Such a touchy subject with me

I'm so glad that we actually had a discussion today about issues that actually affect us. The only problem I had was that it was the same people actually discussing. The whole concept of passivity in regards to Asian Americans was somewhat proven in the class on Friday, unfortunately. I know that there are some people who don't know what to say or feel like they don't know enough to say anything, but that might be the problem in and of itself. Our course is about giving voice to our community, yet the people who are empowered to do so are not. I understand that there are times when you can pick and choose your battles, pick and choose when to speak or not, but the space that we have in our Asian Am class is a privilege. Our families sacrificed so much so that we will have a better life, so that we will be given the right to speak up and speak out. And it just frustrates me when people don't live up to that. I apologize if I have offended you, but I am not sorry for stating my opinions.

Another thing I would like to point out is that we were talking about the Asian American community as though it was one cohesive unit, as if everyone was the same. However, our community is heterogeneous and diverse within itself, with so many different ethnicities and types of people. This experiences and circumstances of each group are different. I remember Chia-Chi saying that the API (Asian Pacific Islander) community on our campus composes 42 percent of the entire student population, and that many can see this as a sign that we are doing well, that we are in fact this “model minority.” However, if you look at the different ethnic groups within that category, there are greater numbers of certain groups than others. Many groups are underrepresented at this university.

Last semester, the Count Me In Campaign addressed this issue. The campaign sought to disaggregate the API category on the UC application. Previously the application included the categories for the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Indian populations, while those Asian Americans who did not identify as those were categorized as “Other Asians.” This ignored the diversity within the Asian American community. The language used seemed to imply that Asian Americans who are not of the recognized communities are incapable of obtaining higher education. Studies show that the Southeast Asian community is less likely to enter into institutions of higher education due to socioeconomic status. Still, the University of California should encourage members of those disadvantaged communities to apply. The Count Me In Campaign had three objectives: 1) enhance UC Admission policy to include data collection on students of Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, and Thai backgrounds; 2) separate Pacific Islander into a new racial category within admissions; and 3) provide financial support for outreach projects that specifically target AAPI groups facing severe educational inequity. The campaign was a success, with thousands of the API community showing support. The new UC application will include Asian categories of Chinese, Taiwanese, Asian Indian, Pakistani, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hmong, Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Bangladeshi, Indonesian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan and other Asian applicants.
Pacific Islander categories will include Native Hawaiian, Guamanian/Chamorro, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and others.

I have a lot more to add to the discussion that we had on Friday, but … I’ll save that for another time. As you can tell, I am one Asian American who will not let my voice go unheard.

<3

Laurie Bailon