Hell yes to: Talking about race is not indulging in the “Oppression Olympics”
Asian-Americans = homogenous group of individuals
“Respect for Authority” should not be synonymous with “political apathy”
But near the end, Bui writes:
“The road map to economic justice all of a sudden isn’t about forms of political resistance like the iconic Civil Rights Movement. It’s about replying to inequity with passivity-something that’s worked to keep Asian Americans as a minuscule political force.
Don’t believe me? Asian Americans make up roughly 40 percent of the student body on this campus. But the first languages set to be cut next year? The East Asian Languages.”
Personally, I’m offended. Although I realize that Bui acknowledges that we must “reject political passivity” and is, perhaps, striving to mobilize Asian Americans on campus to care, to say that Asian Americans respond to “inequity with passivity” and is a “minuscule political force” is a gross, gross generalization and an unfair analysis of Asian Americans on campus and around the country.
Recent events and current movements show otherwise: Rock the Vote!, Count Me In!, and API Education/Language Now!
(and look at those exclamation points!!!! They’re anything but passive.)
Maybe I’m just really stupid, but the article gets a little confusing towards the end as to: what is your point? I feel like it’s a “been there done that” argument that hardboiled has hashed and rehashed a billion times already. “Asian Americans experience racism too!” “Asian Americans AREN’T passive” “Asian Americans shouldn’t be called the model minority.” I’m glad he’s so insightful, but c’mon, pick up an issue of hardboiled why don’t you?
But yeah. To your comments against Asian American passivity… I think Berkeley and SF area could quite possibly be a bad example to use to represent all of the Asian American community. I seriously wonder what Asian Americans in Texas, Nevada, and other parts of this country think about politics. Given that Berkeley and SF were the areas where the AA movement started, of course the AA here (especially since Berkeley and SF State have an Ethnic Studies program) are a little bit more politically competent. As much as I’d love to say “yeah, go us!” for being politically active here, I do wonder a lot of times if there are similar movements happening all over the country to mobilize communities.
lol, sorry for the overblown commenting.
How to deal with the model-minority problem?
Make ethnic studies a part of the curriculum in high school. If possible, make it a mandatory class (unlikely).
There is a stereotype that ethnic studies is a class which breeds racism because it is a class/major which condemns White people for what they done.
But you know, Bui makes an interesting point: East Asian languages are facing budget cut because it seems convenient for politicians to do to save money. Note the word “convenient” – because AAs are a model-minority, the politicians think the budget cuts toward us are the least harmful.
Therefore, ethnic studies classes are important because they teach students how to understand government public policies on ethnic groups. Racism and stereotypes are never going to go away; you have to be able to get along with people of different backgrounds, individually and step by step with each individual you make, without the mindset of RACE.
However, because government helps a society function, we, as citizens, must know how to analyze, make decisions, and make government better based on understanding how government treats ethnic groups.
Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, CA has Ethnic Studies. I’m sure you could look into how that class does as a potential article idea.
I’ve been labeled as somebody who’s strength is in the humanities, but I have a strong interest in engineering. Most of my AA friends are stronger in the math/sciences, but don’t really put an emphasis on understanding government public policies toward ethnic groups because it is not their forte.
Therefore, unless ethnic studies is taken as an ordinary GE class in the future for an easy way out, you’re going to have people not understanding why it is important to understand how governments view ethnic groups.
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Just a quick side-note, do you guys think about race like everyday? That drives me crazy. Isn’t it all about getting along? At the same time, I understand it’s more complicated than just that.