Shannon Ngo ASA2 A04 Week 1

At first, I didn’t think much of the virus, comparing it to the flu-- it’s bad, but not too bad. And after seeing the countless jokes and memes this generation created in response to the pandemic, I adopted an apathetic attitude to the entire situation. It wasn’t until later when the death toll started climbing up, when emergency preventative measures were set in place, that I started to grow more concerned. 

I only thought of the short-term consequences; as an introvert, quarantine didn’t seem at all devastating. Social distancing, limited contact-- great, nothing I can’t handle. But then I realized I was out of a job, and my parents were, too. And suddenly, financial stability wasn’t so stable anymore. 

The economy would surely take a hit after this, but just as significant are the racial ramifications. Professor Valverde discusses discrimination in Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia,” and in these times of panic, it’s only heightened. Some people are all too ready to blame others, for the mere purpose of attributing their misery and struggles to an available source. 

For this course, I’m eager to learn more about the corrupt underhandedness of the higher education system (and why Professor Valverde referred to it as an industrial complex). The podcast element is also an interesting factor. 

Question: how would the coronavirus affect future proceedings, economically and socially, in the following months? Years?

Image Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

Source: Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline (2013) “Fight the Tower: A Call to Action of Women of Color in Academia”. Seattle Journal for Justice: Vol. 12: Iss. 2, Article 5. Retrieved from 

http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol12/iss2/5

testing

testing

testing

testing

Joseph Tiu ASA 002 A03 Week 1

     2020 has been an eventful year, with the novel Coronavirus being one of the most notable of these events so far. Not only has it affected most of the world’s countries and their economies, but it has also impacted us on a personal level, forcing us to practice ‘social distancing’ and sanitary measures as a means to prevent further spread of this virus.

     

     Unfortunately, with these positive or helpful practices there are also negative biases and discrimination coming to light. There have been numerous cases of Asians or Asian-Americans being harassed, both physically and verbally, due to some notion that these groups have to be held responsible since the virus originated from Asia. As noted in a New York Times article (2020), these racist attacks have come to a point where there is a “debate among Asian-Americans […] over whether to wear a mask in public” since “[w]earing one risks drawing unwanted attention; but not wearing one does, too,” and that the negative attention they gain from wearing a mask can be “more dangerous than the virus,” which highlights how vicious some of these attacks have become. With these discriminatory actions taking place, this course topic is more relevant than ever as it shows how others can suddenly alienate Asians and Asian-Americans from within their own group and form negative biases with no logical basis.

     It is important that we see this blatant racism for what it is and take steps to support Asians and Asian-Americans who are currently at risk of hate crimes. We should remind them that they are not alone and although there are those who hold negative biases against them, there are also others who see the irrationality of these biases. After reading Professor Valverde’s article in Fight the Tower, I realize that this is exactly the message that she conveys in her article albeit concerning a different case of racism against women of color in academia. Although these two issues are different in the population they affect, her recommendations such as creating a support network and standing your ground can be applied to combat these biases and show solidarity with those afflicted. My question now is, what else can we do to show these affected populations what they are not alone?

References:

     Senne, S. (2020, March 12) Asian American leaders in Massachusetts condemn what they say is racism, fear-mongering and misinformation. [Online Image]. Associated Press News. https://apnews.com

     Tavernise, S. & Oppel, R. A. Jr. (2020, March 24). Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety. New York Times, Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com

     Valverde, K.-L. C. (2013). Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 12(2). Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu

Zili Zeng ASA002 A03 Week 1

The Coronavirus has become a global pandemic that harms people from more than 170 countries around the world in the past a few months. As we are confronting the multidimensional struggles from health issues, economy impact and social judges, the Coronavirus turned to be a test of humanity about the capacities to be kind and generous. At this point, "it is crucial to see beyond ourselves and our own interests", mentioned by Lawrence S. Bacow, the President of Harvard University.

To avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, lots of states have issued the "Stay-Home" law, and people really need to be self-esteem and follow such order together, not just to protect themselves, but also to protect others. Since the Coronavirus is infected by the droplet, it is also necessary to realize the importance of wearing mask, which is the most direct and effective way to prevent the droplet infection. Although wearing mask might bring some inconvenience to individuals, the group benefit of fighting against the Coronavirus should be more prioritized than the self-interest. Therefore, wearing mask is not a sign of another typical stereotype of Asians or Asian Americans, but a symbol of social justice to protect all people as a whole. In this class, I hope I will learn the solutions to the contemporary issues that Asian Americans are facing and what kinds of social justice I need to develop to protect and fight against the discrimination, as it mentioned in Professor Valverde's book of "Fight the Tower".

Question from the reading: In what way can people develop the sense social justice to go beyond their own interest?

Reference:

Larry S. Bacow (2020). Confirmed Case of COVID-19, Harvard University. Retrieved from 

https://www.harvard.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-confirmed-case

Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline (2013) “Fight the Tower: A Call to Action of Women of Color in Academia”. Seattle Journal for Justice: Vol. 12: Iss. 2, Article 5. Retrieved from 

http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol12/iss2/5

Takami Yamamoto ASA2 A02 Week 1

As the total number of confirmed Coronavirus cases approaching 140,000, everyone is one their nerves and have their fingers crossed that they won't be the next victim of this war between man and nature.
However, at this very critical moment, some people are trying to twist people's minds that Coronavirus is not nature to blame.
In the past week, one of the most famous Twitter lover President Donald Trump tweeted out his shallow mind and put so many people in danger.
President Trump used specifically the term "Chinese Virus" instead of "Coronavirus" and has potentially pressed on some people's backs to perform racial hate crimes against Asians in the country. There has been cased reported that Chinese men and women being threatened by people from other races, and there was even a Thai family that was hurt badly with the intent of murder by a non-Asian man.
Even before President Trump intentionally promoting racial discrimination against Asian Americans, there was already a huge amount of discrimination in our community just like Professor Valverde has described in her article Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia. I do believe the life for Asian Americans will be even harder after this spread of pandemic disease as people always need someone to blame when bad things happen.
Question: Does making America hate Asian people really help Donald Trump to be re-elected?


Reference

Botsford, J. (2020). In Donald Trump’s remarks during a press conference last week, “corona” was crossed out and replaced with “Chinese,” reflecting his fixation on the coronavirus’s origins. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/whats-at-stake-in-a-viruss-name

Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline (2013) "Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia," Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 12: Iss. 2, Article 5. Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol12/iss2/5

Yvonne Chen ASA 002 A01 Week 1

As a Chinese who study aboard in America, I found that I almost experienced the war
of Coronavirus twice. After the winter break, I came back to the US to continue my
studies. At the same time, Coronavirus spread in China at a crazy speed due to the
Spring Festival. I keep tracking all kinds of information about the virus and worrying
about my family’s health. I kept telling my family to wear a mask, but they thought I
exaggerate the degree of severe about this virus because there isn’t any popular social
media and news asserts the severity of Coronavirus. When they started to notice the
negative influence of the virus on human health, it was already too late to buy masks.
Fortunately, they stayed in our hometown, a small village without too many interactions
among people. Thus, all of my family and friends are safe and healthy. It’s undeniable
that all Chinese hurt so badly during this “war”, even though news and media only show
how effective the government did. At the beginning of Coronavirus, news and media
tried to hide information about the spread of this virus as they want to avoid panic among
people. Also, problems of government appeared while the news and media hide all of
them. They try to use the hardship of all doctors and nurses to transfer people’s focus
so that they can forget those bad things and only remember good things. To be honest,
they are successful, because now people are celebrating our success while nobody still
mentions those failures of government actions. Moreover, nobody would like to do
reflections on their behaviors. My parents’ friends were in Wuhan at that time, and it’s
clear that things are much worse and hopeless than any news said. However, people
are forgetting those pains, and forgetting people who were dead during this “war”. Do
you think news and social media in America frame the fact worse or better.

I hope Professor Valverde and TAs can provide help to students who are not in
America due to Coronavirus. There are time differences, internet problems, and
many other issues. I want to try my best to learn this course and know more about
injustice and unfair treatment met by all Asian Americans in the US. After reading
part of “Fight the Tower”, I can feel the long and hard way of Asian Americans to
fight for their rights. Professor Valverde mentions discriminations that I didn’t notice
before such as the color of faculty and their income level. Also, the podcast is a new
thing for me, I’m interested in it and I believe I can know more about it after this course.

Reference:

1. Valverde, Kieu-Linh Caroline (2013) "Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women
of Color in Academia," Seattle Journal for Social Justice: Vol. 12: Iss. 2, Article 5.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjsj/vol12/iss2/5

2. Barua, Sanjay. “The Power of Social Media.” LinkedIn SlideShare, 2 Aug. 2013,
www.slideshare.net/sanjaykrazee/presentation1-24884480.