{"id":161,"date":"2017-01-22T21:57:33","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T03:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/?page_id=161"},"modified":"2026-10-16T17:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T22:17:15","slug":"161-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/161-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mai Lor Thao"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mai Lor Thao<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/a>Mai Lor Thao<\/strong><\/p>\n

A<\/strong><\/span>fter losing her parents when she was very young, while fleeing from the Communist Lao, Mai Lor Thao was raised by her grandparents. They fled to Thailand where she later married Vager Xiong and had two kids in the refugee camps. In 1990 they immigrated to the US where she raised the rest of her family, she is the mother of 10 kids. In 2000, Thao stopped working due to some injuries and is living off welfare.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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\"We are from the mountains and countryside of a third world country. Our lives revolve around the land. Because of that we weren\u2019t educated. We didn\u2019t even know how to spell our names. In terms of education we were very far behind. The first thing we learned is to use hoes and machetes to dig up the earth and harvest fields. We never had the chance to hold pens like others were able to. So we struggle to catch up to them. Whenever people ask me what I am, I say I am Hmong. Then they ask me \u00a0where I\u2019m from and I say I\u2019m from Laos. Since I am Hmong, I can\u2019t also be an American. But when they ask if I am a citizen, I say yes. Even though my background is Hmong, I have lived here for over 20 years. But I am still Hmong\"<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>