Week 1 Ziyu Wang A02

In Professor Valverde's Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia, the issue of intra-racial and inter-ethnic tension is addressed. This is a very good point to make because in my opinion, this issue has been overlooked the most when it comes to the topic of racism, especially in Asian communities. When most Americans think of racism, it is mostly about the tension between black and white communities due to the history of this nation. But the Asian nations has their own similar history as well. To asians, it goes way deeper than just racism between different races. Asians are considered the most xenophobic race and it is not hard to see why. With two recent world wars, there has been a tremendous amount of hate between the Asian nations, especially East Asians, where most power lies. Indeed, when people think of Asians, the first thing that comes to mind are the rich and powerful nations of East Asia: China, Japan, and South Korea; whereas the South and Southeast nations are considered poor and uncivilized. The fact that they are underrepresented in Asians communities definitely does not help either. Most of my family are deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, and to them, anyone that is not Chinese are at risk of being judged on or being made fun of. This is most apparent in the older generations. To that I ask: Will education be key to solve Intra-racial and Inter-ethnic racism, especially for Asian Communities?

 

Reference:

• Valverde, C. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle J. 
• Fenn, Mark.The Diplomat. Singapore's Foreigner Problem. The Diplomat. Retrieved from: https://thediplomat.com/2014/02/singapores-foreigner-problem/