Week 9- Helen Jian

Helen Jian
Section A02
Week 9

The article titled, “Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans” by Soya Jung, talks about the Mike Brown Ferguson case and how the reactions and showings of certain cases are extremely different among our society. There are always stories on the news regarding the violent deaths of African Americans and their community because according to Jung, “America normalizes and indulges in black death in service to a dehumanizing narrative of black criminality” (Jung, 2014). However, when it comes to the death of an Asian American, there is barely any attention paid unless the death falls in the category of the model minority or the “Orientalist narratives”. It is seen as almost nonexistent in the American society. Before reading this article, I never really noticed that Asian Americans are not mentioned significantly in the news. I think this is due to the fact that my parents are usually the ones who notify me whenever there is news regarding Asian Americans. They normally get the news through their Asian friends or through the Asian news channels. I think it is pretty ridiculous that they have to resort to an Asian news channel to get updates on the Asian American community. It angers me because with all the positive changes we have made in our society, we still have racism present and many people are still ignorant when it comes to these issues. I think this article had a positive impact on me because it shed light on someone’s point of view regarding the invisibility of Asian Americans in the news and it made me aware of the problem that is still present today; that Asian Americans are still fighting for their rights.

Question: How can we as students help change this problem present in the Asian American community?

References:

Jung, S. (2014). Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans.

The definition of digital rights and responsibilities is ... by ryan. (2017). Thinglink.com. Retrieved 27 May 2017, from https://www.thinglink.com/scene/793955332953997314