The theme of Week 5 is “Imperial University.” Hamamoto’s reading titled
“Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence” lists several examples of
the negative effects of the United States imperial foreign policy on minorities,
and American citizens in general, in the civilian society. This reading relates
to the theme because the United States imperial policy abroad was supported
through the campaign in controlling or imperializing the university at home. The
other reading titled “The Imperial University” by Chatterjee and Maira relates
to the theme because other than the title of the document itself, the reading
brings to light the idea of a “military-industrial-academic” complex that seeks
to promote “American” ideas.
In Hamamoto’s article, I found the subsection Cannibal and Headhunter to be a shocking and clear instance of
racial bias in law enforcement. Even though the Laotian male teenager managed
to escape from the white male maneater, and what appeared to be escaping his
death, his fate was sealed by the police officers who failed to investigate
further. The police officers placed more weight and credibility on the words of
the white man rather than the distraught condition of the Laotian teen. If it
were a white victim who escaped, I have very little doubt that the officers
would question the suspect and eventually arrest him. This bias is unfortunately
the consequence of the United States campaign of demonizing the enemy during
the Vietnam War without adequately differentiating Asian American citizens at
home.
The reading titled “The Imperial University” brought a new insight
to terms that I learned in previous classes. I was familiar with the notion of
the “military-industrial” complex, but adding the third pillar of academics fit
in so well with the United States’ mission of promoting an imperialist policy. The
idea of policing knowledge makes me think back to George Orwell’s dystopian
novel 1984. It is more convenient to use the universities to indoctrinate
people into thinking that American imperialist foreign policy is for the good
of the country rather than teach people to think critically about whether it is
good for the country. It is almost a form of mind control on the population.
Question: How can students criticize the injustices in
the academic system if there exists the fear of being retaliated against?
References:
Hamamoto, D.Y. (2003). Empire
of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence
Chatterjee, P. and Maira, S. (2014). The Imperial University: Race, War, and the Nation-State.
(2015). [Image] Retrieved from https://medium.com/@ianbattelle/on-american-imperialism-894a32b26854.
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