Tanvi Chopra ASA2 A01 Week 2

Tanvi Chopra
ASA2 - A01
Week 2

This week, the assigned reading was the manifesto and the prologue of 'Fight The Tower.' It provided us with an overview, a brief summary of the mistreatment of Asian American women in academia. It highlights the perception that most people had of female Asian Americans in the academic community including students in schools and university programs as well as the researchers and professors who teach these students. It provides us with the struggles since the middle of the nineteenth century that Asian Americans had faced in their fight against educational rights and equality.


Supporters attend the “Rally for the American Dream – Equal Education Rights for All,” ahead of the start of the trial in a lawsuit accusing Harvard University of discriminating against Asian-American applicants, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., October 14, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

In Asian culture, academic excellence is extremely important. It is widely known that Asians are expected to score straight A's, the math and science taught in asian schools if is often higher level than anywhere else. It saddens me that they have struggled with these rights for equality. It is clear that if judged on merit, Asian Americans outperform. However, they are often judged on race and gender and looked down upon. As a second year student, I often apply for internships. Each application includes identification of race and gender. These are companies who term themselves as 'Equal Employment Opportunity' companies. Question: If that is in fact true, why do they collect data on race and gender at the time of application? Is this not discrimination in the name of diversity? Is this not against the rights of any American who is biracial?
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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.

Barlow, J., & Barlow, J. (2018, November 1). Is Harvard bias against Asian Americans? Retrieved from https://america.cgtn.com/2018/11/01/is-harvard-bias-against-asian-americans