Emery Nguyen ASA 002 001 Week Two

Some see fear as something that should not be used. Some see it as a weapon. For the those oppressed, it's used to keep us in line. It prevents us from saying anything because we're scared something will happen to us. It's worrying that Asian American women are having trouble being promoted to tenure when many of them do so well in their research and teaching. The problem is that they can't speak out if they're discriminated due to racism and sexism for fear of reprisal. This creates a vicious cycle where Asian American women are forced to keep their heads down and work hard which perpetuates the "model minority" stereotype which paints them as nothing more than a hardworking, quiet minority. Even worst is that many people don't realize that this is happening right now. It isn't in the media so few of us even know about this. The corporatization of college is troubling as well. College should be a place where you can find your interests and learn life skills. Instead, it's a place where you go to take classes to prepare for a job as just another worker. The social engineering of us may seem like a conspiracy, but it isn't. It's labeled as such by those who benefit from the system, mainly white Americans and the wealthy. Many of us think of ourselves as the "model minority." This is a problem because we're accepting what label white America has put onto us. We should be free to create a name to define us as a whole. The concept of model minority has been used to divide us from our other allies, the other minorities. We should be sticking together, not fighting each other.

References: http://blog.angryasianman.com/2016/05/dartmouth-community-speaks-out-after.html

Emery Nguyen ASA 002 001 Week One

Coronavirus has showed the United States what late stage capitalism looks like. It has showed us that a world centered on corporations will not work. This profit-centralized system emphasizes profit over the livelihoods of humans. A system like that shouldn't exist. It puts the powerful elites, including the wealthy, at the very top of the hierarchy. It increases income inequality and makes it harder for people of color to be able to advance. It has shown that Asian Americans are "others." We went from the "model minority" to the yellow peril very quickly. In reality, we were never accepted as Americans since we are not white. We are the buffers between African Americans and white Americans. We do not have the white skin of white Americans and are not African Americans so they decided to use us as a buffer. Many Asian Americans found out the hard way that they don't belong. Many of us think we're doing great since we're doing well academically as well as career-wise. That couldn't be further from the truth. From microaggressions to straight-on racism, we found out that we don't belong and never will in this racial hierarchy that favors white people at the top, Asian Americans in the middle, and dark-skinned people at the bottom.

This course has already started to seem interesting. I really like courses that have discussions between students and teachers and tell the truth for what it is without sugarcoating things. I expect to do well in a course that is geared towards pointing out what we Asian Americans are facing right now. 

References: https://time.com/5797836/coronavirus-racism-stereotypes-attacks/

Qi Chen ASA002 001 Week1 Blog

Topic: Reflection of Coronavirus and expectations for the course

Starting from the initial burst of Covid-19, the trends of the news have changed a lot. From purely the reports of rates of infections, death, and recovery to the policies, racial hates and something that are not quite related to the coronavirus, the news is all connected to the virus with all the different voices oversea. The coronavirus was firstly reported in Wuhan, China, and the source of infections was initially detected to be the bats. As investigations became deeper, the source of infection was determined to be Paguma larvata. However, as the source being revealed, the country of origin became skeptical. Many countries proposed differently with their evidence that also lead to international “conflict” with all the adverse news and voices to those countries. With all the overwhelming news, what should we believe? As a person who is curious about the facts, I discovered that when people post their comments or make their proposals on platforms like social media, some of them exist a kind of behaviors that are referred to as the concept, “unconscious bias,” in the textbook. The “unconscious bias” refers to a phenomenon in which “dominant group members” unconsciously favor their own group, which means that many people post comments unintentionally based on the evidence from their own countries. Those comments also potentially induce national hates and even racial hates. Furthermore, with the requests of wearing masks coming out, the hates and conflicts became even worse, especially for Asians (Americans) in the US, some people start to use violence and insult them even on campus. After the requests became accepted in the US, Asians are seemed to be “treated” better, but without much news, it is still hard to tell if the condition has become better or not.

Here is an example of a skeptical claim about the country of origin of COVID_19:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=9DhV-1LDmp4&feature=emb_logo

 

 

 

Reference:

Valverde, K. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars

resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London, Rutgers University Press.

 

Peter Beaumont (2020), “Where did Covid-19 come from? What we know about its origins,”the    Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/01/could-covid-19-be-manmade what-        we-know-about-origins-trump-chinese-lab-coronavirus

Yuwei Wang ASA 002 001 Week 1 Blog

As a Chinese international student, I have a lot of experiences on how Asian People are living in the Covid-19 situation. Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan, a big city with more than ten million people. After the danger of the virus was reported, the government of China responded with polices to keep people from intense social activities, as well as several centered medical facilities to support the cure on the infected individuals. This year, Chinese people had a memorable Chinese New Year, in their own houses but not getting together to reduce the risk of infections due to social contacts. As Chinese students studying in the US, lots of Chinese students like me also did a lot to support our families, such as making donations and sending materials for self-protection against the virus. After the outbreak, people paid a lot of effort to stop the spread of the virus.

However, nowadays, the virus has already spread to many countries around the world. Resisting the spread of coronavirus has already became the responsibility of the whole world. But sadly, at least in the US, some of the people refuse to take this responsibility and blame Asian, as well as Asian Americans, for the happening of all those stuffs; and of course, some of them still don’t wear masks until today. This volatility towards Asian faces results in violence: except the body violence we often see in news, but what is more common is language violence, happening anywhere. Here is an excerpt from an article I saw on the internet.

Jay Koo is a simple Asian American living in New York. On March 24, after dropping his brother in the hospital, he found that he was followed by two men. They yelled to him: “You got the virus. We have to kill you.” Luckily, he finally escaped by protecting himself and doing fake-coughing. Koo thinks the hidden reason of this incident is the “weak and nonconfrontational” stereotype on Asians, and when he describes the detail on the behaviors of the two men, he says: “The men acted out of reflex in quoting President Donald Trump and Stated that I have the ‘Chinese virus’, which propped up the Chinese as the scapegoat.” (Kambhampaty & Sakaguchi, 2020)

Note that Koo mentioned “stereotype” and “President Donald Trump.” When the word “stereotype” is used, it means this impression is kept for years, or even centuries. In the course professor mentioned the history of how Asian people were discriminated throughout history. When the first Asian immigrants came to America, their home country maybe still undeveloped, and maybe this is the reason why they are discriminated at that time. But time changes. Through the history from late 19^th century to now, we can see the dramatic change- or development- of Asian countries, China, Japan, South Korea, and more. More people became educated, and they began to know more about the “outer world”. And indeed, it can be hard for those Asian faces to accept the traditions in the US, but at least they are different from maybe 100 years ago. But some of the people fail to see those changes as those Asian faces accommodating better to the life in US, passing those old thoughts, which has finally became racism and discrimination for those “weak” minority, to the younger generations. Political leaders, especially the president, have the responsibility to guide people, but obviously this time the President put the guidelight into a wrong path of stereotype and discrimination. Guidelights are needed, and the one who provides the guidelight can be Asian American themselves. I read Fight the Tower by Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis. In the prologue of that book, the “misguided stereotype” is also mentioned: Asian Americans were often identified as “successful hard workers and achievers” as well as “quiet and docile people”, as a result, their rights as a citizen are harassed. (Valverde & Dariotis, 2020) That is remarkably similar to what Koo has experienced. Also, in search of the correct guidelight, the author used the college examples to illustrate how Asian Americans had their contribution, but being mistreated, then bravely called the oppressed to resist. There was an old saying, a college is a mini society. Begin from college, if Asian American people starts to fight against the stereotype, I believe the guidelight can be brighter and brighter to change the whole society.

People resisting racism on Asian Americans in the Chinatown of San Francisco.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/we-have-been-through-this-before-why-anti-asian-hate-crimes-are-rising-amid-coronavirus

References

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Kambhampaty, P. A. & Sakaguchi, Haruka. (2020). 'I Will Not Stand Silent.' 10 Asian Americans Reflect on Racism During the Pandemic and the Need for Equality. https://time.com/5858649/racism-coronavirus/

Yuwei Wang ASA 002 001 Week 2 Blog

Today I continued to read “Fight the Tower” by Valverde and Dariotis. In the chapters I read today, the author describes the unfair things experienced by Asian American People. While talking about this issue, it is easy for us to think about the famous Harvard University lawsuit happening last year: Asian Americans with high grades and many activities are waitlisted and finally failed to enter the university because of their race. Sadly, this is not a single example.



  This is a chart of the different college admission rate in different SAT ranges of four major race in the US: White, Black, Hispanic and Asian. Surprisingly, Black was the race with higher admission rate in most SAT ranges, then followed Hispanic, when the SAT score exceeds 1200, its admission rate even exceeds the white. The results made me think of a case I read in the news. A boy from India had an interview of a college, then he was rejected. But after that, he used his dark skin color to pretend as a black international student, while all other factors remained the same (of course, not the same, but not better than the previous attempt). This time, he was admitted. This is enough to reveal this issue. But why Asian faces often had low admission rate?

  Still, stereotype. According to Valverde and Dariotis, Asian Americans are falsely perceived as “passive and without the desire, ability, or resources to advocate for themselves”. (Valverde&Dariotis, 2020) This somewhat “weak” stereotype makes their single voice muted by others, carrying the bad endings themselves. But what about multiple voices? In the book, Valverde has started “Fight the Tower” campaign, in which calls Asian American people to resist. I really appreciate the courage in the raiser and her member’s soul. I believe the situation will be far better with the campaign being raised.



References

1.      Supiano, Beckie. "Asian Applicants Wonder about Higher Admissions Bar: Is Admissions Tougher on Asians?" The Chronicle of Higher Education (2012): The Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 December 2012. Web.

2.      Espenshade, Thomas J., Chang Young. Chung, and Alexandria Walton Radford. No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life (2009). Web.

Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline, and Wei Ming Dariotis. Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholars' Resistance and Renewal in the Academy. 2020. Prin

Mattia Sayson ASA 002 A02 Week 10

While this week's reading was mainly a recap of the overall text with a "call to action" for readers with this new understanding of Asian American scholars in academia, it really reiterated the importance of education with ethnic studies/Asian American studies. The idea of "wokeness" that Asian American scholars in this text are especially familiar with, is necessary for many of the youth now. "Staying woke" in the sense that one's knowledge is transformed into action to support those whose voices have been repressed and oppressed is a feeling that I think many are going through in light of what's been happening. This process of unlearning and learning of the systems of oppression and communities of color that continue to struggle with all the "-ism's" such as racism, classism, and sexism is evident now. While this emphasis is especially prominent in society, many need to understand that this is a concurrent issue. This will continue to be an issue when no one is posting about it. However, we should never go back to sleep. We should continue posting and spreading awareness. How we critically analyze and deconstruct these institutions and systems should continue for the rest of our lives because it will affect how we see and live those lives. As a student of color in higher education, this gives me the opportunity to learn and unlearn as well as educate those who need guidance during this process. I am also aware of the university as an institution, which was heavily discussed in this week's reading. I feel these academic pressures especially when I am frustrated with pain and a heavy heart for those who are especially suffering right now. I continue to have these conversations with interpersonal circles because these conversations need to always happen.

References:
Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, pp.369-380.
Image:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pri.org%2Fstories%2F2016-02-23%2Fdespite-their-history-japanese-americans-and-african-americans-are-working&psig=AOvVaw3m-e5OabdYOypW2bDPR3Yq&ust=1591159276681000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMjZncyo4ukCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Frank Sang A04 Week10

From the last week's reading "Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke", I am informed that the reason for fighting back is that the current system has been broken, and we as victims have to right to repair it. Besides the academic injustice and unfairness that are being discussed throughout the entire quarter, what I wish to tell about is the protest that occurs recently in the US. First of all, it is people's right to have a protest in order to solve some problems that the minority is not able to solve. However, what we can see from this protest in many cities is that some people are rubbing and grabbing items from stores illegally, and they call it to protest. We have to admit that color-discrimination is definitely a wrong thing, and we should let equality exist in our society. In addition, what we more need to consider is that if this type of protest should be supported without management. crimes should not be covered by this so-called activity, and we as people in society should be able to find what is the proper way to express ourselves and fight for the justice. For those negative parts, what the government and we should do to avoid such tragedy how to educate people on how to face and treat justice in a better way.

Question: is there any limitation for a proper protest?

Dakss, B. (2020, June 1). U.S. braces for more unrest as Trump berates "weak" governors. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/george-floyd-death-protests-unrest-disorder-2020-06-01/

Yidi Chen A02 Week 10

This week, after reading the whole book, fight the tower, I feel deeply about how Asian American women have been through all those racism and inequality. Racism is a really big problem in American, not only happened in Asian, but also happened on black people. How can you believe that the death of a black American sparked protests in 140 cities and even protested by James and Jordan. Protests against white police brutality spread from Minnesota to dozens of states across the United States after a video emerged on May 25 showing an African-American man, George Floyd, being "knee-locked" to death by a white police officer. Protests against racism and police brutality have broken out in at least 140 cities across the United States, according to the New York times. Some of the demonstrations have turned into riots, prompting the use of the national guard in at least 21 states.

Yandong Zhang ASA2 A04 Week 10

After reading the article for the final week, “Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke”, I find that it gives us a good summary of this book and our course. The author wrote that the goal is to make academia become free of racial discrimination and everyone has the same chance to seek knowledge and promotions. We want to be treated equally in academia. In the book, many people have talked that Asian Americans are facing discrimination and gender problems in academia. And many people choose to stay in silence. However, staying silent will not prevent others from wrong opinions. We should stand out and fight for ourselves. This is not a fight only for Asian Americans; this is a fight for all people with colors. Just like what has happened in recent days. Many people walk on the street to protest for George Floyd’s death. This is not the first time that people with colors face unequal treatments under police. We should protest for our rights. However, people also need to stay calm when they protest. Violence will only make the situation worse. What people need to do is acknowledging people the idea of equal treatment.

 

Question: why there has been much violence in the protest for this time and past?

Reference: 

Acevedo, N. (2020, May 30). Man fatally struck by FedEx truck during George Floyd protests in St. Louis. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-fatally-struck-fedex-truck-during-george-floyd-protests-st-n1219701

Bowen Xu, A04, Week 10

Bowen Xu
ASA 002 A04
2020.05.31

During this semester, we read the book "Fight the Tower" in depth. This weekend's reading is more like a summary of the whole book, as well as the creators' original intention of their own creation and their understanding of "fight". The author mentions a core point that people must stay awakened and put this conscious resistance into action. The article reviews the author's central ideas and the people affected by this core idea. That is the Asian women, and all the persecuted scholars, which is the so-called "our people." The author lists many ways of struggle, such as literature and art, such as establishing a typical image and fighting with various kinds of efforts To shape everyone into an affected community, and encourage people to substantively fight for injustice.


In my opinion, substantive struggle is still a very long process for Asians. The ethnic personality of Asians and their less urgent social status have left many people “unawakened.” But in fact, such resistance is ultimately decentralized and has no major effect. For example, the vast majority of asa 002 are Asian students, and the voice of Asian scholars is still selectively ignored by other races. On the other hand, it is precisely because of the spirit of resistance of the Blacks that the violent protests of the recent days have raised the influence of the race, making them more and more indisputable. Of course, I am not encouraging anti-social riots and attacks on civilians. I just think that sometimes we can learn a little bit about the practices and essence of other races in the civil rights movement, or maybe our situation can change a lot.

Reference

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, pp.369-380.

Yidan Xu ASA 002 A04 Week 10

For the past ten weeks this quarter, we’ve been talking about the unfair and racial discrimination that Asian Americans face mostly in academia. However, those problems and inequality are not only happening in academia but also in many parts of people's life. All the videos we have watched, all the guest speakers' talking, and all the data and cases we have seen in the powerpoints opened a new world for me. Some of them shocked me and some made me mad and sad.
All these unfair treatments are what intensive people fight back. People have to fight the injustice and discrimination by calling it out, support each other, and gather together to stand out a place for themselves. Staying silent cannot change anything but lead to worse conditions. What we talked about doesn’t just apply to academia, it applies everywhere. Also, the discrimination between different-colored is only between whites and Asian Americans. Recently, something causes huge influence happened. Protests erupt for a sixth day across the US in over thirty cities because of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And up to yesterday, at least 40 cities have imposed curfews and National Guard members have been activated. This was not only about a man died due to the police's oppressive conduct. This brought up one of the most serious problems in US-Blacks and Whites. This is not about Asian American but similar racial discrimination we have to face.



References:

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-05-28/what-we-know-about-two-of-the-officers-caught-on-tape-in-the-death-of-george-floyd

Qi Chen A04 Week10

Qi Chen 

Week 11

ASA 004

 

                                  How Asians Fight for Their Right

This quarter 's ASA course came to an end with the outbreak of Coronavirus. From the beginning to the peak of the epidemic, we have witnessed how the epidemic, directly and indirectly, affects our life. What shocked me recently was the time when police brutality in Minnesota led to the death of the black. This incident has been fermented all over the United States, and even expanded to Canada, Britain, and other places. A large number of American citizens took to the streets to "uphold justice" for the black men who died miserably, especially the black people. They went to the streets to protest "for their own races" in this incident. In the outbreak stage of the world, only the United States has such cases. I can understand the angry behavior for the death of their compatriots, but I can't understand the purpose of such behavior at this special time. As more and more people gather on the streets, they will have a greater chance of contracting pneumonia, which will bring more difficulties to the medical community in the United States. It's controversial, not to mention the bad behavior of street protesters in setting the fire, looting supermarket goods, smashing glass, and attacking police. I want to discuss the importance of a race's voice for the sacrifice of a compatriot and the views of Asians on similar events.

In the conclusion of Fight the Tower, I recognize the saying "To die for one’s people is a great sacrifice. To live for one’s people, an even greater sacrifice. I choose to live for my people." In this case in Minnesota, I saw a lot of discussions among Asians. Many people have expressed that black people can obtain so many rights and respect in the short term in the United States because they dare to fight for rights in society, while Asians are still discriminated against and looked down upon for hundreds of years after immigrating to the United States. Whether this is because Asians are unwilling to fight for their own nation or sacrifice for their own. First of all, as an Asian, I don't think that's completely right, but it's not completely wrong. The Minnesota case is a chain event, which can not be explained in a single sentence. But when Asians encounter the same incidents, I don't think most people will choose violent protests. I believe that there will be protests and processions, and a large number of Asians will also make their voices heard in the media and professional fields, but the behavior is different from that of today's protests. Many people think that Asians are humble and law-abiding. In fact, I don't think this view is completely wrong, but it doesn't mean that Asians won't fight for the race, just that such a fight is not fierce. Nowadays, there are many Asians who are writing for their own race and making society pay attention to Asians. As the author of this book and its participants. But seeing this incident in Minnesota, and based on my observation of similar incidents. I have come to realize that a peaceful voice is always ignored. No other race would choose to read a book about Asian' unfair experiences, and few people from other races would come to listen to lectures about Asian American Studies. And then I can understand that black people fight for their own interests, which is effective from experience, but it undoubtedly destroys social order and makes many people sacrifice. It is painful and contradictory to acquire rights, and it is also very difficult and worth discussing to fight for our own nation.

Question: Do Asians have to be more aggressive to gain rights and respect more effective. 
 

Reference

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, pp.370-377.

 

 

 

Yuanji Zhao Week 10 A03

Yuanji Zhao
Week 10 blog
A03



"I can't breath"- this are the most powerful words currently in United States. At the moment office Derek put his knee on George Floyd's neck, he wouldn't execpect to create one of the most miseable tragedy in American history. Since May 25, when George Floyd passed, there was a huge wave of protist in American society. Thousands of people are taking both peaceful and violent actions to send their voice towards mis-used power among the society. They not only express their anger on socail media, but march on the street to show how they feeled. Although what happen to Floyd triggered the whole thing, the protist now has already went beyond that. People wants to fight against the power which are used to loot them. They wants to fight for their basic rights as human beings. According to "Daily Show" host Trevor Noah, society is a form of contract. When people choose to obey the contract representing by following all the rules and laws, they are expecting the maker and the enforcer of these laws also follow it. However, what happen on May 25th is an absolute example about how some of the offical break the contract. Along with the development of the protist, it is possible there will be other violent events, maybe there is other people who will be harmed. From an objective point, this protist may not end up with a satisfying result, but I bilieve it will continue for a long time as the desire of most American towards equal and human rights will not be vanished quickly.
In the end, I think protists may not be the best way to conmmunicate with the goveronment if they will lead to harm or even death, but as long as the spirit of fighting for justice is still inside people's heart, everything can be done to accomplish this ultimate goal.

Reference

Matt Wilstein-"Trevor Noah: ‘Police In America Are Looting Black Bodies’"- May 29, 2020 - "https://www.thedailybeast.com/daily-show-host-trevor-noah-police-in-america-are-looting-black-bodies"

Itsumi Nagakura - Week 10 - A04

Reflections

It is hard to speak about Asian-American problems when so many Black Americans are scared for their lives. It feels like our problems are "not as bad" but then again, I realise that this is all a result of the hierarchy that has been constructed within People of Colour because of the model minority myth. I realise now, that it was privileged of me to say that protests should be peaceful and people should fight with love in the past because our Black peers can no longer afford to just "fight with love" because the police only treat them with violence. Especially in a time like this, I believe it is important for Asian-Americans to understand that the fact that they can go out and face the police without fearing for their lives, is because we are used as a wedge to undermine the rights of other racial minorities. Like in Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke "We came to recognize that even the seemingly positive stereotypes of Asians as model minorities, by which we supposedly have free access to achievement and success, is a lie deliberately built over hundreds of years to construct a wedge between potential allies—not only between differently racialized groups of color but also between Asian American women ourselves."(Location 11065 on Kindle Version) We should be angry about what is happening because we are "privileged" from how we stand on our POC peers and we as spit out once institutions are done using us as a wedge.

If I were to explain things according to the title, I would say that for Asian-Americans in higher education the power is in the faculty and for Black Americans, it is in the police. Our resistance is against the institutions and our wokeness is to realise how we fit and play into the model minority myth while Black Americans have been woke to the racism they face every day. I see Asian-Americans complaining about how they wish people would be this angered when COVID-19 happened. While I understand their anger and cannot deny that a part of me feels the same way, I have to understand that we just simply don't get KILLED BY THE POLICE because of our skin colour. In fact, Asian/Pacific Islanders have a lower lifetime risk of being killed by the police than White people (Edwards, Lee, & Esposito, 2019).

Edwards, Lee, & Esposito, 2019

Now the fact that a graph like this needs to exist is beyond me. But you KNOW you are privileged/lucky if you are better than a white person. The model minority myth that labels us as sensible and obedient is in a way saving us but it labels our Black peers a violent as a consequence. Fearing for your life is no longer a race problem anymore, it is a human rights problem. We are fighting police brutality stemming from racism.

Payne, 2003

Works Cited

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. (Kindle Version) 

Edwards, Frank, Hedwig Lee, and Michael Esposito. “Risk of Being Killed by Police Use of Force in the United States by Age, Race–Ethnicity, and Sex.” PNAS. National Academy of Sciences, August 20, 2019. https://www.pnas.org/content/116/34/16793.

Payne, Roz. Yellow Peril Supports Black Power. Photograph. Oakland, California, n.d. The International Center of Photography. https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/yellow-peril-supports-black-power-oakland-california

Zitong Wang, A03, week 10

This is the last week of the blogging for ASA 002. In this week's reading, "Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke", I realize the common topics among the last couple of readings. I learned that the reason why we study Asian American history is to better understand the cause behind the current situations in society and academia. We should not solely see improving Asian American's situations as the "battle against the institution", or just the result from as narrow categories like "race, class, gender, sexuality".etc. We should know that this inequality happens because of the lack of awareness and the result of multiple factors in history. Just like my learnings from the last week's reading, we should be open to changes and expect a win-win situation instead of false competition. I also feel so pumped, after taking this course and studied through this book, I realized that so many amazing people have been paving the road for a better future ahead of us. 

I also had many moments of realization which I understood why sometimes people are knowledgable and lack of sympathy. People are naturally not motivated enough to explore a matter in-depth unless they or people around them were affected by it. This explained why I wasn't aware of Asian inequalities in American society because I grew up in China and there aren't many immigrants from other countries. It was when I came to the US until I realized inequality among different gender and race. I realized the importance of reverse engineering also because of the same reason. It is so vital to find the root cause instead of just "fix"/ temporarily resolve the surface problems.

Reference

Valverde, K. C., &Wei M. D. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. Rutgers University Press.

Asian Americans Then and Now. Linking Past to Present. CENTER FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION. https://asiasociety.org/education/asian-americans-then-and-now

Sally Tran, A01, Week 10

With the current protests and demand for change, one thing from this week’s reading that stands is the author’s perspective of “being woke.” In the Conclusion, “being woke” is learning and compiling information through history and experience to come up with realization (Valverde & Dariotis 429). It is about the idea we’ve been talking about all quarter, reverse social engineering. The system and society that was created and that has been in place needs to be questioned. And, that is exactly what is happening around the country right now. People are aware of the injustice and the inequalities that have been institutionalized and they’re fighting back. As the author stated, “being woke” is a process, a continuous process that includes challenging what we’ve been taught. People are taking action and it won’t stop until there is change and reform. In response to the protests, Trump hasn’t really done anything or has addressed the protests. As the fight continues, his inaction is an action. The police need to be held accountable for their actions. Racism is real and oppression exists. No justice, no peace. 

Image from https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/05/31/ap-photos-protests-america-george-floyd

References:

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2019). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars 

resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Matthew Ko ASA 002 A01 week 10

For this week, I read WP's poem, "My Kintsuki", and Professor Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis' written texts, "Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke". Both of these written pieces really tied well together and conveyed strong messages that relates to the main takeaways from this class and recent events. To start off with WP's poem, the Kintsuki that she talks about refers to a traditional Japanese art where broken pottery are glued together with gold. This is very symbolic because not conveys the idea that no matter hoe broken something is, there is always hope and an opportunity to fix it. Similarly to this "broken pottery", a "broken academic system" filled with racism and oppression also has the opportunity of being fixed. In the beginning of the poem, WP admits how she was about to give up on herself, but she then got motivation from God to keep standing up for her rights. WP ends up concluding that we don't necessarily need to get rid of the system completely, but we mainly need to reform it. In professor's Valverde's conclusion, she lists ways in which we can help fight the system. One of the ways to do this is to replace academic positions with more women of color. However, it has been prominent in the Asian community to remain quiet in order to show respect, and so that is why such change has been tough for the Asian American community. Both of these ideas are really similar to the current events of the unjust killing of George Floyd. The death of George Floyd could have also been avoided if the Asian Cop decided to step up and intervene with his partner to ask him to stop kneeling on Mr. Floyd. Nevertheless, the Asian Cop remained silent and simply observed the cop suffocating Mr Floyd, most likely thinking that he did not want to lose respect from the cop. This event is an actual representation of how dangerous it is for Asian Americans to keep silent: It can literally be the difference between life or death. It is therefore important for more and more Asian Americans to step up not only for their own rights, but for the rights of other people of color as well. To refer to the bigger issue, one way to reform the broken system of the police field is to - similarly to what Professor Valverde said - replace more white officers with people of color. I genuinely believe that as long as there will be more white cops than non-white cops, we will unfortunately continue to see such tragedy repeat itself again.

One question that I have is: what will it take to get more and more Asian Americans to start speaking up itself? And, what are the steps we can take to get mote people of color to become police officers?







Reference:

Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholars' Resistance and Renewal in the Academy, by Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis, Rutgers University Press, 2020, pp. 423-441.

Malik, Mayeen. (2020) "George Floyd: How Asian Americans Failed Black Americans in the Struggle for Racial Justice" [Photograph] Retrieved from:
https://medium.com/@iamayeenm/george-floyd-how-asian-americans-failed-black-people-b8ea99a22512

Xin Nie, A04, week 10

After reading "Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke" by the authors Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Min Dariotis. We have been discussing the role of Asian Americans in academia as well as their fight for justice in the academic system this season. This chapter, a good summary of not only the book but also the course, reminds the readers why we should fight and why we should make ourselves heard. As the Covid-19 has currently triggered a wave of anti-Asian racism in the United States with no sign of weakening, Asian Americans spit on in the streets, facing harassment and insult. The family members of Asian Americans are threatened by the virus as much as any other family, while their fellow countrymen blame the virus on them and even attack children, which is beyond my apprehension. In the George Floyd incident recently, if he were a white man, things would turn out to be quite different. After watching the video, I felt irritated by the crime of law enforcement officials, for this is not the first time that US law enforcement officials have used violence inappropriately. It also reflects a systemic problem in human rights in the United States that discrimination based on racial, ethnic, and religious reasons have led to various problems such as the arbitrary use of violence by police during law enforcement and the prejudice in the judicial system, which are practical issues in human rights of American society. However, the current wave of racism provides an unprecedented opportunity for vulnerable Asian Americans to unite themselves and fight for true equality. This battle cannot be won by Asian Americans alone.

References:
(n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2020, from http://www.cheerinus.com/news/bencandy.php?fid=51

JIaying Li ASA 002 A01 Week 10

In the article titled "Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke," Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis argue that we fight because the current system runs counter to what we think academia can be and what it claims to be. We need to save not only the future of academia but also society itself. The significance of our victory and failure goes beyond academia's immediate scope (p. 424-425). I agree with this kind of statement, for which I think the basic meaning of modern social ethics is fairness and justice. As a social elite group, the majority of scientific researchers should respect the norms of social ethics and the academic community. University is the source of knowledge and wisdom, the center of academic research, and the center of academic communication. University is different from other social organizations because it bears the responsibility for knowledge and learning, human civilization inheritance and development, and is respected and respected by society. Therefore, academic rationality is the source of life and the foundation of a university. The academic rationality of the university includes academic freedom, academic fairness, academic morality, and the rationality of academic communication. If there is no academic fair environment, the university cannot cultivate the real scientific spirit. Teachers will not be content with the academic standard and loyal to the academy, which will inevitably lead to the decline of the academic.

References

“Academic Freedom Under Threat”. Web. 31 May 2020. Available from: https://fredblock.org/academic-freedom-under-threat/

Valverde, Kieu Linh Caroline; Dariotis, Wei Ming. “Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke”.

Songmin Li ASA002 A04 Week 10

From the poem assigned in this final week, My Kintsuki written by Wang Ping, I feel her strength and persistence, and fearlessness, especially through the words: “I will not give up No matter how impossible it is/ I will not give up No matter what’s happening around me/ I will not give up Until rivers run free, and mountains no longer slide Until swamps hum with birds and fish among cypress knees/ Until my heart becomes a temple” (p420).  In her narrative, she has stated that it is a turning point. She would be alive and victorious. Therefore, instead of hiding the interruption, she wrote "My Kintsuki."

Plus, It's worth mentioning the Japanese word "Kintsuki", meaning "repair with gold". Repair does not highlight the hidden fracture, but rather highlights the part of repairing, which shows the beauty that occurs during the fracture and repair process. I think it symbolizes her experience in academia and her whole past. Throughout her life, he has experienced continual suppression and discrimination, and while accepting those pain, she has chose to fight back, to break the "rules", to try to change the whole mold of industrialized academia environment. She has repaired not only her own mood and life, but the ethos and "conventions" of the academic world as a whole. When she has walked these paths, she can feel her own professional self-worth and "the beauty that occurs during the repair process." I taste the liberation and the relief from this poem.

What's more, through the article “Conclusion: Academic Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke”, which is the end of the book Fight the Tower, I deeply feel that in order to pursue equality and relative freedom, people really need a lot of effort, especially for minority groups. The women of color in the American academic community experienced many unsuccessful failures and frustrations. Although there are many areas where anti-discrimination is expressed on the surface now, such "invisible discrimination" still exists. I also know that rights of women were strived with a severe path, that it is a paved road with tears and blood donation. Not only is it necessary for women to speak for women, but for colored people. We need men to speak for women, and mainstream people to speak for minorities.

References:
Image from: https://aapr.hkspublications.org/2017/04/17/foreword/

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M., (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars 
resistance and renewal in the academy. Rutgers University Press.

Chiyuan Zhang Week 10

This book combines many individuals' different experiences and ideas to show the current condition of Asians and Asian Americans. It is true that our society still has general stereotypes and discrimination for Asians and Asian Americans. For myself, I met stereotypes too. It is hard to earn everyone's respect and understanding. Many Americans don't learn or know about Asian Americans or Asians so in their mind, their prejudices are deep-rooted. Thus, in a short time, Asian Americans cannot reduce most Americans' prejudices. Although Asian Americans do excellent work, many Americans don't believe that Asians and Asian Americans are more excellent than themselves. For example, in the book, the unfairness in academia. Although the whites and Asians do the same good job, people will praise the whites-only and ignore the success of Asians. On the other hand, for international students, we have many worries and disturbing emotions. I am always worried about meeting the professor or tutor with racial discrimination because this kind of person really exists in society around us. In the last chapter of the book, the author mentions that "the purpose of writing this book is not to recreate another system of hierarchy but to empower administrators, faculty, staff, students, and the community to remake and revision education as liberation not only for individuals but also for groups and our society as a whole." I really agree with these sentences. Breaking prejudice is a challenge. It needs everyone's efforts and cooperation to liberate all groups from systemic violence.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Reference:   

pic:  https://www.google.com/search?q=asian+american+fight+bias&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwidrc3N19_pAhU4zIsBHVl2BU8Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=asian+american+fight+bias&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1CBLVifOGC4OWgCcAB4AIABsAGIAegHkgEDMC42mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWc&sclient=img&ei=UnfUXp28EbiYr7wP2eyV-AQ&bih=674&biw=1536#imgrc=iLiztg6sgQG1oM

Yvonne Chen, ASA 02 A01, week 10

W.P.'s poem “My Kintsuki” still has strong personal characteristics. It contains a huge amount of emotions and implies deeper meanings and topics. The author shows his resolution that he will try his best to fight against unequal, and willing to cost anything. "Calm a storm with a storm", "soothe anger with anger" demonstrates that he is fearless about using violence to push the development of equality and justice for Asian America. This let me think of recent demonstrations for the black. The blacks use violent actions in Minnesota against violence towards them. They try to use these actions to show their anger and force the US government and people in the US to directly face this problem. There were many similar events happened before, but those black didn't get response and respect. This time, people become more certain about their beliefs and people from different states unit together to fight with unequal treatment. The loss of Black's lives makes them so sad, and they want to make some change. I will keep track of this event and see if the government can really do something good for them. I have a question that if the blacks will stop after there is a satisfactory punishment towards that police, or they want more?


Reference:

1. Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline, and Wei Ming Dariotis. Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholars Resistance and Renewal in the Academy. Rutgers University Press, 2020.
2. US News, and Trump Presidency. “Minneapolis Police Station Torched Amid George Floyd Protest.” Www.theepochtimes.com, 29 May 2020, www.theepochtimes.com/national-guard-called-to-respond-to-minneapolis-violence_3368853.html.