Katharina Tian ASA002 A01 Week5

Katharina Tian
ASA002 A01 Week5

Caroline Valverde

Should we keep silent?

Being quiet and listening is always a characteristic of Chinese people and we believe that is a good quality. In our culture, we have an old wives' tale that says silence is the gold. However, this not correct. We shouldn't keep silence especially when we are here. Silence makes us vulnerable and makes other people think we are weak and easily bullied. In The Cost of speaking, W.P. exposed how she had been experienced with all the unfair treatment from being a colored woman and retaliation from being honest. I cannot help but feeling angry while I was reading her article, especially when she said that “when the provost told me to my face that I was simply not good enough, that all my books cannot be compared to a single article published by a white assistant professor”. How can this happen in academics, the place that should be full of warmth and knowledge? She does not deserve this humiliation just because of her color and honesty. If speaking out is wrong, then why people even claim speech freedom in America.

However, I am still very admired how brave she is. If I was in her situation, I won’t have dared to appeal to the college for reopening my case because I found some procedural violations. I know what I will face if I choose to do so. So, I can’t take the risk of losing my job or position. 

My question is that what makes people keep fighting even though they know what terrible results they will face?

https://www.hppr.org/post/how-texas-prevented-black-women-voting-decades-after-19th-amendment

Reference

1.Valverde, K.-L. C., & P., W. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
2.  Rice, J. (2019). How Texas Prevented Black Women From Voting Decades After The 19th Amendment. Retrieved from https://www.hppr.org/post/how-texas-prevented-black-women-voting-decades-after-19th-amendment