Bahadur: ‘How could I write about women whose existence is barely acknowledged?’
- What history is Bahadur writing about?
- She has written history about the women in India who were not treated fairly and their existence was not acknowledged.
- More than that she wrote about her great-grandmother
- What is in the official historical record? Whose perspective is it from?
- The official historical record is nothing true about the women who have been depicted by the white people “They are only described by others, by the various white men who held power over them; the ships’ surgeons and captains, planters and overseers, immigration agents and magistrates.”
- What information is missing?
- When talking about missing information, I think it is missing a lot of information in there. For example, she mentioned that she had to work hard to find the important information needed but she couldn’t do it either. Because of the information she has, it’s not official.
- What other types of “data” does Bahadur use to understand history?
- She searched from various sources like “ I looked for clues in visual traces and the oral tradition: folk songs, oral histories, photographs and colonial-era postcards, even a traditional tattoo on the forearms of elderly Indo-Caribbean women. Perhaps most daringly, I turned to the self and wrote about my own journeys: to India,…”
- If you were to construct an archive of your own family history, what types of data might you review or search for?
- I think I’ll ask my family first and I’ll find out about places where I was a child with my family.
How the story of Kamala Harris upends the Asian American ‘model minority’ stereotype
- What does the author mean by “model minority” and “anti-model minority?”
- We can say “model minority” is the difference between Asian Americans and people of color, they have different views based on prejudices and patterns in the past.
- “anti-model minority” is Asian Americans who have more opportunities to develop and prove themselves.
- What evidence does he give us to make his argument?
“the “model minority” stereotype by wearing a “Math” lapel pin, and making joking comments like, “I am Asian, so I know a lot of doctors.” His platform was also based on the belief that individuals can overcome challenging circumstances less through solidarity with other groups and more from personal decision making along with at least some government support.”
