Talk:History of the Hmong in Merced, California

This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

United States: Asian Americans Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Asian Americans (assessed as Low-importance).

California Low‑importance

	California portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject California, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the U.S. state of California on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CaliforniaWikipedia:WikiProject CaliforniaTemplate:WikiProject CaliforniaCalifornia articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Southeast Asia: Laos Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Southeast Asia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Southeast Asia-related subjects on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Southeast AsiaWikipedia:WikiProject Southeast AsiaTemplate:WikiProject Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Laos.

United States History Low‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States History, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the history of the United States on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.United States HistoryWikipedia:WikiProject United States HistoryTemplate:WikiProject United States HistoryUnited States History articles

Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

WikiProject United States History To-do:

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Cleanup : United States History articles needing attention
Infobox : United States History articles needing infoboxes
Stubs : Stub-Class United States History articles, Category:United States history stubs
Other :
- Place either of the following WikiProject banners on United States History-related articles and assess:
  - {{WikiProject United States History|class=|importance=}}
  - {{WikiProject United States|class=|importance=|UShistory=Yes|UShistory-importance=}}

This article was nominated for deletion on 11 March 2012 (UTC). The result of the discussion was keep.

Oddly specific[edit]

While I don't have a problem with the information as it's given, it seems an oddly specific focus. Why Merced? Why not Fresno or St. Paul? Are there any parallel articles? I'd suggest merging it to another, more general article, but I'm not sure which one. — Æµ§œš¹ _{[aɪm ˈfɹ̠ˤʷɛ̃ɾ̃ˡi]} 13:19, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Because that is the focus. Because it focuses on Merced. If you want focus on St. Paul or Fresno, then you have to start a History of the Hmong in California article and write a history there after collecting data from research. WhisperToMe (talk) 17:58, 28 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

So we have an article focusing on the Hmong in Merced because we have an article about Merced's Hmong population? That seems rather tautological and having an article that focuses on a specific subgroup of a tiny town is, as far as I can tell, unprecedented at Wikipedia. What's wrong with merging with Hmong American? — Æµ§œš¹ _{[aɪm ˈfɹ̠ˤʷɛ̃ɾ̃ˡi]} 20:25, 28 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As indicated by the body of the article and the external links, there are lots of written materials on the Hmong community in Merced. If there are ample sources about a subject, then it can have an article.

Wikipedia:NPOV#Due_and_undue_weight says that an article cannot have "undue weight" on a particular aspect of a subject. If all of this was added to an article about Hmong Americans it would put undue weight on the specific aspect of the Hmong community in Merced. "Undue weight" can refer to points of view and factual information.

This does not stop anyone from making more general articles like History of the Hmong in California or History of the Hmong in the Central Valley of California - All one needs to do is go do the research and compile the article.

WhisperToMe (talk) 02:46, 29 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notes on articles[edit]

The Conway article (in part 2 on page 10) mentions the Oregon state agency having a taped message asking the Hmong to move to California. The article says that Sharon Fuji, the regional director of the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Development, put it to an end by threatening to end Oregon's assistance -- This could be useful if one wanted to write a general article about the Hmong in California. WhisperToMe (talk) 02:36, 12 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Jonas Vangay[edit]

Fadiman page 248 states that Vangay was originally "Vang Na" but changed his name in France because he believed a name that did not "sound so Asian" would cause his résumé to receive more job offers than if he had kept the name the same. The book said that he worked as a Hmong language teacher in Merced College and worked as a bilingual education specialist of "the Merced school system". Fadiman talked to Vangay in an elementary school classroom, and she and Vangay communicated in a mix of English and French. WhisperToMe (talk) 00:36, 13 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hmong churches[edit]

According to:

Orozco, Ron. "Merced Hmong Alliance Church." The Fresno Bee. Saturday January 12, 2002. H2.

There is a church called Merced Hmong Alliance Church, established in 1982. It rented the sanctuary of the Evangelical Free Church, and as of 2002 was raising funds to build a standalone worship facility. In 2002 almost 90% of the congregation was born in the United States, so the church conducts youth group services in English and Hmong. Some adult members of the congregation did not speak English.

I'm not sure how prominent of a role it has in Hmong history in Merced. WhisperToMe (talk) 00:48, 13 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Additional newspaper sources[edit]

Fadiman's book mentions on p. 308 (in "Notes on sources")

Viviano, Frank. "Strangers in the Promised Land." San Francisco Chronicle. August 31, 1986. Pages 15-21. - Details of Dang Moua's story
Bartholome, Arlene. "Future is Uncertain for Area Refugees." Merced Sun-Star. Volume 141 (CXXXXI), No. 144. Page 1 and Page 14, Column 1. - Info about Dang Moua - Could be useful if one wanted to write an article on him
"Laotians drop ranching plan"
Merced Sun-Star had headlines on October 20, 1982, January 21, 1983, and May 11, 1983

WhisperToMe (talk) 02:08, 14 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]