taught in schools.
Given their history fighting in that region for the U.S., many Hmong feel strongly that they should be classified as Southeast Asian. But because China is considered the Hmong ancestral homeland, the U.S. Census Bureau categorized them as East Asian after the 2020 census.
“That has been very hurtful to our elders and to our veterans who sacrificed so much to get us here to this country after everything they did to help the U.S. during the Vietnam War,” said May yer Thao, president and CEO of the St. Paul, Minnesota-based Hmong American Partnership.
The East Asian label also pains them because the Hmong were oppressed in China as an ethnic minority and sought refuge in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, according to Quyên Dinh, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.
Those who object to the classification also have a practical concern: the East Asian grouping could hide socioeconomic disparities between Hmong and other Asian households that need to be addressed. The per capita income of Hmong was almost $26,000, while it was more than $53,000 for Asians overall, according to the 2022 American Community Survey.
“We are still one of the most impoverished communities in this nation,” Thao said.
The Census Bureau says it’s working with the Hmong community to improve their classification.