Week 8 - Lauren Velasquez

Lauren Velasquez
A03
Week 8

In the article, What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice, Mark Tseng Putterman investigates the involvement of Asian American and Pacific Islander involvement in social justice movements on college campuses. One point that I particularly want to address in this article is when Kevin Cheng, another article writer, points out that "the prevailing sentiment seems to be that in this moment of student racial justice organizing, Asian Americans students are either unsure of their place, or standing on the wrong side of the color line" (Putterman, 2017.) I think Asian American students should see themselves as Asian American students, and try not to identify with another identity that doesn't fit who they are, just for the sake of trying to find a way to support a social justice movement. What I mean is, is that Asian Americans are a minority, but many Asian Americans do benefit from a type of privilege, that other races cannot experience. Supposedly, this puts Asian Americans at a "weird spot" when trying to support a movement, but I don't think this is the case. Privilege doesn't stop anyone from trying to support a movement that they believe in. One thing that Asian Americans are called out (among many campuses across the nation) is the absence of solidarity--which brings me to my next point, about "standing on the wrong side of the color line." Time and time again, Asian Americans will use Black or Latino cultural elements to their benefit, but when the call to action arises, Asian Americans become silent--probably because they believe that Black and Latino issues do not pertain to them. For instance, Asian Americans are famous for modern hip hop dancing, a modern dance style that arose out of African American culture, however, some Asian American dancers are not ready/willing to put themselves out there to protect their African American comrades. However, later in the article, Putterman does recognize that there is an Asian American student movement brewing; Asian American students are starting to stand with their Black and Latino peers in solidarity. Even though Asian Americans may have to step out of the "spotlight," it is important to recognize the Black and Latino hardships that are arising in current events.

Even though this isn't a college campus, the image below shows Asian Americans in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. With Asians being seen as the "model minority," it's important that we use any and every form of privilege that we have to promote our minority brothers and sisters.

Question: Are there any Asian social justice movements occurring on campus today that many of us may not see?

Iroegbu, U. (2015, November 10). Asian American protesters support Black Lives Matter in a Nov. 24 march in Minneapolis. [Photograph found in Minneapolis, MN]. Retrieved May 21, 2017, from https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/when-asian-american-politics-and-black-lives-matter-met-at-macalester/ (Originally photographed November 24)

Putterman, M. T. (2017). What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice. Race files. Retrieved 05/21/17 from  https://www.racefiles.com/2016/02/01/what-asian-americans-are-bringing-to-campus-movements-for-racial-justice/