Social Communities at Work

Steven Chi

Section A02

Reading Reflection #1

In Response to “Asian Pacific Americans’ Social Movements and Interest Groups” by Kim Geron, et al.

            In “Asian Pacific Americans’ Social Movements and Interest Groups” by Kim Geron, et al., I was extremely surprised by the strong unification of Asians and Asian Americans in various social movements. For example, on pages 18, Asian American taxi cab drivers located in San Jose went on strike with other fellow African American drivers, demanding that the police department re-vamp their workforce and safety policies. The first thing that stood out to me here was how the entire Asian American community came together. The article already clarifies this while discussing panethnicity: although the Asian Americans on-strike came from completely different backgrounds, they all bonded together for the same cause.

The second thing that really surprised me – something the authors shied away from – were the people participating in the strike. It didn’t just include Asians; “Ethiopian and Somalian cabbies” were also very involved (18). Thus, in my opinion, people are willing to set asides their differences only if there is a common goal to be reached. However, this doesn’t always work. If we take a look at the current Congress, we can agree that everybody there come from unique backgrounds and wants the best for America – yet practically nothing is ever accomplished. So why do people of different backgrounds work together some times and not others? Exactly what kind of mechanisms are at play here?