Week 8 Presentation - A01

Katrina Asuncion, Kimi Villaroman, Larry Wang

Professor Valverde

ASA 002 Section A001

22 May 2017

Week 8: Student Activism

This week’s thematic focus centers around the student activism in the Asian American community in higher education. As evinced by this week’s readings, Asian American student activism intersects with race, gender, solidarity, and institutionalism, creating a multifaceted form of activism that extends beyond “Asian American” issues. In Mark Tseng Putterman’s article “What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice,” Putterman affirmed the existence of Asian American activism, and elucidated the intertwinings of standing in solidarity, fighting against racism, and calling attention to the problems within the  Asian American community. Đỗ and Deloso continue to unpack the complexities of Asian American activism in their article “Precariously Positioned: Asian American Women Students Negotiating Power in Academic Wonderland,” by defining women’s role in activism, as well as the confines of institutionalized activism. The final reading, “UC Davis Students Stage Sit-in to Demand Chancellor Resign,” demonstrates the impact that student activism possesses. Together, these readings demonstrate the ways in which Asian American student activism intersects with the concepts of solidarity, institutionalism, race, and gender, and our group will illuminate these intersections.

In Mark Putterman’s article “What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice”, important issues such as aligning as allies to other people of color, the struggle for Asian American studies, apathy to the cause, and so much more are brought into the spotlight. The article goes into great detail about the invisibility of Asian Americans and how our lack of representation in the academia furthers suppresses them in the activist standpoint. Through the years, there has been an overwhelming increase in the number of Asian Americans enrolled in higher education. With this came an increased demand in our representation in the academia, exemplified through the Northwestern students’ hunger strike fighting for an Asian American studies minor in 1999. The San Francisco State University is the forefront of this movement; since the demand for an Ethnic Studies program at SFSU happened in 1968, Asian Americans are becoming more aware that the first way to combat whiteness in an institution not made for them is to create a space for them in higher education. An example of the deficiency in the representation of Asian America can be seen in Yale’s course list: Yale University offered less than two Asian American studies courses out of 2000 undergraduate courses. Without the right tools and knowledge about history of self which lead to inspiration and motivation, there can be no radical changes in the representation of Asian America. With courses catered to our communities, we can start seeing our university as our spaces, our homes, and our institutions. With that realization and mindset, we can become real agents of change within our academy.

Putterman also elaborates on how Asian Americans fit into the fight for racial justice in all types of communities (such as Black, Latinx, and Chicanx), not just their own. There are a variety of ways that Asian Americans can fight for racial justice on campuses and Putterman describes one way as standing in solidarity with other students of color. Putterman addresses the ways we can be an ally to the Black Lives Movement, and sometimes, that means knowing when to keep quiet and just stand in solidarity with your fellow oppressed. Kimi and Katrina see this happening in their own Filipinx-American community. There is this organization on campus called BRIDGE, dedicated to the outreach and retention of high school and college students. They are student activists in the Filipinx-American community, fighting tooth and nail for their representation in the academia. An example of BRIDGE being an effective ally draws back to last year, during a protest, when they stood in solidarity in the Black Lives Matter Movement and became a Black ally without crossing any lines. In response to that, they created a workshop for the Fil-Am leaders during a retreat on how to be a better ally to other POC, and one of the most important points was knowing when to speak up. Like Putterman explains in his article, allies would not want the fighting community to believe we could do their work on their issues better than they can.

Putterman also highlights the difficulty in mobilizing the Asian American community on campuses. There is a general political apathy when it comes to the issues revolving around Asian Americans because they believe it may not pertain to them or affect them in any way. Others simply find themselves too busy or uninterested in joining the movement. The majority of Asian Americans who fit this profile are more interested in their personal careers and academic success. Another issue in mobilizing the Asian American community is its lack of diversity in its demographic. When one says Asian Americans, the automatic thought goes to Southeast Asians such as Chinese and Korean. There is a huge diversity in the Asian American community such as, but not limited to, Hmong, Filipinos, Cambodians, Laos, etc. Putterman includes that these smaller, but not of lesser importance, are “so forgotten when [they] talk about APA or APIA… It’s also on [them] to expand more conversations about that” (Putterman, 10).

Furthermore, in “Precariously Positioned: Asian American Women Students Negotiating Power in Academic Wonderland,” Đỗ and Deloso elucidate the confines of Asian American activism-- in terms of its depoliticized institutionalism as well as the gender confines placed against Asian American women activists. Today,  Đỗ defines student activism as having a strong emphasis on its pathos power, and not enough of the logos or ethos power through the administration depoliticizing student activism. There is a large inadequacy nowadays in student activist leaders having a concrete agenda to tackle social issues and lacking a clear direction. Another way in which activism has been deconstructed is the use of language policing, which causes rifts between students, faculty members, and administration. In addition, the integration of university activism into student activism has also diminished the impact of student activism, as it contributes to depoliticization and monitors what students can and cannot do.

Đỗ and Deloso also emphasize the importance of women’s role in Asian American activism, urging Asian American women to understand the power of their agency, and to refuse to accept complicity when challenging the university. They also stress the significance in moving away from activism that centers around identity politics and problems that affect ourselves, and to instead adopt grassroots activism that is not controlled by the university. Đỗ and Deloso encourage students to reclaim their universities as “activist-students,” to challenge the gender roles ingrained into us, and to gravitate towards a grassroots movement similar to the Third World Liberation Front, rather than professionalized, institutionalized university activism.

The final reading, “UC Davis Students Stage Sit-in to Demand Chancellor Resign” highlights the importance of student activism in administrative decision. With ex-Chancellor Katehi’s corrupt ways in her affiliations with private corporations, UC Davis students’ eyes were opened to the fact that the University is not our ally. The large amounts of protesters in Mrak Hall have successfully forced their voices to be heard, demonstrating the impact that student activism possesses.

Altogether, this week’s readings evince the multifaceted nature of Asian American activism, and its intersections with race, gender, solidarity, and institutionalism. As Asian American activists, we must consider the implications of these intersections as we pursue social and racial justice for all people of color.

References:

1. Đỗ, L. L & Deloso, S (n.d. ). Precariously Positioned: Asian American Women Students Negotiating Power in Academic Wonderland. Retrieved from Canvas downloaded pdf. May 20, 2017.
2. 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/.
3. UC Davis Students Stage Sit-in to Demand Chancellor Resign. (2016, March 17). Retreived from https://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/17/headlines/u_of_c_davis_students_stage_sit_in_to_demand_chancellor_resign.