Author: Shehnila Mehreen

Phi points out from the article ‘Unprotected by Assimilation: Lessons from the case of Duo Ngo’ that Asian Americans should not support the wrongful acts of the system by believing it will benefit them in the long run. He also shows the dilemma a police faced and resulted to the killing of his own co-worker Duy ngo. He wants us ( the Asian Americans) to stand up for ourselves and not follow the law agency blindly. Also in Zen’s article, ‘Chinese Conservation’, he shows the Chinese should not hold on to their conservative ideas rather they need to let go of the past values to embrace the modern ( that serves equality) ones. 

The goal of this letter is to make the Asian American community realize that they should play their part to stop the discrimination towards the Black Americans. The author reminiscences about the dark history Black Americans were a part of and talks about the injustice they have been facing till today. I agree Asian Americans faced a lot of discrimination in the past and amid of all the sufferings they could create a better future for themselves but for Black Americans there is still a unfilled gap in the society. Surely, they are receiving education, are in higher positions in different sectors but sometimes they are still neglected and looked down on. It is known to us that though the statements of our constitution says we are all equal in America no matter race, gender etc but the actions of our law enforcing agencies towards them depicts a different story. I think the goal of this letter certainly met as it calls for a society where there should be zero tolerance if discrimination is shown towards any minority communities and equal opportunities for all. 

The excerpt from Lee’s reading and the film has refreshed my previous knowledge about the histories of Asian migration to the Americas and awestruck me with the unknown facts. The Europeans were fascinated with Asia and considered Asia as it’s polar opposite. For centuries, the difference laid between the West and the East. The Western’s had the masculine power whereas Asia was considered to be weak, femininine which needed to be conquered by the Europeans. The Crusaders played an important role to let Europeans know about the vastness and richness of Asia. They rediscovered Asia when they set off for the Middle East in 1095. Also, the Europeans’ voyage to Asia confirmed that it is ‘the other world’ in opposition to Europe. 

The stories from the past about immigration and migration have not changed much till today. In this  modern times, it has taken a new form. For example, people still from the East migrate to Western countries or developed countries compared to their own native land in the hope of better opportunities and lifestyle. Though they are not openly selled or labeled as slaves, indented or sex workers in this modern era, they are treated the same as before. They are looked down on in the society and their stories are less expressed. I think the reasons for migration have changed. Before, people were forced to migrate due to the oppressive nature of high- class individuals. But today most of the people willingly leave their country for better days. 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XUnWJ1fIHezVM9H8QWK82TUuuEJjPn3xXMV1ZFYyj7Q/edit?usp=sharing

From the framework section, I chose the excerpt ‘Coronavirus and Yellow Peril’ by Amanda Yee. Amanda Yee is an activist and independent researcher who analyzes the mainstream media’s response to Ebola and ongoing pandemic, COVID-19 as part of the US age old desire for global dominance. The trusted Newspapers and media that we rely on to know the real truth has portrayed Africa as a ‘dark, diseased place’. It makes me think if it repeats the preconceived vision of the Western’s towards the Africans or not ! Now to talk about an article published by The New York Times, where the caption goes,‘This is where you get new and emerging diseases that the human population has never seen before’ points to nothing but eternal discriminatory attitude towards China. They are also demonstrated as diseased and cruel who eat anything that moves. This tactic of media to visualize them through their lenses leads to the US long history of discriminatory attitude towards the immigrants who were always considered to be lower class and diseased individuals. 

The second excerpt that I chose is ‘Tired of Being an Asian’ by Alice Tsui who is an Educator and Musician. In this excerpt she expresses her frustrations of being a Asian American at the start of COVID-19 outbreak in the US. She was absolutely disgusted by reading the news of racist attacks on Asian Americans and became the victim herself. She heard rumors of herself being affected with virus in her elementary school. She had to explain to her students that all the news coverage by the media isn’t true and all Asians aren’t carrying the virus.  Alice also explains how our education system in NYC has been disrupted due to the uprising cases of COVID. Moreover, she wants to change the perception of mass people on Asian community. To make her desire come true she urges the assistance of people of all races. I decided to give this article a read as I myself witnessed such discrimination on subway and felt bad for the victim. 

The third excerpt that I chose is ‘Breathe’ by Salonee Bahman. In this excerpt she introduces us to four different methods of breathing exercises and meditation. To start off any meditation or exercise it is important to sit or lay in a comfortable position. It might be sitting cross legged or hips above our knees or laying on our back etc. I personally do the third exercise, alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana) when I am anxious. It helps me a lot. To begin, gently press the right nostril closed with your thumb and inhale through left nostril on the count of 4, release your thumb ( keeping left nostril closed) and exhale through right nostril on the count of 6. Now switch sides and repeat the process. Another meditation that we all can try on before going to sleep is sleep meditation. I believe it will definitely release the stress that was built throughout our day and help us to sleep better.

In the article, ‘The Forgotten Asian Refugees Fed into the US Prison system’ by Kimberly Yam shares the adverse situation and struggles of life of a Cambodian refugee Phal Sok. To escape the deadly Communist regime his family had to flee from Cambodia in 1979. They took shelter in the land of opportunities, US in the hope of starting afresh their life. Probably life was not fair to him and he lost his father when he was just 16. He felt lost. Moreover, he was living with a constant fear of deportation back to Cambodia. There are many refugees and immigrants like Phal Sok who lives with such fear and the US’s Immigration Law adds a fuel to their worries. It is also mentioned that ICE targeted Southeast Asian refugee communities such as Vietnamese descent to force them out of the United States. These communities are unwilling to return to foreign states as they can’t imagine a better future. On the other hand, the ongoing uphill battle in their lives leads to long term stress in some people, some drop out of school and some engages in illegal activities. After reading this article, my first thoughts were they never quite enjoyed their life and had to live life in so much distress. The US’s immigration policy and Refugee Law needs to be reformed to raise the living standard of these people. They were given shelter to be in a better position than their own land. But unfortunately, they are in a scenario they never thought they had to see .

Hello everyone! Hopefully we are all doing good in our academic and personal lives. I honestly like and enjoy this class. It’s a little bit sad that we have to do distance learning because of the current situation but this class has made me feel I am doing an in-person class. I really appreciate our Professor’s hard work and effort to help us better understand our course materials. The documentaries, readings, discussion board posts and discussion during our zoom class has helped me to expand my knowledge about Asian American History. I am also delighted by the engaging nature of my peers. In my opinion, I would not like to change anything about our class. Also, I think our materials are beautifully organised through the BMCC open lab. We are notified every time whenever someone posts or Prof makes an announcement. As a result, I can keep track of the coming assignments and the due dates. Lastly, I can’t actually think of a song that would be engaging to our class.

In the film ‘Race: The power of an Illusion’, it is seen that how people were discriminated ( mostly black as the lower class and white as the elite) during the earlier times of American history. One thing that awestrucked me to show that black folks were inferior science was intended to use which is the comparison of skull and brain sizes with the white people. To confront the statement that ‘Race is a social construction’, it indeed is. From the establishment of America as there was prevalence of slavery, such racial division upraised. There are people of backgrounds who are considered as ‘particular races’, do not get the same respect as the ‘other supreme race’ just because of their skin color or the bitter roles palyed by their ancestors in the American history.Moreover, while watching ‘A Conversation with Asian Americans on Race’ I felt little bit uncomfortable thinking how people’s skin color labels if they are American or not. It also reflects in the stories of the interviewees that they were not viewed as ‘American’ rather people of white skin color were considered ‘American’. Moreover, people are categorized based on their skin color such as ‘Latinos’, ‘Asian’, ‘Black’ and such but not ‘Americans’. It’s such a disgrace that some in our society are still reluctant to consider every human being who were born, migrated and raised in this land as American. As a result, people faces injustice in day to day life. They prefer to stay quiet against this discrimination thinking they are the minorities and don’t uphold equal reputation just as the white people. Through news, social media platforms it is seen that in parts of the country where majority of white people lives and Asians or other ethnic communities acts as the minorities spur of racial injustice always persists. So what’s the solution of this massive problem? It’s not simple and even possible if we don’t address the topic that we are all equal and Americans. Moreover, if one faces injustice we should come up as a whole to stand against it and avoid playing the role as a mute bystander. 

There are a couple of common reasons why people chose to immigrate to the United States. It can be in the hope of better life, higher education, medical facilities,  etc. It is also known to us through news and social media some chose to escape their own country only due to political unrest. From my experience, me and my family immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh in 2018. We decided to settle in this foreign land so that me and my siblings can receive higher education and get better jobs in the future. Though we were living well off in Bangladesh, political unrest and the government’s failure to protect people in terms of rights, lives and wealth forced us to think it’s better to live in the United States. Also, after talking to many immigrant personals one of the common reasons that reflects is to better their future. 

In the reading, ‘ A theory of Asian immigration to the United States’ by Yang the explanation of ‘Classic Pull-Push theory’ encapsulates the basic reason of why people migrate within a nation and internationally. It is due to the push factors: natural disasters, population pressure, economic hardships, political turmoil etc. On the other hand the pull factor comprises economic opportunity, environmental advantage etc. People mainly thinking about the ultimate benefits of pull factors chose to migrate. I believe there is no difference in the theories detailed in the reading and the common explanation of people’s migration to a new place. 

The ‘other cluster factors’ that I would like to Yang’s theory lack of equal rights in case of woman and same sex marriage. There are instances in history where women even had to flee from their country for taking stand for what is right. To me this concept is very disturbing, of why women can not enjoy equal rights as men? Everybody is equal and should receive equal opportunity based on their work and merit. 

In this article Bahadur researches her own great-grandmother, Sujaira’s history. Some solid documents and records presented that she departed to Guiana from Calcutta as an indented labourer at 27 years age. The name of her father, her native village and even a burn mark on her left leg were recorded. But the record lacked clarity as her own statement was absent. Who was she ? What circumstanctes led her to leave India and migrate to a foreign land? These unanswerable questions were yet to discover. While searching for the proper documents Bahadur realized, the tales of Coolie women were never weaved. The existing archives had biases towards these voiceless womans. While digging deep into the history she found a rich paper trail in India Office and Colonial offices in London, stastical reports, diaries by captains, surgeons and more people who transported such indentured woman. These archives did not contain their stories rather it’s the way various white man, sexist individuals, plantation officials viewed these voiceless woman. As a result, Bahadur began to search her great-grandmother’s history in non-offcial sources. She looked for clues in visual traces and the oral tradition, folk songs, oral histories, photographs and much more. Later, she turned to her own voyage and experience of visiting India to find the identity of her great-grandmother. Bahadur’s deep interest to unwind this mystery, her journalist mind coincided with an immigrant’s child quieries of what’s his/her true identity. If I were to construct an archive of my own family, I would first look for the family albums, listen to stories from my parent’s and look for written documents. I would even ask the locals and the family of those people who were acquainted with our family. 

 

The interviewee I watched is from the South Asian Oral history project is Dr Najma Rizvi. She was born in Bangladesh in 1938. She was raised in the capital city Dhaka and completed her Master’s degree in Geography. She tells in her interview that she was the first child to her parents and their parent’s marriage was not an arranged one. She also talks about her interest in Geography and also did her Master’s in Geography. She came to the United States with her husband in 1959 to further her studies and further returned to Bangladesh to teach. Dr Rizvi completed her Phd in Anthropology from the University of California and she completed Master’s from two other renowned Universities. She has extensive research experience which focuses on hunger, malnutrition and infectious disease. Moreover, she talks about the welcoming nature of NY people and much more. I enjoyed the interview and the way she talked about her childhood, interests and abroad life.