Week 1

Alex Truong
Section 2


In my opinion, I had thought that after high school that bullying would stop, that it was something outrageous for so called "adults"to bully their peers and colleagues. Being able to grow up in a much more diverse and accepting area I was exempt from bullying and challenges that others have faced. Thus allowing me to assume that adults seldom encounter bullying and bullies. However, now that I am much more aware of worldly events and concepts of racism and bullying I begin to see it much more.

My mother being a Vietnamese immigrant she was faced with many horrors and challenges. She came to America with little to nothing and was forced into becoming a nail technician, the stereotypes for Vietnamese females. Day in and day out she had to manage dirty feet and dirty hands in order to make a living, back breaking labor. In addition to the laborious hours she was met with condescending and racist remarks. Some of these consisted of calling her stupid, incompetent, and unsuccessful. But how can someone who has moved across the world with nothing and make a living unsuccessful? How can they call her stupid when she has learned the language? How is she incompetent when she has assimilated to our very different culture?

I never viewed my mother's job as a "professional" one. It always seemed like a minimum wage. Upon reading Professor Valverde's article I was unsure as to whether bullying actually happened in a "professional" setting. Reading the article really opened my eyes. I always had a mentality that everyone has some sort of good in them and look out for one another. However, the article says otherwise. People are out there only trying to benefit themselves. I see this struggle through my mother, she has coworkers but it doesn't seem as if she really has friends. She goes to work and comes home everyday. Seldom does she go out. If America is really the land of the free and equal why are there so many people left out? Why is there so much ill will directed towards minorities?

Burgess, J. (2010, July 14). How to Handle Workplace Bullying. Retrieved from http://money.howstuffworks.com/business/starting-a-job/how-to-handle-workplace-bullying.htm

Valverde, K. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 12(2), 381.