May 18, 2017
A03
“What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice” shows the ongoing struggle for Asian American visibility on American university campuses. Asian Americans are sometimes criticized for trying to be white-passing yet claim to experience similar oppression that African Americans face. We don’t know where we fit, if we belong in this fight for justice anyway, and we tend to turn to one or few advocates that will do the work for those who wish to keep their heads down.
Nevertheless, these movements for Asian American equality and equity have shown promising results today, such as the demand for an Asian American Studies major or minor in East Coast universities where campus climate can be a bit conservative. When reading this article and looking at the date it was published, I was reminded of my privilege as an Asian American student in a California university. Asian American studies has been around for a while, yet highly regarded schools like Yale fail to enlighten their students by not having classes about their history from their country’s point of view. This is where we take advantage of the opportunity to support our fellow Asian Americans as it is their turn to create change on their campuses.
Q: How would you appeal to those who would rather keep their heads down and choose to focus on themselves rather than support a larger future?
The Board of Trustees. (2014). University of Illinois. Retrieved from http://www.asianam.illinois.edu
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