Asian Americans have been seen as the "model minority" group for many decades and are described as having a "positive sterotype." However, as Fight the Tower mentions, this term has created an image for Asian Americans that have negatively affected them. Many people end up having these high expectations to live up to, being put in a box to go into careers that are expected of them. This image takes a toll on their mental health and ends up being a constant thought in the back of their heads. The Fight the Tower movement is a response to the “model minority” group and a way for Asian American to rise up and against what is expected of them. They are changing the systems that were put in place to oppress them.
Similarly, the students in the Ethnic Studies on Strikes video sought to be heard and to be listened to. Through the protests, they fought and made sure to voice their wants and needs to the administration. They endured the protests for over two months for the department of ethnic studies (Hickey). Just like in Fight the Tower, “our anger give us voice, and this voice is our power (Valverde & Dariotis). They were questioning the education system that didn't include their culture and history. Just like the K-12 education, we are not taught about the different histories and ethnic studies. We only learn what history was like according to the Europeans. Having ethnic studies allows for us to learn another part of history that explores a different perspective.
References:
Hickey, J. (2019, January 24). Veterans of Berkeley's Ethnic Studies struggle stage rally 50 years later. Retrieved from https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/01/23/veterans-of-berkeleys-ethnic-studies-struggle-stage-rally-50-years-later/
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.
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