Week 1 - Kevin Mo

Kevin Mo

Section A02

Week 1

Reading Professor Valverde’s account of her near-death experience was so surreal I felt as if I was watching an episode of House MD. It’s almost unbelievable that someone can go through all that and still stand in front of a lecture hall. Even after experiencing severe prejudice at the feet of her colleagues, she never gave up her dream of tenure and ascending the ranks of academia. This was a huge shock to me that racism and sexism is still so prevalent in even the most liberal of institutions. It disgusts me that political agendas are still what hold back education. Education is something that benefits all of humanity; it is the core of which innovation rests upon, yet it is still decided by corporations’ bottom lines and politicians’ deceitful careers. After learning about Professor Valverde’s struggle, I gained immense respect for her perseverance under such dire conditions to come back stronger than ever in the face of adversity. Her story makes me think of my father, a blue collar worker, who climbed the ranks of the Oakland Public Works division for over 20 years. He’s one of the most hardworking and experienced employees yet when he applied for a promotion for a management level position, he was denied. In his place, the company hired a white, yet less experienced, colleague. He expressed his emotion that he was cheated, maybe because of his lesser English speaking capabilities or simply because he is Chinese.

Question: Why has there been many political race movements for other ethnicities (ex: Black Lives Matter, Cesar Chavez) yet there has not been a similarly strong one for Asian Americans?

References:

1. Valverde, K., (2013). “Fight the Tower”: A Call to Action for Women in Academia, 12(2), 367-419. Retrieved September 29, 2017