Week 1: Noelani Pastor

Noelani Ruth Pastor
Section A01
Week 1

This week, we read "Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia" by Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde which was such an empowering true story. The fact that everything has happened in real life is surprising. We never really know the extent of how women of color in academia is being bullied in a sense. While reading it, I fell deeper and deeper into the feelings of Valverde and realized that discrimination happens way more than we know. There's so much that happens behind closed doors and things like this aren't showcased as often as it should be. Throughout the reading, I was completely shocked. Especially when I read that her department head basically discouraged her for having ADHD. This made me heated because people can't just hide their disorder and put it away for a while. The department head should've worked with it and should've gave her the resources she needed to further her working progress. Being someone with anxiety disorder, I understand what it feels like to try and hide it from other people. It's not the best feeling, but it helps when people understand and know what I'm going through because it helps me make more progress towards getting better. Valverde deserved more respect from her colleagues, but people can be so ignorant when all they see is someones ethnicity. 

Question: Since discrimination against Asian Americans isn't showcased as often as others, how can we spread awareness and try to decrease the times it has happened?

References:
1. Valverde, K., (2013). “Fight the Tower”: A Call to Action for Women in Academia, 12(2), 367-419. Retrieved September 30, 2017.

2. T. (n.d.). Secret Asian Man [Cartoon]. In The Model Minority Deconstructed.