Week 8 | Sabrina Chou | A03

Sabrina Chou
ASA2 
Sec A03

Week 8: Student Activism

The article “What Asian Americans are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice”, written by Mark Tseng Putterman, discusses the role of Asian Americans in university politics.  Putterman examines the relationship that Asian Americans have to political activism, contending that with our position as the “model minority”, it is easy for society to dismiss our struggles within the system. Thus, he argues that we must stand in solidarity with other people of color, mainly black and latino groups, to protest against institutionalized racism, and that a victory for any group within the umbrella term of people of color should be celebrated as a victory for the whole. Putterman also expresses that although there is an underwhelming number of Asian Americans who are actively political, we must also bring to light those Asian American activists and movements of the past, in order to inspire those of the future.

While reading this article, I couldn’t help but think about my own role as an Asian American in political activism. I think that is it difficult to know where I stand in race relations with other people of color – sometimes it feels like I’m neither here nor there. I see the negative effects that the model minority myth brings for Asian Americans like myself. In spite of the existing tensions within groups of people of color, I agree that it is important to stand in solidarity within other minority groups to fight the systematic racism that’s been so deeply rooted in our society.

Question: How do we change preconceptions of Asian American participation in politics?

References: 

Cinema, T. S. (2016, September 23). Social Mvmts: Black Lives Matter. Retrieved May 21, 2017, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/4433299613427898/

What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice. (2016, December 27). Retrieved May 21, 2017, from https://www.racefiles.com/2016/02/01/what-asian-americans-are-bringing-to-campus-movements-for-racial-justice/