Cheryl Mai, A01, Week 5

In "The Cost of Speaking", W.P. voices how it is a lose-lose situation either way for speaking up and not speaking up. If a person of color chooses to speak out against the institution, they will lose their colleagues and their job. If they do not speak out, they will endure health issues and not get a promotion. W.P. insists that because you can not win, you need to still speak up, despite being a minority. It is frightening how much power universities have over their employees that lawyers know to not take a case against the institution. It must be very disheartening to put all your life into fighting for yourself, but to hear everyone around you saying there is nothing they can do to save you.
In Shannon Deloso's “Precariously Positioned: Asian American Women Students’ NegotiatingPower in Academia”, it is upsetting that the San Francisco State University wanted to cut funding on the ethnic studies program. Ethnic Studies defines SFSU and students fought hard for it to be taught. In this neoliberal approach, universities are not considering the students and the professors, but are making decisions based on business. Shannon is stuck in a position where she has to speak up as a student activist, but also fearing the backlash as a student representative to the student government. She struggles in order to maintain a good relationship with the students and the administration, in addition to being true to herself and her agendas. As a first generation woman of color, I admire Shannon for giving her speech to the administration because I know that I would not be able to do the same. Growing up as an Asian American, I was taught to be obedient and respectful to elders. If there was a strike, I do not think that I would take part in it unless it affects me directly. Do people only care about the matter when they are the ones being affected, or are people too afraid of the consequences to speak against it?

source: http://eltecolote.org/content/en/features/hunger-strikers-sfsu-reach-joint-agreement-for-college-of-ethnic-studies/

References

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.