After reading the first article about Prof. Caroline Valverde's experience to bravely fight against the administration and advocate for her own rights. As a highly accomplished scholar and admired teacher in her own field, she obviously deserved tenure. The only reason why she got denied was due to the consideration of her race. Prof. Valverde started her war to appeal the tenure and eventually succeeded. On the one hand, I felt this is inspirational that how a disadvantaged Asian woman stood up and refuse to yield to her unfair treatment. On the other hand, I felt strongly connected to these rough circumstances that Asian women faced on a daily basis. During my sophomore year at high school, I took Geometry class. All the materials were like a piece of cake to me that I aced all the exams and homework effortlessly. The class norm was that we changed seats in every two weeks. I quickly discovered the fact that I was always grouped with those students who never studied and knew nothing about the subject. According to my teacher's words, her intention is that I could help them through projects and tutor them. As an introverted Chinese student, it's a nearly impossible task for me. Every time when I try to ask my group members to collaborate with me or teach them formulas, no one responded but instead stayed on their phones. As a result, I had to do them all on my own. Ironically, I received little participation points due to the lack of interaction with my group members. No matter how I explained to my teacher, she never changed her mind. This is certainly unfair, and I regret not taking actions at all. Asians are viewed to be intelligent by the crowd, but this shouldn't be their duty to do more work and be that "hardworking one" all the time. More importantly, this shouldn't become the excuse of the unfair treatment. My question is, what can we do to fight back these unfair treatments if they are not that severe yet? Will they be taken seriously?
Reference: Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline (2013) "Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia," Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 12: Iss. 2, Article 5.
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-the-smart-asian-stereotype-not-flattering
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