Week 11

Alexander Broughton

Week 11

Section 2

“The Dream is Over: Lenono and the Death of the Asian American Movement” article reminded me of Hamamoto’s talk about how institutions--specifically governments--weaponize the people in order to maintain the status quo and “stop dissent.”  In relation to government programs like COINTELPRO, I constantly think about how eliminating or “assassinating” social leaders will affect their followers. The group breaks without a central leader or icon, so it causes people to return to the dumbed-down status quo that encourages racial tensions. From personal experience, this leads to groups of racists and hate crimes. One of my close friend’s brothers, Sunny Tripathy, was wearing a turban at the local mall on the day of his prom when he was viciously attacked by a group of neo-Nazis, shattering his clavicle, breaking his back, and fracturing multiple bones. These attackers were a part of the White-American stereotype and status quo, and attempted to uphold the same values as the government-hired assassins of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark of the Black Panther Party. I believe that the issue extends beyond what the article speaks of; I think the government is weaponizing citizens to uphold racist Americanism.

How can we bypass institutionalized racism to mainstream diversity and equality in America?

P.S. My friend’s brother, who was the victim of the hate crime, has just recently signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to write and produce a TV drama series about his experiences that will be comparable to Fresh Off the Boat. The show will be centered around an Indian family in America to increase the number of accurate representations of Asians in Media.