Week 8 - Clarice Wong

Clarice Wong
ASA002 A02
November 11, 2017

This article raises a good point that Asian American radicalism has often reared its head in support for Black liberation. For example, there have been movements like “APIs4BlackLives” (Asian Pacific Islanders for Black Lives). However, the conversation always seems to center around Black versus White relations, leaving a confusing and forgotten middle-ground of Asian-American race issues. From last week’s topic of the model minority stigma attached to Asian Americans, it also persists in the form of the stereotype that Asian Americans are complacent, politically conservative, and even complicit with racist institutions. According to Mark Tseng Putterman, an Asian American student movement is rising, despite the silence of the Asian American community in the past. From an interview at Northwestern University, Tseng Putterman discovers that there is a sense of isolation at the college driving Asian students to join the Asian Pacific American Coalition. Similarly, the students at Brandeis, which consists of a 12% Asian American population, has the Brandeis Asian American Task Force. Finally and astoundingly, Tseng Putterman’s investigation at Yale led to the discovery that of 2000 undergraduate courses offered, less than two were within the field of Asian American studies. Another point that was made by the students of the East Coast universities was that the Asian American student organizers worked with Black and Latino student groups to strengthen minority group stance against the administration. So often, the model minority stigma surrounded Asian Ams is used to cause tension with other people of color. For example, the popular stereotype of the silent Asian nerd with straight A’s, usually a dehumanized and deeply impersonal role, does not elicit much sympathy to consumers of media. This portrayal has a powerful consequence of attaching these cold and calculating traits to Asian Americans in general.  

Question: Has it been the situation in any of the East Coast colleges that Tseng Putterman included in his study, that the relationship between black and Asian movements were symbiotic? I.e., if Asian American groups on campus were protesting police brutality then did any of the African American student organizations participate in Asian American racial issues? 

Reference/Works Cited:

1. Putterman, M. T. (2016). What Asian Americans Are Bringing to Campus Movements for Racial Justice. Race Files. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
2. [Digital Image]. (n.d). Retrieved November 12, 2017, from https://www.quora.com/Are-race-relations-between-Asian-Americans-and-African-Americans-getting-better-or-worse-What-happened-to-the-bond-that-many-Asians-and-Afro-Americans-once-had