Week 8

Week 8
Annika Altura
Section A01

This week's readings, particularly, the article called "What Asian Americans are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice", touched upon the fact that Asian Americans are not as well heard as other minority groups with regards to racial activism. Students featured in the article talk about how being a minority in their Universities, which were mostly private schools on the East Coast, put them in a position where they didn't feel that they had a safe space for their voices to be heard, and that in comparison to other movements, such as BLM, or Latin American movements, it was difficult to be taken as seriously do to the perceived success that comes with being the model minority.

I've only ever lived in places where being Asian was not a position of large minority. In contrast to Brandeis University's 12% Asian American population, the UCs have about 30-40% Asian American population. Having moved from Asia, where I was never the minority for having dark colored skin, I already felt that there was an overwhelming, diverse, culture that I had to adapt to, and it took a while for me to comfortable knowing that I wasn't going to be around people of the same background. What I didn't anticipate, was the lack of an understanding respect for each other that is still experienced within the communities here in the States. I personally believe that it can be a tragedy when your voice isn't heard, and you fell that, even with those who experience the same as you, you still aren't taken seriously. Students need the space to be heard; they need the space that allows them to bring attention forth to the concerns that they may have, and not have them be brushed off for being a model.

Attached is a comic that brings awareness to the fact that Asian Americans are often seen as submissive, and because of that are shunned and therefore never in a comfortable space. My question is, why do those who experience the same outcasting that racism brings forth still choose to put that kind of pressure and exclusivity upon other races?

Source:
  Putterman, Mark Tseng. "What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice." Race Files (2016): 1-13. Race Files. Web. 21 May 2017.

Are Asian Guys Sexy? (2016, May 16). Retrieved May 21, 2017, from http://ramone.ca/2011/05/06/are-asian-guys-sexy/