Xuan Wang
A03
Week 1

Professor Valverde’s article “Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia” gave me so much insights about this issue. I am an Asian female international student studying in an American university. However, I had never imagined that there would be so much discrimination in academia.

As the education in America gradually became a business and full of politics, the issue of discriminations against different races and gender would only be elevated. As Professor Valverde encountered when she was fighting for her tenure, there was so much office politics that she had to deal with. The discrimination came from colleagues and the administrations startled me because I never though that the problems would come from the people who should be our alliances in fighting against the discrimination instead of becoming the one who were actually bullying people.

Professor Valverde’s transition was admirable. From a scholar to a soldier who fought for her own rights and the people around her, it was such a huge transition. All the difficulties and denials of her identity might have put her in a dangerous situation, but it eventually transferred her to become more confident and brave. She truly fought like a soldier for the deserved position and rights.

All the obstacles that a colored woman could face in America were unimaginable. With all the discrimination and prejudice, there was nothing we could do but stand up to it. As Professor Valverde expressed in her article, we were not alone and we should not feel that we were alone. Fighting in solidarity was important to us because only as a group, we could create cohesion and truly gain the ability to change the current situation. Also, we should become strategic fighters. We should seek all kinds of help that we can find and really use them. We should know our rights and speak for ourselves. Fighting the tower might not be easy, but as long as we know we could change something, then anything we do would become valuable and meaningful.  

Questions: As a student, how could we prepare ourselves for the obstacles that we will encounter when we enter the work space? 

References:

Valverde, K. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 12(2), 373-419.

ThinkTank.  (2012, February 15). Havard, Princeton Admissions Discrimnation: Asian Student Lawsuit. Youtube. Podcast retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9m69WXMxls