密歇根新闻广播 与底特律仅剩的苗族人家之一的亲密交谈

When we talk about immigrant communities in Detroit, the Hmong don't usually come up in that conversation.

The ethnic¹ group from Southeast Asia began settling in Northeast Detroit's Osborn neighborhood in the years after the Vietnam War.

More recently, many of Detroit's Hmong families have left the city for Warren, Center Line and Sterling² Heights. There are, however, still Hmong families living in Osborn, like the Changs.

Richard Chang moved to the United States from a refugee camp in Thailand in 1976. He and his family bounced from Minnesota to Washington, and then eventually to Detroit in 1981. "Because the economy in Michigan was really good," Chang remembers.

At the time, he was a teenager, attending what was formerly³ known as Osborn High. After the first wave of Hmong families settled in Osborn, the Detroit Public High School had a student body that was, according to one former teacher, one-third Hmong. After high school, Richard Chang got married, found a job, and started a family. In 1996, they left Detroit for Warren. Better schools, better neighborhoods. Not an uncommon⁴ story.

But then Chang lost his job with Ford⁵ in 2008 and couldn't keep up with Warren's property taxes. So the family moved back to Osborn and bought a house for $10,000. By the time he returned to his old neighborhood, many of Richard Chang's Hmong neighbors were gone.

"Used to be this street," he says as he walks me around his block, "All the way to 7 Mile, a lot of Hmong people live here. Now they all sold."

Mika Chang (left) with her sisters Bea, Kallia, Shannon and her nephew, Vincent.

Though there are still Hmong people living in Detroit, the numbers have significantly dwindled⁶. From 2000 to 2010, the Hmong population in Osborn dropped from around 1,700 to 500. Today, Richard Chang's daughter, Mika, is the only Hmong student in her 10th grade at Osborn Collegiate Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology. Osborn MST is a DPS school that used to be part of the old Osborn High. In 2009, the large high school was divided into three small schools: Osborn MST, Osborn Evergreen⁸ Academy and Osborn College Preparatory Academy.

Talking about living in Detroit, 15 year-old Mika Chang is blunt.

"This places sucks. I can't ride my bike anymore," she says. "The neighborhood's not safe enough. I like to ride my bike in a safe place."

She also misses her old school and classmates in Warren.

"I feel dumb. We don't learn anything at all. I used to be as smart as my friend Alexis. Or maybe even smarter. And on the same par⁷ as my friend Amy who's a straight A student. Now when I see their work, I'm like what is this!? I don't really blame the teacher. I don't blame the students either. I don't know who to blame."

There are some bright spots at Osborn MST, Chang explains, like her Spanish teacher, Mr. Peck.

"He is the best Spanish teacher I've ever had in my life. I know more Spanish probably than I do Hmong. Honestly I would make him teacher of the year."

Mika is thinking about leaving Mr. Peck and MST for Osborn Evergreen next year. She's got the ACT test coming up. And she thinks Evergreen's math teachers are better than Osborn MST – a school where "math" is right in the name. But Mika says what she really wants it to feel like she's getting as good an education as her old friends in Warren are getting.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

3 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

4 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

8 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。