week 1

Week 1

A02

Priscilla Lee

            Growing up the way I did, I was very sheltered. My parents did the best they could to keep out the cruelty of the real, outside world. In many ways, I am thankful for this, but it also made me unprepared for what’s to come. In Professor Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde’s “Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia”, she specifically talks about the obstacles she faced in becoming a tenured professor. Obstacles in the twenty first century, you would think it would mostly only have to do with competition of skill and experience, but no this is not it. Dr. Valvarde was targeted for her skin color and faced a true injustice in academia that I no longer thought would be that big of a problem.

Thinking about my education so far, most of the professors I’ve had in this university were majority male and on top of that, mostly Caucasian. I’ve had men and women of color teaching assistants but more men than women. I never truly noticed the minimal level of diversity until after this week’s reading. I know stereotypes still exist in the world. They are associated with the color of our skin and our cultures. We cannot run away from them. But there are two sides to every story. There is always more than what meets the eye.

Question: As students entering the job market, how can we prepare ourselves for the discrimination based solely on our physical appearance?

References:

1. Valverde, K. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 12(2).

2. A. (2016, September 12). Rascism is an Act of Cowardice [digital image]. Retreived from http://www.zerotoalpha.com/racism-act-cowardice/