5 April 2016
Section 2
Week 1: Fight the Tower
Professor Valverde's piece "Fight the Tower" was extremely eye-opening in several ways. Although I knew that women and Asian Americans face much discrimination and especially in the workplace, I was ignorant to the extent to which it can damage a person and even lead to death. Professor Valverde's intimacy with her piece allowed me to see how these engrained traditions of the academe are so backwards and detrimental to the minorities under its power. One expects higher education establishments to nurture and encourage its underlings, as it seems to do with students, but the hidden racism and sexism that lies deep in its roots are unshakable. Because I am not Asian-American or a Woman of Color, this piece truly opened my eyes to the daily mistreatment Women of Color receive and have to navigate through. With watching the UC Davis pepper spray incident video this week in lecture along with reading Professor Valverde's story, I came to the realization that change within a higher education system will only take place if confident minds take a stand.
One of the most rage-inducing parts to read from "Fight the Tower" was about Professor Valverde's struggle to attain basic health services after her near death-experience. Even though she was so close to death, she was met with little sympathy or help from the University as they "dismissed my health issues" (Valverde 400). This lack of empathy for others struck a similar chord to the police officer who pepper sprayed the Davis students in 2011. With the power he possessed, he withheld human decency, just like the department did with Professor Valverde, which I found shocking and almost unbelievable.
I thank Professor Valverde for sharing such a personal story with us. It takes courage to stand up and resist such a large institution that still controls much of her working life, and I commend her for that.
My question is: How can we dismantle and erase the hierarchy and discriminatory practices that higher education institutions harbor, without facing dire consequences, as seen with Professor Valverde and the Occupy Davis movement?
Included is a graph representing a survey from Asian men in the workplace, exhibiting that racism provides many obstacles for People of Color to maneuver around, as illustrated in "Fight the Power".
References
Askarinam, L. (2016, January 26). Asian Americans Feel Held Back at Work by Stereotypes.
Retrieved April 5, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/asian- americans-feel-held-back-at-work-by-stereotypes/458874/
Valverde, K. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal for Social Justice.
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