Week 1- Brandon Choi

Brandon Choi

ASA 002 A01

Week 1

“Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia,” by Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde disheartened me through all the discrimination she went through due to her race. She is a well-educated woman that was mistreated through her tenure process. Valverde accomplished many things in her line on work. It amazes me how she could do such things in a harsh working environment she is in and that such a great institution as UC Berkeley would have issues about race and color. Having to be bullied and discriminated against while attempting to accomplish a very stringent and competitive process makes her words so much stronger. I’ve never faced these problems with race so it made this whole story more shocking and disheartening that in the time we live in today, there are still problems with racial equality and discrimination. Being a different color or gender shouldn’t make it more difficult to succeed in America. I see no reason why this racism and sexism should be at any institution and how Americans of different races can stand for it. We are in a place now that where each person should equal and being a different color shouldn’t make things any more difficult. Valverde’s accomplishments in her work and the perseverance she had in the face of opposition is a great testament to the point that hard work pays off even through the racism and adversity she faced being Vietnamese woman in the work force. It’s appalling to me that someone must go through something like this.

Do you think racism and sexism will ever be eradicated in the institutions and workplaces of America?

References

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

Manchanda, Rahul. “Institutional Racism and Rage of the Minority.” Veterans News Now, Veteransnewnow.com, 15 Aug. 2016, www.veteransnewsnow.com/2016/08/15/institutional-racism-and-the-rage-of-the-minority/.