Week 8

Elizabeth Chang

Week 8

Section 1

This week’s reading is “What Asian Americans are bringing to campus movements for Racial Justice” by Mark Tseng Putterman. The author writes about how Asian American students are excluded from some activism events and protests. Asian American students are constantly excluded from political, racial, or cultural movements because of the existing stereotype of the “Model Minority”. For example, in the article, an Asian American student journalist got excluded from the Black Lives Matter movement in the University of Missouri Columbia campus. This shows how Asian Americans are also being marginalized by other ethnic minorities, despite also being a minority.

In my opinion, the reason that many Asian Americans around the United States are disregarded when it comes to participating in student protests is because of the Model Minority Stereotype. Other minorities think that because we are the “Models”, we have privileges and rights that other ethnic minorities don’t have; therefore we do not need to fight for our rights. I personally think that because of this separation, Asian Americans are viewed as aliens and that we are so different that we do not fit into the college society, making us create another group. It is an unfair treatment. Asian Americans are also minorities, and all minorities should be helping each other to bring equal rights for everyone.

Question: What are some ways to bridge this separation between ethnic minorities?

References

Putterman, M. T. (2016, February 1). “What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice.” Race Files.

Wei, D. (n.d.). Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Retrieved May 21, 2017, from http://www.civilrightsteaching.org/pressroom/asianamericanrmonth.htm