Professor Valverde's "Fight the Tower" is her story of overcoming the struggle of obtaining tenure. Throughout the article she describes the different obstacles she faced including, corruption, racism, sexism, and a life threatening hospitalization. It is a profound story with a powerful message to the world, a message in which people who read it can act on. It essentially is a "call to arms" to raise awareness of the types of obstacles people of all genders and colors face on a daily basis.
While reading this I could not help but think of a friend I looked up to in high school. He is currently on a NROTC scholarship at UCLA and though this is a great opportunity and privilege for him, he feels as if he has to work even harder to truly earn what he already earned. The last time I spoke with him he described how unfair the leadership was in the unit. He said how the leadership was mostly white and that the few Asian Americans in the unit were treated less equally than their fellow midshipmen. Even though my friend's struggle is completely on the other side of the spectrum compared to Professor Valverde's, the same themes of corruption and racism are still there.
My question is: Isn't diversity supposed to improve the quality of different work forces? What can we do to reduce corruption in academia and even the military?
My description, rather my friend's account, of the unfairness of the Navy's next generation of leaders is not representative of the entire U.S. military. In truth our military is more diverse than ever as shown here. If only academia was more accepting of the talent and skill the minority has to offer them.
References:
1. Valverde, K. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal of Social Justice. 12(2). 367-419.
2. "Strength through Diversity" [Digital Image]. (2015). Retrieved April 4, 2017, from
https://www.usuhs.edu/medschool/diversity
No comments:
Post a Comment