Tricia Leong ASA 2 A03 Week 3

I think the way in which Fight the Tower is able to share the stories of Asian American women in academia along with the challenges and discrimination they face is very important for the Asian American academic community. In college, I have taken several classes with Asian professors, yet was blind to their struggles taking place beyond the lecture hall. Until this quarter, none of my Asian professors had been willing to openly discuss their lives as minority academics; as a result, their stories remain unheard and students like me are unaware of the forces working to prevent them from advancing. This is why Professor Valverde's work is so significant- she, along with the other authors of Fight the Tower, are able to tell their stories, expose the unfair treatment of Asian American women in universities, and push for change. They make their stories heard, educating both students and teachers alike and bringing to light the continued prevalence of discriminatory practices and regulations based on both race and gender. It analyzes the effects of internalized racial images such as the model minority myth, which deepened my understanding of this topic and allowed me to connect such concepts to my own life while re-evaluating certain personal events through a different perspective. After reading the stories of various Asian American professors and their battles, I have an increased amount of respect for my Asian professors in college. This just goes to show that you never really know what some people are going through unless they choose to share their story.

Considering the fact that Asians are generally stereotyped to especially excel at math, I wonder if Asian math professors go through similar struggles as those described in Fight the Tower, or if their experiences differ to an extent. I have a Korean friend who wants to become a math professor at an American university, so I would like to help her as much as possible to prepare for what she might have to face as an aspiring Asian professor. This is yet another way in which Fight the Tower benefits the Asian American community, by allowing potential Asian academics to learn more about the forces that will work against them, learn from the experiences of others, and better prepare themselves for the challenges they will face.

References

Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde and Wei Ming Dariotis. “Introduction. “The Time to Fight Is Now”: Asian American Women, Academia’s Socially Engineered “Privileged Oppressed,” Go Rogue.” 

Malone, S. (2019) Janelle Wong Lectures at Princeton University on "Coalitions and Cleavages in Asian American Politics" [photograph]. Retrieved from https://ams.princeton.edu/news/2018-19/janelle-wong-coalitions-cleavages-asian-american-politics