Rachel Wong
ASA 2 A02
Week 1

"Fight the Tower" describes the struggles Dr. Valverde was forced to face in the academia/educational system as an Asian-American woman. Reading the article made me disappointed in the injustices found in the educational system and made me surprised to read that other POCs working in her department sometimes did not support her in her struggle for tenure and would even bully her. As a female, Asian-American political science major, I can relate to her feelings of intellectual inferiority that she describes in part of the article, especially since political positions are commonly perceived to be occupied by white males. Since much of the educational standards has been set by predominantly western precedent, POC's are more likely to feel inferior to white individuals in educational settings. In many of the political science classes that I have taken, many, if not all, of my professors have been white males. In addition, most of my class peers have also been predominantly male. Females, more specifically females of color, rarely hold political positions, especially high-standing ones. All of these factors contribute to my occasional doubt in my own abilities while taking these courses, similar to how Dr. Valverde sometimes doubted her own abilities while trying to attain tenure. Although, much of the article made me disheartened by the cruelty of people, reading the sections in the article where she discussed the support from her students and workers in her department and her eventual achievement of tenure, made me feel hopeful that justice is approaching for people of color, more specifically for Asian-Americans in educational settings.

Sources: 

1. Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline (2013) "Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia, "Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 12: Iss. 2, Article 5

2. Rauf A. (2013, June 2). Gender equality?: 'Society not ready to accept women in politics' [Digital image]. Retrieved April 4, 2017, from https://c.tribune.com.pk/2013/06/557630-genderrights-1370150215-998-640x480.jpg

Question: What was the main driving factor for you to achieve your tenure? Was it more of a personal mission or was it to make a statement for Asian-American women?