Week 10 - Linnea Patterson A02

Linnea Patterson
June 4 2017
ASA 2 A02

Week 10 - The Future of Higher Education

The last week's reading is both a conclusion and summary of what we have learned so far in the course, as well as a call to action to challenge the corruption of the University system. Valverde and Dariotis in their piece "'The Time to Fight is Now'" speak to the structural problems in the foundation of higher education, which leads to a "high stress environment leading to dysfunction and illness" (2). The works acts an expansion of Valverde's "Fight the Tower" piece that we read during week 1, that questions Asian American women's unique roll in the dismantling of higher education, as they balance a tricky role of "dominant and worker" (2) as the model minority. The ongoing Star Wars references and analogies were a breath of fresh air to my mind, that has been pounded with dense, unrelatable readings. Through this humor, Valverde and Dariotis are able to get close to and inspire the reader into taking their destiny into their own hands. "Do. Or do not. There is no try" rang out throughout the work, emphasizing the importance of structured resistance. I commend these authors for standing up to a system that they still work under. It's a noble and brave thing to do, and I hope to have that much courage in my life. My question is, how do individuals that are too afraid of the repercussions of resisting systems like the University stand up for what is right? The text mentions that "Fear is the path to the dark side" (26) but how do we turn this fear into constructive anger and progress? Attatched is a video that is a play on the popular internet trend the "mannequin challenge". Here Asian Americans stand up and fight the systematic racism that has plagued the media for years. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FEv6mLJ_E0

Works Cited

E. (2016, November 22). Retrieved June 04, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FEv6mLJ_E

Valverde, C & Dariotis, W. (2017). "The Time to Fight is Now": When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue. Retrieved June 4, 2017