Natalie Lortz- Week 1 A03

To me, Prof. Valverde’s story seemed extreme at first glance. But after reading further, it made sense once the realities of how truly detrimental the physical and mental effects of discrimination were. Though some might say Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia is depressing, and while I am very sorry that Prof. Valverde had to endure an ordeal of that nature due to work related stress, I actually found it quite empowering and liberating. I would like to articulate the message I personally perceived from this text in my own words: Speaking to my fellow Asian American women scholars, the truth behind academia, in sum, is the odds are stacked against us. Our position in race and gender was strategically manipulated in order to perpetuate a hierarchy in which ONLY the people who are similar to those who created the entire system, can succeed. Your perceived inabilities to achieve or be successful in the ways which you are expected to (whether by yourself or your family, peers, mentors, etc.) is perhaps, not your fault, but a typical result of a system that pushes us down. Race and gender are simply categorizations that only have the power to separate us if we let it. Similarly, yet on a larger scale, the systems of oppression that seek to place labels on and divide us will continue to win if we heed their falsehoods as unalterable truths. It’s a privilege to hold this lens just as it is a privilege to attend higher education. It would be a mistake to let the stereotypes and discriminatory barriers hold us down further. 

Question: 

What can we do, as the future of the world, to transform from “moldable” students to woke students that squash the inaccurate tales the system is telling us in order to suppress us?

References:

Valverde, K. L. C. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle J. Soc. Just., 12, 367.

Wing & Nguyen. (Photographer). (2017). Asian American Politics [digital image]. 
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