Week 9 - Angela Kang

Angela Kang

ASA 02- A02

Week 9

Out of the three articles I read this week, the article “Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans” by Soya Jung was the most interesting to me. The article focuses on black range and how rage is important for herself and the community. Jung first mentions the word han, which is a word in the Korean culture that is defined as “the sorrow and anger that grow from the accumulated experiences of oppression”.  She further explains how han is a part of her identity as it is within her blood. Growing up in an environment where people are controlled, occupied, threatened and brutalized, han is always inside her. The need to protect, defend and express the issues that we face is done by rage, and in the case of this article, the black community comes together in order to show their support for the death of Mike Brown. The support the black community shows is what is needed within the Asian American community. Often times, the death of an Asian is usually considered “invisible” as it has no value to the power structure. According to the article, a Sikh man by the name of Sandeep Singh died due to a white man dragging him 30 miles with the use of a pickup truck. However, this incident did not go viral compared to the incident of Ferguson. Jung states, “ The invisibility of Asian death, and the denial of any form of Asian American identity that doesn’t play by the model minority rulebook, is another reason why black rage holds such importance to me”, this statement show how rage is needed to be appreciated. In a society where the country seems to focus more on whites and blacks, it is hard for non-whites and non-black to find place for them. While reading this article, I was able to understand where the author is coming for as I realized the deaths of Asians are not highly publicised to the deaths of other ethnic groups. At the end of her writing, Jung claims that she wishes for a world where we are armed with love and rage in the face of tanks and guns, I agree with this statement as I would also like to see our world change.

Question: Asian Americans are often considered as “invisible”,  what are the ways to fight for the equality and acknowledgement that we deserve? Will we always have to pick a side if we want to be heard?

Resources:

Jung, S. (n.d.). Why Ferguson Matters to Asian Americans . Retrieved from http://www.racefiles.com/2014/08/20/why-ferguson-matters-to-asian-americans/

[Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://cdn-webimages.wimages.net/05182af2934d2e986158daccc25d70bf3005d7-wm.jpg?v=3