Learning “America”

First- and second-generation Hmong American youth gather much of their information about America and “being American” from their experiences attending school. This ethnographic study explores the way Hmong American students at a public high school in Wisconsin interpret what it means to be Hmong in the United States. It examines the way the culture of Whiteness at the school shapes Hmong American students’experiences and their understandings about being American. The article addresses such questions as What is the school teaching Hmong students about America and being American? How do non-Hmong students and staff construct Hmong American students? How do Hmong American students respond to the culture of Whiteness?