By Monique Balas
News-Chronicle
May Xiong thinks it's past time she saw a Hmong in local government.
She should know. Xiong was the first Hmong refugee to arrive in Green Bay when she came here in 1976, and she has never had the chance to see a Hmong serving in local office.
"I think we should have one on City Council, maybe someone in Brown County, too," said Xiong, who owns May's Supermarket at 120 S. Broadway. "Every office, we should have one person there talking to many Hmong people, making decisions."
It's important to have someone on the council who understands Hmong culture and language, and is familiar with local government processes, she said. Organizations such as the Hmong Association of Green Bay can help the community by doing outreach, Xiong said, but Hmongs need people they can go to for specific issues.
Those who work on a daily basis with Hmongs and Hispanics reiterated Xiong's thoughts.
"Hmongs and Laotians have a very difficult time with trust in a person," said Lue Yang, a Hmong paralegal at Legal Services of Northeastern Wisconsin. "Hmongs and Laotians have a saying: 'Tiger will not bite tiger,'" he said.
Yang said Hmongs have a fear that if a landlord threatens them with deportation - Legal Services lawyers in Green Bay say this is happening more than they care to admit - a white lawyer would not go against a white landlord if the matter went to court.
Other issues Legal Services lawyers have run into are deportation threats by companies who employ a lot of Hispanics, as well as domestic violence cases, situations in which the abuser will threaten the victim with deportation, said Rebecca Cohen, an attorney at Legal Services.
The problems caused by unfamiliarity with culture and language are extensive. Hispanics and Hmongs often need help getting basic assistance such as food stamps, unemployment benefits, Social Security and disability checks, child care, job training and tax information, Yang said. They simply do not know where they can go or who they can turn to in the community who would know.
"If there were an active liaison with city government, to keep all levels of government alert and sensitive to the disability of language, then I think access by everybody would be improved," said Gary Hassel, an attorney who works with Yang at Legal Services.
Ya Yang (no relation to Lue Yang), a Hmong alderman who represents District 10 in Wausau, is convinced his Hmong constituents would not come to him were it not for his ethnicity. Describing himself as an "ambassador" between Hmongs and the Wausau City Council, Yang has been approached on issues as serious as racial profiling to more minor ones involving volleyball facilities.
"There's certain issues where, if I'm not Hmong, they wouldn't raise it," Yang said.
For example, he frequently gets phone calls from angry Hmong parents who feel their son or daughter was unfairly harassed by police.
In addition, Yang said Hmong youth enjoy playing volleyball, but they have a cultural dislike of playing on sand courts. So Yang has arranged to help Hmongs in his community to get playing space on grass or asphalt.
"Something like that, that's what I, as an elected official, know something that other people may not be aware of, where I can make some difference," Yang said.
There are times, too, when Hmongs in his community come to him for other concerns he can't resolve, but Yang's advantage as a council member is he knows exactly what they are asking for, because he knows their language, and he knows where to send them.
"I have received calls regarding the police department or county board standpoints considering custody or other issues. I explain the best I can, but basically I will follow through with the department head and try to have somebody else explain the issue. Sometimes it helps with having somebody work from the top down," Yang said.
Juliet Cole is a Nigerian woman who has been living in Green Bay for 30 years. Assistant to the director at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's Institute for Learning Partnership, she was asked if representation would help the black community.
"Of course," she said.
A mother of four sons, Cole has watched as they and her nephew have been repeatedly thrown out of downtown nightclubs for breaking dress codes, which she says is nothing but an excuse. She said this problem has been going on since 1998 and the fact that it hasn't been addressed reflects Green Bay's homogenous population.
Cole feels helpless in addressing the matter because she lacks the right connections.
If she or someone from her community was on the council, she said, there would be no such problem.
"Once you sit on that council, you have taken responsibility for applying the law across the board and making sure that everyone in the community is included and not exclude anyone and protect the rights of everybody," Cole said. "If I were sitting on that council, I would make sure Green Bay is known for what is best, not for worst."
She warned that the nightclub issues and others that have been ignored may result in growing tensions.
"When you deny them a simple thing like a nightclub and our leaders close their ears, there is growing discontent; it's going to grow, grow, grow. What can you expect to grow out of that? Tension. Conflict," Cole said.
NEED FOR REPRESENTATION
Many other minorities cannot provide specific reasons or proof they need representation; they just know they do.
"It's an urgent need" to have representation, said Kaonaophia Vang, an outreach coordinator at Family Services.
"In terms of culture and understanding where we come from, people who actually know our culture and language," need to be present, Vang said. Former County Executive Nancy Nusbaum, who worked in local government for more than 16 years, agrees with Vang.
"Everyone comes to government with a different set of experiences that affect them when they're making decisions," Nusbaum said. "If we don't have people with the experience of being a minority, dealing with issues of housing and transportation, it gives us a less-rounded dialogue and a decision that's made with partial information."
She used the example of a person with chronic mental illness who was recently appointed to Brown County's Human Services Board.
"How much better it is to have someone who copes every day with that illness" serving on the board, Nusbaum said. "I believe that as government, our makeup should reflect a cross-section of the community."
She acknowledged that is "an ideal," cautioning that elections are not a blind process, and only the most qualified people should get hired.
"I guess my main concern is the lack of representation from minority communities such as the Hmong community," said Vue Lor, president of the Hmong Association, "the lack of voice, to voice the issues and concerns from this community to city and county government. I think it's important to be able to voice concerns to city government so we can all work together to address concerns."
"I am affected, because, going to school, I don't have any role models," said Louna Moua, 25, a recent college graduate. "I think not having someone in government (is problematic) because sometimes I feel like I want to address something, but I don't know what to do, who to go to."
She said having someone in local government serving as a liaison between the Hmong community and the city would be worthwhile because day-to-day issues for Hmongs prevent them from being able to easily access information. "We're still struggling with trying to live in this country and feed our families," Moua said. "Having someone in government could give us information of what's going on."
She said such representation could provide Hmongs with resources they may be unaware are available. Even if they are made aware, they may have no idea how to get those services.
The lack of Native American representation doesn't bother her too much, said MaryLoeffler, a 48-year-old Oneida/Sioux who works as a Native American tutor/aide at Hillcrest Elementary School.
"We have our own nation," Loeffler said. "The philosophy we have probably doesn't coincide with yours."
She acknowledged Hispanics and Hmongs could be hurt by nonrepresentation, because relevant programs for those communities could be cut without the right people making the decisions.
She pointed to English as a Second Language and literacy classes, multilingual documents and translators as examples of what these communities might lose.
"That's why I think the city should have two of each ethnic group," she said. She said potential employees might decline to move to Green Bay once they discover there are no minorities to represent them.
NEED TO GET INVOLVED
It's not that the community isn't trying to include minorities, said Amparo Baudhuin, an immigration counselor at the Diocese of Green Bay who works frequently with Hispanics.
"Many agencies have tried to meet needs and come up with solutions to ensuing problems," she said. "Everybody is trying their best. However, we have large numbers, and somebody, somewhere, is falling through the cracks."
Blacks in the community need representation foremost, according to Frank Smith, because they tend to "find out at the last minute" when something in the community is going on that will affect them.
Second, said Smith, who can be found most days selling his Holy Smokers barbecue at the corner of Broadway and Walnut Street, blacks encounter undeserved wariness when they want to do something in the community.
He said some African-Americans have been trying to get a center for area blacks, but to date have been unsuccessful. Having someone serve in local government will help them do that.
"There is a Hmong center, a Hispanic center, a Multicultural Center, but if we dare say we want a black center, alarms go up," Smith said. "Anytime we want something, people are afraid we'll take over."
This is why, Smith said, blacks are reluctant to ask for anything in the community.
"Either we're radical, we're a threat or we're a troublemaker," he said. He admitted more people in his community need to try to get involved in government, but they need to be able to do so in a community that will be supportive of them, not just highlight their differences.
Not everyone is concerned they aren't getting representation.
"It doesn't bother me a bit" there are no Hispanics serving in elected offices, said Aide Guzman, a 24-year-old waitress at Maria's Mexican Family Restaurant, 106 S. Broadway.
"It could be our own fault for not running, maybe for not going to school, not wanting to learn," Guzman said.
She pointed out many Mexicans come to Green Bay to work in manual labor, in fields such as agriculture and fabric outlets.
"A lot of Hispanics didn't have the alternative to go to school. In Mexico, you have to pay for school, even starting in kindergarten," Guzman said.
Because of the lack of education and language difficulties, many Hispanics are not geared toward working in local government, she said, but she will be happy if things change.
"I hope in the future there will be more Hispanics who will run for positions," Guzman said.
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