Author: salena yakatally

According to the readings and films, we see that the description of a citizen and the citizenship process was created by the white people. This system was created to benefit the Europeans because back then the being “white” was considered the ideal American. This system favored the Europeans and an example of this would be the questionnaire Asians would have to fill out to prove their loyalty to this country. The Europeans did not have to do this questionnaire and  this proves how the system favored Europeans and treated other minorities different. Today I feel anyone can acquire a citizenship but to be considered a citizen you’d have to contribute to your country and live under the country’s rules. When I say contribute to the country an example of that would be paying taxes or getting a job. This what I feel a citizen should be considered as, although a lot of people do these things but aren’t considered a citizen and is treated unfairly. This is a fault of our country and hopefully we can see change in the neat future.

Race is a social construction because it is a way to divide our people into groups or labels. Sadly, we are all categorized by the color of our skin and race. It is also a way to justify people’s actions and can easily lead to stereotyping. For example Asian people are always thought out to be extremely smart and good at math and science. Also, many white people are privileged. Social construction is a way to justify the power white people have over minority groups. It is very sad to be categorized like this and to be treated differently because of the color of our skin.

After reading Lee’s “The making of Asian America” and watching the film I learned that Europeans thought of Asia as a “polor opposite” to what they had. The Europeans were interested in Asia’s culture and land and were determined to find Asia. They mostly interested in Asia’s goods like the exotic fruits, spices, herbs, etc. These are things the Europeans didn’t have and what they wanted. What surprised from this reading was that the first immigrants were the Los Chinos and that they were Filipino, this was something I never would’ve thought of. You learn something new everyday. This reading highlighted their journey to America. The immigration process from back is noticeably different from how it is today. In my opinion I feel it was easier for illegal immigration to happen back then, today it is much harder.

Phi’s article shined light on the very common topic of police brutality, he describes how the Asian American’s feel towards this topic and shows the extents some officers go to in order to prove their loyalty to the force. He points out the fact that even though many Asian Americans has experienced police brutality  because of simple reasons like they can’t speak english, a lot of them support the law enforcement. Phi’s goal is to try to get everyone to stand together and fight for justice. He feels that Asian officers are left with no other choice than to try to fit in and side with others In this case he mentions how officer Duy Ngo wasn’t treated fairly, Duy felt betrayed and shocked when he found that the same police force he dedicated his loyalty to turned on their backs on him. This goes to show how privileged white officers are. The white officer who shot was was put on paid leave and had no charges against him.

“Chinese Conservatism” to me is what the Asian Americans values are. For example, a lot of Asian American parents main goal for their children is for them to be successful in life. I feel both zen and phi’s message is for our commucnites to come together and fight racism and police brutality. Both are trying to get a message across which can be simply put into one category, “equal rights and being treated fairly.”

Kimberly Yama’s “Forgotten Asian Refugees in American Prison” explains how the Cambodian people had a rough migration process. This article showed how the suffered in the United States, where they were supposed to move to and start a new life. It is a shame how these humans were treated. The United States gave them shelter but treated them with no respect.

These articles brought life to how poorly the United States treated these Asian immigrants. I was really interested to learn of this. The articles explained the extreme conditions ICE enforced during immigration process. Some refugees were in so much turmoil from being so poorly treated they turned to suicide. This is very shameful for our country and I am glad things have changed for the better.

 

 

The term “Model Minority” was evolved in the 1960’s. In Kim’s “The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans,” she explains how the Model Minority is a stereotype that categorized Asian Americans as the more “superior” or “smartest” minority group. During these times the United States preferred immigrants who would make the country look good. What I mean by “look good” is immigrants who would excel in fields of technology, mathematic, science, etc. to improve the economy. This made other minorities look inferior and undermined. This was not fair at all and didn’t give other minorities a chance at being academically prepared and ready. The model minority myth forced a lot of pressure onto the Asian American group  and this was a problem. Asians are already stereotyped to be the richest and smartest race and are forced to live up to those standards. Children of these families feel a lot of pressure from their parents to become doctors or lawyers, or just have to acquire a high paying and important career. I feel this isn’t fair, they are human as well and shouldn’t be treated differently because of stereotypical standards that they’re forced to live up to. A lot of times children can get lost or depressed when thinking of their future because they are forced to pick a career path that doesn’t satisfy them. This myth became an idea to protect the Whites from being bashed from the “bad minority.”

Hello everyone, I’d like to start off by stating this was one of the easiest classes for me to catch up on. Professor Munshi thank you for making everything so smooth. I enjoy the topic we discuss during our lectures and all the work we need to do is quite easy to find, unlike a lot of my other classes. This is class is much more organized and easier to follow along with. I support this openlab database 100%. I wish my other classes weren’t so all over the place. I really like how easy everything is to find. I also like how smooth the lectures for this class are. Professor finds a way for her students to be engaged but doesn’t really force us. The teaching style makes her students want to be engaged and involved. I took this class expecting it to be a challenge and was prepared to be stressing over assignments but there is no need to stress when you know what you have to get done and you have a decent amount of time to get it done.

A song that I believe to be a good fit for a class playlist is a song from Drake called “Outro” featuring Chilly Gonzales. This song has no lyrics to it and it’s literally like elevator music. I like it because it is a calm and soothing tone to just have on in the background as you’re doing homework or something that requires brain power. There’s no words to listen for and understand, just a nice piano tune. Personally I think it helps me focus better, it sets a mood for me when I’m ready to focus up on some school work that needs to get done.