Section A01
Week 1
Throughout my life, I have been told that going to school and especially being part of a university will be a pathway for success in the future. In addition, I was taught to follow my teachers and those in charge because they hold my future and know more than I do. While I knew that school systems were imperfect, due to the massive of amount of stereotypes surrounding Asians, it did not truly occur to me until I read "Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia" by Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde, that Asians, especially women, are being targeted and discriminated against in academia. Moreover, I also was not aware of the conflicts that occurred within the faculty that are very detrimental to the well-being of Asian women scholars. I was shocked to find out that even in places that are of higher education, conversing and having reasonable arguments to obtain one’s rights can be a sign of selfishness. Yet, it was very inspirational and empowering to know that Valverde did not give up and found a support system that included students, who stood up to fight for her cause. It gave me hope that in the future, people can come as a community and go against the discriminations within academia. After reading "Fight the Tower", I started to wonder if I ever witnessed or even experienced discrimination myself and brushed it off or internalized it. I came to the realization that I have followed the advice of “follow the leader” too closely and was not aware of the unjust practices done against Asian Americans. I hope that continuing on in my academic journey, I become more conscious of the problems and become brave enough to “fight the tower!”
Question: In what ways can we educate the youth about the possible discriminations they may face?
Kieu-Linh, C.V. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal for Social Justice, Volume 12 (Issue 2), 367-419.
(n.d.) We Rise Together. Retrieved from https://www.mypostcard.com/en/designs/make-your-voice-heard-cards/we-rise-together-black-lives-matter-democracy-delivered-send-postcards-online-9600
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