The

Hmong people The Hmong people ( RPA: ''Hmoob'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , ) are a sub-ethnic group of the Miao people who originated from Central China. The modern Hmongs presently reside mainly in Southwest China (Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chon ...

are a major ethnic group living in North Carolina. According to the American FactFinder, there were 10,864 Hmong living in North Carolina, with about 5,133 living in and around the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The history of Hmong immigration to the United States largely begins in the 1970s and 1980s after the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Our Lady of the Angels Catholic church in Marion, North Carolina sponsored two refugee families, and First Methodist Church followed suit. However, it was Rev. Allen McKinney of Marion's Garden Creek Baptist Church who was the driving force and encouraged larger resettlement to the region. Hmong families who had been resettled in areas like

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

soon joined relatives in North Carolina. The Hmong were drawn to the mountainous part of

Western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United S ...

due to its geographic similarity to

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. Additionally, many found manufacturing work at sites around the region. The arrival of the Hmong to North Carolina was not without its detractors, however. Some locals viewed the refugees with suspicion, and rumors of the Hmong fighting against Americans in Laos, being welfare cheats, or overpopulating local residents became more widespread. Rev. McKinney, working closely with Hmong community leader Kue Chaw, dispelled many of these claims.

Today

Today the Hmong are an important part of the cultural and economic makeup of the region, with their own churches, restaurants and markets.https://ncpreservation.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/ncpc-slideshow-yang.pdf North Carolina now has the fourth largest Hmong population in the United States, behind California, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Many second-generation immigrants have encouraged their peers and younger generations to aspire for higher education.

University of North Carolina, Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

University of North Carolina, Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

and

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

all have Hmong Student Associations on campus to help build community. Additionally, DigitalNC, a project of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, UNC Chapel Hill Library, and the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center initiated a project called Hmong Keeb Kwm: The Hmong Heritage Project. This project is aimed at maintaining the special history of the Hmong in North Carolina.

References

{{Hmong Americans by location Asian-American culture in North Carolina Demographics of North Carolina Hmong-American culture and history