Zoua Vang
Anthony Canavesio
ASA 02 A02
“The Time to Fight is Now”: When Asian American Women in Academia Go Rogue
Question: Has there ever been a situation in which you felt that you had to conform to the “model minority myth”?
Amy: There’s isn’t a specific moment where I felt like I had to act as “model minority” in that very moment, but my parents really enforced the “model minority myth” onto me while growing up. I was always told to be quiet and studious because doing so would get me far in life.
Question: Have you ever seen first hand certain teachers be given advantages that other teachers in academia might not have been given?
Anthony: Yes back at my highschool, they cut the music classes, ceramic, and drama classes do to lack of funding, however the STEM programs remained with funding. This goes to show that a lot liberal arts programs are viewed behind STEM programs.
Resources:
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Asian-American-Officers-Sue-San-Gabriel-Police-Department-459625413.html
This weeks reading discusses the discrimination that minority groups, specifically Asian American women, face in academics. Personal experiences with discrimination within academia by women of color are included throughout the reading.
A main point that is brought throughout the reading is that the dysfunction of the university is due to the structure of it and not because of the content that is being taught by professors. The university is set up in such a way that only protects itself, much like a corporation. This has resulted in discrimination against Asian American women within academia.
The reading then discusses that, when hired at universities, Asian American women are expected to stick to the model minority role. They must remain subservient to their white counterparts, and if/when they don’t, they are on the grounds for possible dismissal.
The reading then discusses how the discrimination that minority groups face within academia have grave repercussions. For example, Professor Valverde and the health complications that emerged during her battle for tenure. Or Wei Ming Dariotis’ denial of tenure, despite having done everything that was required (and more).
The article then goes to talk about the movement that emerged from this discrimination. The Fight the Tower Movement was started by women of color within academia, including our very own Professor Valverde. The reading states that the movement “...supports women standing up for their rights and fighting the tower to claim their earned place in academia, and to change the oppressive systems that structure it.”. In a way, it serves as a support group for women of color in academia that are a part of this ongoing battle. The founders have established things such as a website and a facebook page to serve as a place where they can share their own personal stories. The movement was started because the only way to combat this discrimination was to start a revolution. The University needs to change it’s structure and they way it functions if they want to uphold the promise of the university.
We are socially engineered to believe that the university is a place for educational freedom and void of discrimination. Personally, this week’s reading, as well as the readings that we have had throughout the quarter, has opened my eyes to the harsh reality of academia. The way Asian American women are treated within education is a direct reflection of how Asian Americans are treated by society as a whole. For example, there are five current and former Asian American police officers from San Gabriel who are suing the police department because they were subjected to a discriminatory work environment and denied promotions. The discrimination that Asian Americans face translates through all social environments.
The fight against discrimination is still very much an ongoing battle.
This article touches on a lot of themes that we could tie back to what we have learned in class for example when Valverde discusses “The Power of the Dark Side”: The Underlying Problem, she reveals how their is a hierarchy within the college system dynamic. She brings to light how if you speak up against the power relations in the college education system then you make yourself a lot more vulnerable to attacks whether it be by isolation, lack of grants, or to faculty assaults. The attacks against those who stand out in the education system remind me of Professor Hamamoto , it’s sad to see that those who rub against the grain and work to better our current education system are subject to attacks from those who are taking advantage of the way the current system is set up.
Something very important to note from this article was Valverde’ use of statistics which adds fuel to her argument, Valverde adds statistics backing up her claims about the lack of Asian female educators. I just wanted to share some of these statistics with the class as they were eye opening for me. Asians are a very prominent group on college campuses however Asian professors only account for 3.55% of all professors. This adds validity to Valverde's argument that the University being set up like a corporatization leaves the Asian professor behind. Valverde goes on with more statistics to show just how poorly Asians seen/positioned in the academia currently. Valverde goes on to compare the research of others on tenureship, she claims that Asian women are tenured and promoted 40%, while there white male counterparts are 92% of the time. These statistics speak volumes as they show directly how Asians must stay below whites in the workplace and the numbers back it up.
Ending with this article was very pivotal for this class. We started our year off with an article highlighting many of the struggles Asian Americans face in academia and we are finishing the year off with a call for action outlining many real life examples of people who have first hand experienced the many issues in the education system such as tenureship. Many before us have faced the tenureship battle, Valverde, Rosalie Tung, Wei Ming Dariotis, and Hamamoto. As students it is our duty to take their activism and run with it. The ball is in your court.
Citations:
Valverde, C. & Dariotis, W. M. (2017). “The Time to Fight Is Now”: When Asian American Women In Academia Go Rogue. Retrieved November 25, 2017
Press, A. (2017, November 24). Asian-American Officers Sue San Gabriel Police Department. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Asian-American-Officers-Sue-San-Gabriel-Police-Department-459625413.html
Coalition of Asian American Leaders. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2017, from http://caalmn.org/act/education/
No comments:
Post a Comment