In Mark Tseng Putterman's "What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice", the author plays with a very interesting concept in which we must ask ourselves if it's truly happening. We don't think about Asian-Americans when it comes to activism. But, the question isn't whether Asian-Americans are apolitical or just neutral, but rather, why are they being excluded in these social justice battles?
As an Asian-American at University of California, Davis, I know that there are plenty of Asian-Americans active in these social movements. Myself actually included. In the wake of President Donald Trump's election, my fellow peers were heartbroken, distraught, and angry, so our first course of action was to partake in an active protest against our 46th president. We all had strong stances against him, and fortunately, we were also accepted by our Hispanic, Black, Muslim peers.
Putterman (2016) talks about how instead of letting ourselves get shoved aside then we should make an attempt to make a spot for ourselves through understanding because this is indeed our fight. We deserve to be a part of the discourse that surrounds the lives of people of color because we have all suffered our own ancestral losses, and although we are being belittled through these false media stereotypes, we must fight back. Not by riots (though those are possible) or shutting out our peers, but rather by incorporating ourselves in these discussions, attempting to make a difference and join in on these civil fights.
Like the protests incited in San Francisco against the tearing down of the I Hotel, and even the fight to create ethnic studies, we are included, and we do deserve a spot among the people of color. This is our fight, and the one way we can change the preconceived thoughts against us as apolitical is by proving them wrong, showing our beliefs by speaking out. We all have a voice, and it's high time we used it, carefully.
References:
Noehill (n.d.). National Register #77000333. Retrieved May 21, 2017, from http://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/nat1977000333.asp
utterman, M. T. (2016, February 1). What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice. Race files. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
Questions:
In what ways can we convince our fellow people of color that Asian-Americans are also in this fight with them?
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