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For the Hmong, rural Laotian tribesmen who migrated to Powelton Village in West Philadelphia in 1981, the City of Brotherly Love proved anything but. They came with little knowledge of American life, only to be confronted by crime, unemployment and blacks who called them gooks. The Hmong, though, had been taught one thing about America: do not trust black people. When the teacher of an elementary school English class attempted to explain the meaning of the word hate, the class of young Laotians responded that they knew what they hated: blacks. The mutual ignorance spurred violence. Some of the Hmong were threatened in the streets. In a fight between a group of Hmong and several blacks, one Hmong had both his legs broken and his skull fractured. Less schooled in urban survival than the Koreans and Vietnamese, the Hmong began to move away. Says Chuck Moua: "We are trying to be nice and friendly, but we have got into trouble."
Like most who came before them, the new immigrants are animated by the belief that America is the land of opportunity, and for many of them it is. Yet for much of the black underclass, America still seems to be the land of opportunity denied. In each case, the perception has often been fulfilled.