Week 8 Blog Post

Katrina Asuncion
Section 1
Week 8

In "What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice," Mark Tseng Putterman explores the issues that Asian American students face as college campus activists. Putterman notes that the often overlooked Asian American student activism centers around dismantling the model minority myth, creating spaces for Asian American students, and voicing their own concerns while also standing in solidarity with black students. Balancing the many facets to Asian American student activism certainly poses difficulties for those that want to get involved, with many students struggling to "make sense of the place of 'brown' and 'yellow' amidst Black and white" (Putterman 2). I too struggle with finding that balance, and I felt a little surprised when I read about the Asian American activists at Brandeis University. At Brandeis, the Asian American students chose to stand in solidarity with the Black students' demands during the Ford Hall sit-in, rather than mention their own demand for an Asian American studies program because they believe that when you "improve resources, faculty, and support for [Black students], you improve everyone's experience" (Putterman 6). While solidarity should remain a priority for Asian American activists, I do not believe that calling attention to their own demands, such as that for Asian American studies, conflicts with the needs of the Black student community. Solidarity should not come at the price of silencing one's own voice to improve the Black community- solidarity should call attention to the many ways the lives of students of color can improve. Asian American student activists have as much of a right to politicize and fight for their own spaces and inclusion at the university as any other marginalized group.

Question: Should Asian American activists prioritize solidarity over their own concerns as a community? Can the two coexist, as they did during the Third World Movement?

References:
1. Putterman, M.T. (2016, February 1). What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice. Retrieved from https://www.racefiles.com/2016/02/01/what-asian-americans-are-bringing-to-campus-movements-for-racial-justice/