Week10 _ Wenru Shi _ A01

Week10 _ Wenru Shi _ A01

I asked in the beginning of the course, “I am always staying in the middle when looking at things and making choices, is that fine?”

You answered: “Imagine you are standing on a high wall, you are afraid to jump forward because you are afraid of results — is it a bottomless chasm to hell or a trampoline? You need to jump. You cannot stand there forever.”

I think I grasped a little bit of what this means after this course. From social construction, social engineering to histories behind phenomenon, we need to fight for our rights, as least speak up, not only for ourselves, but also leave legacies to future generations. 

In the article “Academics Awaken, ” it points out that some people mute because they feel the shame and fear the shame from friends, colleagues, families, and the society. However, we will be more and more isolated and muted if we keep feeling that shame. “Shame is the perfect tool in the institutional panopticon of academia, ” not only in academia, but also in all of the aspects, Asian Americans are institutionalized, capitalized and muted. A lot of contents in this course set an alarm for me, letting me to be vigilant whenever I feel the sense of institutionalization and assimilation, including the institutionalized education system, how race comes from, the deportation, and the connection between home country and self-identity.

We fear to jump, because we fear the unforeseen future influences, fear our “reputation.” Be Brave, Be Aware, and Be Awaken.

Question:

What is the first step to not be afraid of being shame？

Reference:

• Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: power, Resistance, and Being Woke. Fight the Tower. 

• Hammerstein, O. (n.d.). You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught[music]. South Pacific.

• Anderson, K. (2018, Jan 12). You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught[image]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/lyrikris10/status951904852115951616 [Twitter]