Linnea Patterson A02 - Week 5

Linnea Patterson
30 April 2017
ASA 2 A02

Week 5 - Imperial University

Darrel Hamamoto's piece "Empire of Death" illustrates the extent to which violent death is normalized in society, and how even terrorizing, brutal deaths can be brushed off the backs of citizens. The section that stood out most to me was "Race Murder", wherein the methods and patterns of killings of racial groups is explained. Although I was aware of the "white supremacist systematic violence" (Hamamoto 283) that white people have inflicted upon people of color for centuries, I did not realize the extent to which murder is highly racialized. The holocausts created by white people in Vietnam and Korea, amongst other Asian countries, are influenced heavily by race. The systematic racism and power that white people hold over people of color is translated into every action, including mass murder. Just how a University can be "imperial", in that it is domineering and tyrannical, so is the hold white people have on so many countries, and has consequently lead to so many deaths.  This topic makes me wonder about the curriculum taught in schools surrounding the Korean War and other atrocities white people have inflicted upon other countries. As we all know, history is told from the point of view of the victors. But knowing the other side of the story would give a full picture and illustrate the racialized nature of these horrible murders. Why don't we teach about these events from the perspective of the victims? Included is an image from the Korean War. Why don't we know their stories?

Works Cited

Korean War Records [National Archives]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/research/military/korean-war

Hamamoto, D. Y. (2003). Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence. In Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Era of American Empire (1st ed., pp. 276-292). New York, New York: Routledge.

Week 5

Week 5
Section A02\
Vance Lockmiller

In "Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence,"  Darrel Y. Hamamoto discusses the relationship of government, government officials and violence.  The paper uses severl examples of previous or still existing military personal being responsible of committing crimes.  Other examples include crimes being committed in response to certain events happening in history such as with Native Americans and the Vietnam war.  The times around the Vietnam war saw an increase in crimes committed against the Asian Community.

It is really sad when you hear of crimes such as these because they can be prevented.  Some of these stores that were discussed in this article such as people sniping people in town or the one about rape didn't have to happen.  If someone is depressed or not in a normal state of mind, not only should they go to the doctor or psychiatrist for help but if their family of friends see them in this way, they two should take them to the doctor.  When crimes such as these occur, there isn't much to discuss except learning how to prevent them as I said above.
 
My picture is of Uncle Sam.  This iconic figure was used to help resemble our country and for recruitment in the military.  I also think this picture should be used for post war soldiers to go to their doctors to prevent any sort of post stress crime to occur.  It's better to be safe than sorry.

Q:  How many crimes occurring where if people saw something suspicious and didn't report it,  it could have been prevented?



Hamamoto, D. Y. (2003). Empire of death and the plague of civil violence. In Boggs, C. (Ed.), Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Era of American Empire (pp. 272-296). New York, New York: Routledge.

United States nicknamed Uncle Sam. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-nicknamed-uncle-sam

Jowi Deguzman - Week 5 - Section A03

Jowi Deguzman

Section A03
Week 5

In Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence, by Darrell Y Hamamoto, Hamamoto writes about how there was an increase of serial killings of Asians and Asian Americans in the United States right after the Vietnam war ended. Unknowingly, when the soldiers were ordered to kill the Vietnamese during the war and view most of the Vietnamese people there as enemies, some of them continued to use this thought process when they came back to the Unites States and taught their communities to view Asians and Asian Americans as the enemy. I have never thought about this correlation because I did not know that many cases of Asian and Asian American murders had the same backgrounds, but it makes complete sense. If people are more exposed to violence, they are more likely to partake in violent action, as it has somewhat been normalized for them. Imperialism is defined as “the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies” (dictionary.com). Based on this definition, Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence relates to the theme of the week, “Imperial University,” because people in higher education could unknowingly be using the same thinking that was spread from these Vietnam war veterans and past it down to them. Racism and discrimination of Asians and Asian Americans in Academia could have come from this. I always thought that being discriminated against as an Asian American was solely because I looked different than the average white American. However, reading about this and learning about how it could have come from these Vietnam veterans truly opened my eyes to the different possibilities in why some look at me the way they do.

References:

Darrell Y. Hamamoto. “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence.”

Imperialism. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/imperialism

Fuchs, C. (2016, May 23). Complaint Filed Against Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown Alleging Discrimination. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/groups-file-complaint-against-yale-dartmouth-brown-alleging-discrimination-n578666

Question (To prof. Valverde): Have you experienced any form of racism, or even violent behaviors, from a veteran from the Vietnam War?

Media: I chose this image because it shows how Asian Americans are discriminated against, and it is valid that this racism could have come from these veterans from the Vietnam War. 

Week 5: Charlene Chan, Section 2

Week 5: Imperial University

Charlene Chan

Section 2

April 30, 2017

Week 5: Imperial University

Hamamoto’s “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civil Violence” examined the proliferance of violent, racially-based murders in the context of a rise in serial and mass murders in the past decades. He cites a study by Archer and Gartner that points to a causal relationship between the “rise in civilian murder and state ‘legitimation’ of violence during the Vietnam war” (Hamamoto, 280). I feel that the normalization of mass killings and violence overseas war also led to desensitization of the public to deaths of people who were deemed “foreign”, or “other”. In this same trend, the rise in race murders (especially of Asians) stems from the fetishization of Asian women in tandem with this normalization, as seen in the case of Myong: “often beaten, drugged, and forced to reenact scenes from the dozens of Asian-themed porn videos” (Hamamoto, 285).

“Imperial University”, as defined by Maira and Chatterjee in The Imperial University, cites academia as playing an important role in “legitimizing American exceptionalism and rationalizing U.S. expansionism and repression, domestically and globally” (Maira and Chatterjee, 6). Looking at the crimes that Hamamoto examined in the light of this definition, we can see the role that American exceptionalism played in the Vietnam War, leading to not only widespread death and destruction, but also to a more militaristic society.

The image I have attached below is one of the stereotyping of Asian women as China dolls, submissive and demure both sexually and socially, as in the rape-murder cases described in Hamamoto’s piece.

Question: How can we critically examine the role that the US's moral superiority plays in both the imperialisation of universities and the normalisation of both domestic and overseas violence?

References:
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/684/923/2923684/china-dolljpg.jpg

Week 5 - Alan Sani

Alan Sani
A03
Week 5

The themes for the past few weeks both focus on comparing how the university functions to how other entities function. Last week focused on the similarities between universities and corporations and this week focuses on the similarities between the University and an Imperial State. As much as administrators may want to deny it, many Universities have a history of silencing and oppressing minority and opposing groups, much like an imperial state. In this week’s reading The Imperial University The authors Piya Chattarjee and Sunaina Maira site specific examples of incidents at both of their universities where students were treated unjustly with unnecessary aggression and were denied a respectful response to their voices and opposition.  At UC Davis the incident involving the mass pepper spraying weas mentioned and at UC Riverside the demonstrations that ended in police brutality. This idea of the the Imperial University paints higher education in a bad light, however this is a reality that we as UC students cannot deny. Many controversial acts of oppression have taken place in recent years within the UC System and even here at UC Davis. Students within our own university system are punished for speaking up against decisions made by our administrators and the regents. The incidents regarding relations with Israel and Palestine hit close to home for me. Students who spoke up against the Zionist within the UC regents board were faced with consequences however I agree with the side of the students who were punished and not the Zionists. I was also exposed to many of these incidents while they were taking place because these incidents happened while my sister was here attending UC Davis. My parents, because of their experiences as Asian American immigrants advised my sister at that time to stay away from participating in these demonstrations. My sister as a minority with opposing ideas was encouraged to silence her voice “Just to be Safe”. This is an attitude that is ingrained within ourselves because of the imperialist society that we live in. This is an attitude that exists within institutions of higher education.  However, as an American born Asian American I am not afraid to standup for what I believe in as long as I am not breaking any laws. It is our job as Asian American Minorities to stand up to the Imperial University and the Imperialist society we live in.

Question: Why do people in positions of power feel the constant need to oppress minorities and people of opposition?

This picture is the cover photo from the movie Walkout. This movie accurately depicts the unnecessary brutality many students face when fighting for the quality of their own education.

Walkout Film [Photograph]. (January 12). Wikimedia.org.